WASHINGTON, July 29 -- Rep. Steve Womack, R-Arkansas, ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee, issued the following budget digest: Last week the House passed H.R. 7608,[1] an appropriations minibus that included four of the 12 discretionary spending bills for fiscal year (FY) 2021. This week the House will consider H.R. 7617, a second minibus that includes seven additional appropriations bills for FY 2021: Defense, Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy and Water Development, Financia  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: This week, Rep. Rick Crawford (AR-01) along with Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-09) introduced the Critical Infrastructure Employee Protection Act of 2020. This legislation requires the Department of Transportation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to coordinate to ensure that critical infrastructure workers have access to Personal Protective Equipment and COVID-19 testing. Upon introducing the legi  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas, issued the following statement: The House of Representatives passed the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). This bill authorizes an estimated $8.6 billion in federal funds to help finance 34 new Army Corps of Engineers construction projects across the country. * * * "Arkansas's waterways play a critical role to our recreation and economy, and I was pleased to support this bill to provide funding for Arkansas's harbors, locks, dams, and   more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas, issued the following statement after the House passed the Water Resources Development Act: "The 2020 Water Resources Development Act is a bipartisan, commonsense bill that works for America. Water resources tend to be out of sight and out of mind, but that's exactly why WRDA is so important. When severe flooding hit Arkansas last year, the historic rains breached many of our levees and devastated our water infrastructure, destroying homes  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- Rep. Steve Womack, R-Arkansas, issued the following statement: Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, released the below statement after voting against H.R. 7617, the second partisan appropriations package brought to the floor by House Democrats. The legislation, which breaches previously negotiated spending caps and includes controversial and non-germane provisions, has no chance of being signed into law as currently written: *   more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Rep. Steve Womack, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) joined the U.S House of Representatives in passing the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2020. The bipartisan bill is comprised of Womack-supported provisions that will greatly benefit Arkansas, including the advancement of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS) channel deepening project. The package also authorizes funding to improve ports and h  more

WASHINGTON, July 28 -- Rep. Steve Womack, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3), Chairman of the West Point Board of Visitors, this past weekend traveled to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to observe cadet summer training (CST) and meet the newest class of young men and women who are embarking on their journey of service to our nation. During the trip, he witnessed a series of training exercises, analyzed academy curriculum, and discussed new saf  more

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) introduced legislation to reduce the backlog of pending Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability claims by expanding eligibility for health care providers who are allowed to conduct the required medical exam for veterans applying for benefits. Veterans are required to complete a compensation and pension (C&P) exam to verify their medical condition and eligibility when  more

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, issued the following statement after University of Arkansas ex-professor with ties to China was indicted on counts of wire and passport fraud: "Federal law enforcement deserves great credit for putting together a strong case against alleged Chinese agent Simon Saw-Teong Ang. "But Chinese spies aren't ordinary fraudsters--they're working for a foreign adversary. "We ought to change the law so foreign agents in the future are held accountabl  more

WASHINGTON, July 25 -- Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, issued the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court denied the appeal of Nevada's church attendance restriction: "Freedom of religion is our first freedom. "Yet the Supreme Court has ruled that casinos can host hundreds of gamblers, while churches cannot welcome their full congregations. "Justice Roberts once again got it wrong, shamefully closing church doors to their flocks."  more

WASHINGTON, July 29 -- Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) led Senators Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Rick Scott (R-Florida) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) in sending a letter to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray, and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf expressing concern over the   more

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- The Senate Judiciary Committee issued the following news release: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) introduced the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act, a bill to bolster national security interests and better protect communities across the country by ending the use of "warrant-proof" encrypted technology by terrorists and other bad actors to conceal illicit beh  more