In the News

Arkansas farmers hit by flooding can expect an expedited disaster declaration, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said following a May 7 flyover of northeast Arkansas. Perdue, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Sen. John Boozman, and U.S. House members Rick Crawford and French Hill, took to the sky to get a first-hand look at the damage caused by storms that hit the Mid-South April 27-30. All spoke at a news conference held in the Arkansas State Police hangar at the Little Rock airport. Hutchinson als... Read more

ARKANSAS (AP) - U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue promised to expedite requests for federal assistance after touring flooded northeast Arkansas with the state's governor and three members of its congressional delegation. Storms that brought flooding and tornadoes to the state are now blamed for nine deaths, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on May 7, following Saturday's discovery of the bodies of an 18-month-old girl in Madison County and the body of a canoeist from Missouri in the B... Read more

A letter signed by seven Republican Congressmen lays out their unequivocal support of a petition calling for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to allow hair testing in lieu of urinalysis to meet federal drug testing requirements for commercial truck driver applicants. The signatories, Reps. Rick Crawford; R-AR; Don Bacon, R-NE; Bruce Westerman, R-AR; Martha McSally, R-AZ.; Steve Womack, R-AR; French Hill, R-Ark., and Ted Budd, R-NC, contend that hair testing is “more reliable in id... Read more

About 50 people gathered Monday outside U.S. Rep. French Hill's Little Rock office to protest his vote for the Republicans' American Health Care Act. A smaller delegation of protesters later went into Hill's office, on University Avenue, and aired their concerns with his chief of staff over speaker phone. Camille Richoux, an event organizer and student at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, told a reporter that the group was concerned about how the bill would affect those with pre-e... Read more

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue took an aerial tour Sunday over flood-ravaged Northeast Arkansas. Perdue promised the federal government would provide resources to help residents and farmers put their lives back in order. “The president asked me to come down and take a look … I was happy to do it,” Perdue said. The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture estimates there could be at least $64.5 million worth of crop losses already. That number could grow as flood waters move sou... Read more

Seven members of Congress have signed a letter offering their support for a petition submitted to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration urging the agency to allow hair testing rather than a urinalysis to meet federal drug testing requirements for commercial truck driver applicants. Signing the letter were Rick Crawford; R-Jonesboro, Ark.; Don Bacon, R-Neb.; Bruce Westerman, R-Ark.; Martha McSally, R-Ariz.; Steve Womack, R-Ark.; French Hill, R-Ark., and Ted Budd, R-N.C. “If granted,” th... Read more

Emergency officials finished preparations for rising waters along the White River by evacuating more residents and placing sandbags around businesses, and residents in Pocahontas for the first time Sunday were able to see damage done to their homes by the flooded Black River. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who took office in April, flew over the flooding in northeast Arkansas, saying at a Sunday afternoon news conference in an aircraft hangar in Little Rock that he was committed to exp... Read more

HINDSVILLE, Ark. (AP) — The Latest on Severe Weather-Arkansas (all times local): 5 p.m. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson joined U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Sen. John Boozman and Reps. Rick Crawford and French Hill in a helicopter tour of flooded northeast Arkansas to view what Crawford called a terrible situation. Storms that began April 26 led to what Hutchinson said Sunday were nine deaths and an estimated $21 million in damage, not including damage to agriculture. Perdue said at a... Read more

Members of the Arkansas Community Bankers Association say they're swamped with federal regulations put in place following the 2008 financial meltdown. Stopping by Capitol Hill this week, they urged lawmakers to roll back some of the rules that were included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The law has created an unreasonable and unnecessary burden for smaller banks, they said. "We have to set up a committee just to deal with the regulations," said Arkansas County... Read more

House Republicans voted Thursday to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, overcoming united Democratic opposition and their own divisions, and claiming a major victory even as the measure faces an uncertain fate in the divided U.S. Senate. Read more