February 1, 2019

WEEK IN REVIEW 

To start off this week's From the Front... I would like to thank all of the Arkansans who stopped by my Washington office during their visits to our nation’s capital, including Lucas Johnson and Sarah Wendell of Fayetteville, Matt Durrett of Fayetteville, Nathan Smith of Bentonville, Dan Shue of Fort Smith, Marc McCune of Van Buren, Stephanie and Shorty Barrett of Texarkana, Scott Ellington of Jonesboro, David and Susan Ethredge of Mountain Home, Tom Tatum of Danville, Bryan and Kayla Chesshir of Nashville, and Bob McMahan of Little Rock. Safe travels back to the Natural State!

The House convened and voted on a series of bills, including the Department of Homeland Security Clearance Management and Administration Act (H.R. 424), FIRST State and Local Law Enforcement Act (H.R. 495), Homeland Security Assessment of Terrorists’ Use of Virtual Currencies Act (H.R. 428), Pathways to Improving Homeland Security at the Local Level Act (H.R. 449), DHS Field Engagement Accountability Act (H.R. 504), Counterterrorism Advisory Board Act of 2019 (H.R. 769), Promoting Transparent Standards for Corporate Insiders Act (H.R. 624), FIND Trafficking Act (H.R. 502), Financial Technology Protection Act (H.R. 56), and other initiatives. A full list of legislation considered this week can be found here.

I had the pleasure of speaking at the National School Boards Association Conference, where I also had the opportunity to meet with Arkansas educators and school board leadership. Education is one of the greatest equalizers. It provides our children with the skills and knowledge they need to prepare themselves for successful, productive lives.

The work we do in Washington affects every American, including my grandkids. If we get education right – then we give the next generation the tools and knowledge to take advantage of opportunity and build their American Dream. School boards play an important role in emphasizing community-driven initiatives and goals, and it was great to speak with school leaders about different education issues, including career and technical education, school safety, and the national budget.

Following my speech, I sat down with Roger Zakheim of the Reagan Institute to talk about critical defense issues. With today’s ever-evolving national security landscape, it is critical that we constantly analyze how we can improve military readiness, further support our armed forces, and better prepare our nation for the challenges we face.

On Tuesday, the Arkansas Prosecuting Attorneys Association group stopped by my office to discuss criminal justice issues and reform policies. I then met with members of the Head Start program, which is focused on improving the lives of children and families throughout Northwest Arkansas. They do important work in our community by creating learning environments that support children's growth in many areas such as language, literacy, and social and emotional development. CJ Pepper – who is one of the Board Members of Arkansas Early Learning – is also a former Moberly Greyhound, ASU Indian, and Harlem Globetrotter. I thank all the representatives from EOA Head Start Washington County and Arkansas Early Learning for their time and insights.

The House Appropriations Committee, which I am a member of, met for its first full meeting of the 116th Congress on Wednesday. The Committee has a lot of work to do. While we enacted five appropriations bills for FY2019, including defense, Congress must still finalize funding for the last seven bills. We owe it to the American people to get this done.

I also received my subcommittee assignments for the House Appropriations Committee. I am honored to have been appointed to the Defense and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittees. As a veteran and former mayor, I understand the unique importance of defense, transportation, and infrastructure issues to my district and the entire nation.

These assignments will provide me a direct role in strengthening U.S. national defense, supporting our brave men and women in uniform, and prioritizing vital infrastructure projects for our rapidly growing region. I look forward to working with Ranking Member Granger and the entire Committee to ensure the priorities of Arkansans are reflected throughout the appropriations process.

To learn more about each subcommittee, visit the below websites:

Subcommittee on Defense

Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

This week, I also sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency to request information on what federal resources might be available to support emergency action plans related to resolving the Trafalgar Road Fire. The costs associated with addressing this incident are much higher than what was anticipated, and it is important we exhaust all avenues to quickly extinguish the fire and remediate the site – especially given the ongoing health hazards and severity of the situation. I want to ensure the State of Arkansas has access to any and all resources – funding, experts, logistics – that might be available to them through the federal government. Read the letter.

Before heading back to the district, I welcomed John Brown University President Chip Pollard and JBU students to my office to talk about higher education issues. It’s great to have stakeholders from back home in our nation’s capital to advocate on the policies that are important to them. I'm proud of the strength of our Christian colleges and universities in Arkansas.

Today, I started my morning with the Fort Smith Chamber for its First Friday Breakfast! I talked about our national debt and deficits. If we don't address mandatory spending and drivers of debt, the burden of our irresponsibility will be left for our children and grandchildren. I then went to the University of Arkansas’s 25th Annual Business Forecast Luncheon to hear economists and distinguished speakers discuss regional, national and international economic outlooks for the coming year.

Next week, I will head back to Washington for legislative business. I also look forward to hearing from the President on Tuesday as he gives his State of the Union Speech from the House floor. Remember to keep an eye on my website or check out my Twitter and Instagram pages to stay up-to-date with the latest news from the Third District and Washington.

ICYMI: BUDGET HEARING

The House Budget Committee hosted its first hearing of the year on Tuesday, which analyzed the Budget and Economic Outlook, often referred to as the “baseline.” Published by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), this annual report provides CBO’s budget and economic projections for the next 10 years.

This year’s baseline brings daunting news, with deficits projected to be 1.37 trillion dollars by 2029, and debt reaching 33.7 trillion dollars. While these numbers paint a sobering picture, it does not have to be America’s future. Without question, we must create a new path forward. 

Mandatory spending is clearly driving up deficits and debt. Our nation’s fiscal trajectory will remain unchanged if we don’t address this fact. This is not only my deduction – CBO has stated in the past that revenue alone will not solve this problem. In his testimony last year, Director Hall said that increases in entitlement spending are the largest drivers of the increase in the deficit going forward. Unfortunately, it seems that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle don’t recognize the severity of this problem – or if they do, I haven’t seen their plan to fix it.

While the CBO’s Budget and Economic Outlook highlights the daunting fiscal challenges of our nation, it also gives us a roadmap to face these problems head on. We should work together to confront our growing debt burden and ensure a sustainable rate of government spending. It is my hope that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have a plan to reconcile their desire for astronomical spending increases with the need to address the ballooning national debt. We have a moral obligation to future generations to get our fiscal house in order.

More information:

BUDGET DIGEST: CBO Budget and Economic Outlook

From the front...

Congressman Steve Womack
Arkansas Third District