President Obama to speak at Joplin memorial service : News : ConnectMidMissouri.com

President Obama to speak at Joplin memorial service

Posted: 05.27.2011 at 1:49 PM

Photo: 1 of 3

President Barack Obama and Gov. Jay Nixon will both offer messages at a Joplin community memorial service on Sunday.

Both are expected to speak a message of remembrance and hope. The service will happen at 2 p.m. at the Taylor Arts Center on the campus of Missouri Southern State University.

People in Joplin think the visit from the president will help their situation.

"He's gonna come and he's gonna encourage the people that are down and that are out of luck and don't have homes and don't have places to sleep, and if he can give us some help and encourage the people, I think that'd be great," Ronda Goodnight told KOLR-10.

Earlier this week, President Obama called Gov. Nixon to talk about the devastation in Joplin. Obama has been briefed on the situation several times throughout the week.

The fight to fund the clean-up efforts in Joplin has been fueled by a push to cut government spending in Washington. Earlier this week, Rep. Eric Cantor (VA) argued that to distribute federal aid to Joplin, cuts had to be made elsewhere.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill told Cantor that funding for a disaster should not be politicized.

On Friday, Sen. Roy Blunt sent a letter to President Obama to give 100 percent reimbursement for qualified expenditures.