WASHINGTON, March 3 -- Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: Congressman Crawford (AR-01) announced changes and promotions to his Washington, D.C. staff. "I am excited to announce the following changes to my staff that will give me the additional bandwidth to work on critical issues facing America's ag-producers. Each of these individuals have displayed incredible insight in not just agriculture but the needs of farmers, ranchers, and rural Americans," said Crawfor  more

WASHINGTON, March 5 -- Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release on March 4: Rep. French Hill (AR-02), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy, helped lead a hearing entitled, "The Traffickers' Roadmap: How Bad Actors Exploit Financial Systems to Facilitate the Illicit Trade in People, Animals, Drugs, and Weapons." This hearing is the first in a series as part of the House Financial Se  more

WASHINGTON, March 5 -- Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: Rep. French Hill (AR-02) joined his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives in passing an emergency funding package which provides $7.8 billion to protect the American public from COVID-19. "The health and safety of Arkansans and the American people come first. I am pleased that we put aside politics to provide our federal agencies with the resources required to combat this virus," said Rep. Hill. "  more

WASHINGTON, March 4 -- Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release on March 2: In a vote of 356 - 0, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5932, Ensuring Chinese Debt Transparency Act introduced by Rep. French Hill (AR-02). H.R. 5932 would require the United States to seek greater transparency from countries that obtain funding from both the Chinese government and the international financial institutions (IFIs), which include the International Monetary Fund, the World Ba  more

WASHINGTON, March 4 -- Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release on March 3: Yesterday, U.S. Reps. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-Penn.) introduced the bipartisan Reading Early and Addressing Dyslexia (READ) Act. "Dyslexia is a learning disability that students with proper reading instruction can overcome," Westerman said. "I've worked hard as the co-chair of the Congressional Dyslexia Caucus to find real solutions to help students learn to read, so   more

WASHINGTON, March 5 -- Rep. Steve Womack, R-Arkansas, issued the following statement on March 4: Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) released the below statement following the passage of the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 6074). The emergency funding bill provides $7.8 billion to support coronavirus containment and response efforts, including programs to expedite vaccine development, purchase essential equipment and supplies, and assist state and local   more

WASHINGTON, March 6 -- Rep. Steve Womack, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that the Department's Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $1.5 million grant to the city of Springdale, Arkansas, to support business growth by improving roadway infrastructure needed to ease the movement of commercial traffic. The EDA grant, to be matched with $1 million in local funds, is expected to create or retain 125 jobs and generat  more

WASHINGTON, March 5 -- Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: Representatives French Hill (R-AR) and Al Lawson (D-FL) introduced H.R. 6081, the Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act. The legislation would make public the funds obtained in an illegal or corrupt manner held by Iran's authoritarian theocratic regime. In addition, it would require the Department of Treasury to brief Congress on how the funds have been acquired and used. By combining publicly available in  more

WASHINGTON, March 5 -- Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, pushed for full funding of transportation programs important to rural Arkansas. During a subcommittee hearing that featured testimony from Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, Boozman urged support for the contract tower and the Essential Air Service (EAS) programs. "The contract tower program has been a great publi  more

WASHINGTON, March 6 -- Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after Senate passage of a bipartisan, bicameral supplemental funding package that provides $7.7 billion in emergency discretionary funding to meet the growing challenge presented by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). "Americans are understandably on edge as more cases of the coronaviru  more

WASHINGTON, March 3 -- Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas, issued the following weekly column: Disabled American Veterans (DAV), a veteran service organization dedicated to ensuring our country keeps the promise we made to the men and women who have served in uniform, is celebrating 100 years of advocacy. Throughout its history, DAV has been influential in identifying ways to best support our veterans; from pushing for consolidation of veterans programs in its early years, to direct outreach to vet  more

WASHINGTON, March 3 -- Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, issued the following statement on March 2 regarding reports that the State Department has announced a personnel cap on four Chinese media companies in retaliation for restrictions on American news outlets in China: "The Chinese Communist Party kicked out real journalists because their publication reported the facts. "Today, the administration took justified, retaliatory action by restricting the number of Chinese propagandists in the U.S. Th  more

WASHINGTON, March 6 -- Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, issued the following statement on the Homeland Security Department's decision to allow 35,000 additional seasonal workers into the U.S. through the H-2B visa program: "Raising the limit of H-2B visas means prioritizing cheap foreign labor over paying better wages for American workers to do the same jobs. "Congress needs to seriously reform the H-2B visa program so it supports wage growth and employment for Americans instead of encouraging a   more

WASHINGTON, March 6 -- Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, issued the following statement on March 5 after the Senate passed emergency funding to help combat the coronavirus: "Today the Senate voted to provide additional support to federal, state, and local governments in their fight against the coronavirus. "This bill contains funding to expand testing across the country, develop therapeutic drugs, and speed development of a vaccine. "This emergency funding-combined with the January travel restri  more

WASHINGTON, March 3 -- Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Chuck Schumer (D-New York), Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), and Todd Young (R-Indiana) sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging the secretary to vigorously oppose China's leadership in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) given China's persistent violations of intellectual property protections, including through trade secret theft, corporate espion  more

WASHINGTON, March 5 -- Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release on March 3: The U.S. Senate passed a resolution honoring Dr. Li Wenliang, the Chinese doctor who first identified the severity of the coronavirus outbreak in China late last year and sought to warn the government about the potentially devastating impact of the disease. Dr. Li succumbed to the coronavirus on February 7, 2020. The resolution also calls for transparency and cooperation from the government of the   more

WASHINGTON, March 7 -- Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: Arkansas U.S. Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton led nine of their colleagues in sending a letter to Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza expressing concern over a new rule that will make it more difficult for poultry growers to access SBA loans. Specifically, the senators are concerned that while the SBA is accepting comments on the rule until April 10, 2020, the provisions t  more

WASHINGTON, March 7 -- Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and John Boozman (R-Arkansas) led nine of their colleagues in sending a letter to Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza expressing concern over a new rule that will make it more difficult for poultry growers to access SBA loans. Specifically, the Senators are concerned that while the SBA is accepting comments on the rule until April 10, 2020, the pr  more

WASHINGTON, March 5 -- Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), and Marco Rubio (R-Florida) introduced the Protecting America from Foreign Investors Compromised by the CCP Act, a bill that would require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review the United Kingdom's place on the foreign investment "whitelist" if the country allows China's Huawei to build portion  more

WASHINGTON, March 3 -- Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Gary Peters (D-Michigan) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper urging the creation of a permanent working group with Israel that would share defense capabilities requirements and coordinate joint research and development efforts. In part, the letter reads: Israel is the ideal partner for such an arrangement. Israel represents America's closest and most re  more