Samuel Bruce Graves Jr. (born November 7, 1963) is an American aviator and politician best known for serving in the U.S. House of Representatives for Missouri's 6th congressional district, with him being the dean of Missouri's congressional delegation and having held office since 2001. The aforementioned district stretches across most of the northern third of the state, with it including territory from the Kansas border to the Illinois border. The bulk of its population lives in the northern part of the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Graves is a member of the Republican Party. He has notably served as the Chair in charge of the influential Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the U.S. House for multiple years, with him being able to exceed the system of American term limits normally enforced by the Republican leadership.^[1]

Graves is a lifelong resident of Tarkio, a small city in Missouri's northwestern corner, not far from the Iowa and Nebraska borders.^[2] He is the son of Janice A. (née Hord) and Samuel Bruce Graves. He graduated from the University of Missouri College of Agriculture with a degree in agronomy.^[2] He is a member of the Alpha Gamma Sigma fraternity.^[3]

Graves is a general aviation pilot. He owns a Piper PA-11 Cub Special, is restoring a Beech AT-10, and co-owns a North American T-6 Texan and a Vultee BT-13 Valiant. Gould Peterson Municipal Airport is named after his uncle, an aviator, and is on his family's farm.^[4][5][6] Graves is a Baptist.^[7]

Graves was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 1992.^[8] After one term, he was elected to the Missouri Senate in 1994 and reelected in 1998.^[2]

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Chair)
  • As Chair of the Committee, Rep. Graves is entitled to sit as an ex officio member in any subcommittee meeting per the committee's rules.

• Congressional Cement Caucus
• Congressional Coalition on Adoption^[9]

After the September 2008 economic crisis, Graves voted against the proposed bailout of United States financial system, claiming it "neither 'punished the wrongdoers nor adequately protected the innocent taxpayers, investors and retirees' caught in the Wall Street banking crisis."^[10] In January 2014, Graves introduced the TRICARE Family Improvement Act. The bill would allow dependents of military members to stay on their parents' TRICARE health plan after turning age 26. The bill would change current law, which requires those dependents to change to a separate health plan after turning 26.^[11] The American Conservative Union gave him an 85% evaluation in 2017. As of 2019, Graves has a 4% lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters.^[12]

Graves blamed on May 13, 2019, at the House Aviation subcommittee hearing, the 737 MAX crashes (Lion Air Flight 610) on October 29, 2018, and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302) on poor training of the Indonesian and Ethiopian pilots. He stated also that "pilots trained in the U.S. would have been successful" in handling the emergencies on both jets.^[13][14] One month earlier the FAA had issued the Boeing 737 MAX groundings.

Graves voted to support Israel following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.^[15][16]

Graves is the brother of Todd Graves, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.^[17] In October 2008, U.S. Senator Kit Bond apologized to Todd Graves after a U.S. Justice Department report cited Bond forcing Graves out over a disagreement with Representative Graves.^[17] Following the report, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed a special prosecutor to investigate whether former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other officials involved in the firings of nine U.S. attorneys broke the law (dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy).^[18]

In 2009, the House Ethics Committee began an inquiry into whether Graves used his position on the Small Business Committee to invite Brooks Hurst, a longtime friend and a business partner of his wife, to testify at a committee hearing on the federal regulation of biodiesel and ethanol production. Graves had failed to mention the financial link between his wife and Hurst at the hearing, which dealt with federal subsidies for renewable fuels. A review by the independent Office of Congressional Ethics found "substantial reason to believe that an appearance of conflict of interest was created."^[19] Graves said in a statement, "I look forward to a quick review of the facts and answering any questions that the committee may have. I believe that a speedy review will show that all the rules of the House concerning testimony in front of the Small Business Committee were followed."^[20] The Office of Congressional Ethics referred the case to the House Ethics committee, which ended its own investigation in October, and released a report finding no ethical violations, as it asserted there was no standard in place for appearances like Hurst's.^[21][22]

Before his congressional career, Graves served eight years in the Missouri General Assembly, winning election to the Missouri House of Representatives once, and to the Missouri Senate twice.

In 2000, Democratic U.S. Representative Pat Danner suddenly retired due to breast cancer. Graves filed within the short period of time left for filing. He faced Danner's son, Steve Danner, a former state senator, in the general election. Graves called Danner as a "tax and spend liberal" and won the race with 51% of the vote,^[23] largely by running up huge margins in the district's rural areas. He was arguably helped by George W. Bush carrying the district in the 2000 presidential election, a theory known as the coattail effect.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, Graves' Democratic challenger was former Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes. She was the first reasonably well-financed Democrat to run in the district since Graves' initial run. Graves gained national attention early in the race for running an ad accusing Barnes of promoting "San Francisco values." Despite Barnes' roots in the district (she grew up in St. Joseph and lived in the district's share of Kansas City), Graves was reelected handily, with 59% of the vote to Barnes's 37%.

• Congressman Sam Graves official U.S. House website
• Sam Graves for Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart