U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, right, talks with North Murray High School Principal Maria Bradley and state Sen. Chuck Payne at the 40th annual meeting of the Chatsworth-Eton-Murray County Chamber of Commerce.

CRANDALL, Ga. — Ignore the rhetoric surrounding President Donald Trump and look at the results.

That was the message U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, brought to the 40th annual meeting of the Chatsworth-Eton-Murray County Chamber of Commerce last week.

“Your instincts are right,” said Graves. “The world knows that America is back.”

Graves pointed to economic numbers that have trended positively during Trump’s presidency — unemployment at a 17-year low, business confidence on the rise, jobless claims falling — and said his constituents in northwest Georgia are seeing the benefits. The 14th district he represents includes all of Murray and Whitfield counties.

“When I look back over the last 10, 12, 14 months and see how far we have come as a nation, it is remarkable,” Graves said in an interview with the Daily Citizen-News after the banquet on Wednesday at the Cohutta Springs Conference Center. “It really is exciting. It is uplifting. It is really remarkable and we are seeing it in our local communities.”

Graves acknowledged that raised voices on both sides of the political divide are getting the most attention, but said there is still a bipartisan agenda that is working. He said there is a lot more “commonality” than either party is getting credit for.

“There are certainly disagreements on issues,” he said. “There are times when folks want to highlight those disagreements rather than highlight the areas of commonality or common ground. When I look over the last year and see how much legislation the president has signed into law or the investments in our military or the Supreme Court justice appointment (Neil Gorsuch), that all happens with bipartisanship. It is the only way it can happen.

“The president has signed more bills into law than the last four presidents in their first year. And that happens only when Republicans and Democrats are working together. If anyone were to review all the bills we have passed out of the House, generally 90 percent are bipartisan.”

“Are there issues on which we disagree? Absolutely, that is part of the process,” he said. “I think what the nation is looking for now is just maybe disagreement but respect for differences in opinions. And then how do you work towards agreements that are less political and less about political parties and political outcomes and more about the outcomes at home. There is a lot of room for us to work together and we are.”

Graves said the rhetoric on both sides has drowned out the moderates of the country. The polarization of the nation into opposite camps, he said, is concerning.

“It concerns me at times when it doesn’t come together,” he said. “I think that it is quite appropriate to start in different places but I think our objectives are quite similar. What we are seeing right now — on both sides, quite frankly — is that the willingness to work together and to listen is not where it could be. I am trying to be better at it and I think others are as well.”

One area where Graves is surprised a compromise hasn’t been reached is with the so-called “Dreamers” and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Graves said Democrats are carrying the fight to the midterm elections this fall rather than working on a bipartisan approach.

“I think there is a great opportunity to resolve this issue, and the president put out a proposal that I thought was pretty bold and surprised me how his approach was so far from moving towards where traditionally the left would expect the movement to be but they rejected it,” Graves said. “He’s tried to bring resolution to this issue, conclusion to this issue, a deadline to this issue, but I am concerned the left wants to make this a political issue in an election cycle rather than focusing on those that are being impacted as persons.”

Graves, who has not faced Democratic opposition for his seat since winning the general election in 2012, will face Democrat Steven Foster of Dalton in November. Graves won the Republican primary two years ago with 76 percent of the vote, and the 14th congressional district voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016. But historically, the party of the president has typically suffered congressional losses in the midterm elections.

“I think that it will be like any other midterm. It is going to be competitive,” Graves said. “We have 40 open seats on the Republican side in the House of Representatives. … There is going to be a lot of movement, but I think the right ideas and right candidates and working hard produces results, but I think that it will be competitive.”