After 22 years serving Missouri's sprawling Sixth District in Congress, Rep. Sam Graves has been building his seniority in the U.S. House. This service has culminated into a chair position on the House Transportation Committee. Not only does Graves now have wide influence over many federal agencies, the position comes with billions of dollars in spending — with some projects of particular interest to the Kansas City area.

KCUR's Brian Ellison spoke with Graves about what he hopes to achieve in this position and how he's hoping to stand out next to his more vocal colleagues.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Trevor Grandin, Byron Love, and KCUR studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez

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