In the News

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

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Many are still mourning the death of former Arkansas Congressman Jay Dickey, a Republican from Pine Bluff who died April 20. He was 77 years old. Among those remembering his life -- members of the Arkansas delegation, as well as fellow political leaders from across the nation. They gathered for a moment of silence Wednesday in honor of Dickey. Arkansas Congressman French Hill joined Congressman Bruce Westerman and the rest of the delegation in remembering Dickey during the mo... Read more

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas' four U.S. House members have voted for Republican legislation to repeal and replace major parts of the federal health care law. Republican Reps. Rick Crawford, French Hill, Bruce Westerman and Steve Womack on Thursday voted for the legislation that addresses their longtime pledge to erase the 2010 Obama health care law. The bill passed on a mostly party line 217-213 vote and now heads to the Senate. The bill passed a day after Arkansas lawmakers gave final appr... Read more