In the News

When Pine Bluff native and former 4th District Congressman Jay Woodson Dickey Jr. was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992, he made history by being the first-ever Republican to hold the office. Dickey died Thursday night at Jefferson Regional Medical Center after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 77. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson released a statement Friday morning about Dickey, saying, “Jay was one of those people who loved life and everyone around him. I had the privile... Read more

There’s regular intelligence, and there’s emotional intelligence, which is the ability to recognize and control your own emotions and to influence the emotions of others. If you’re a member of Congress, you need both, but if you’re a member of Congress participating in a town hall, and you can only be blessed with one, it’d better be emotional intelligence. I write that paragraph after attending Monday’s 2 p.m. raucous town hall hosted by Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. French Hill, where it didn’t mat... Read more

This is getting to be old hat for Sen. Tom Cotton. This time he was joined on stage by U.S. Rep. French Hill. The pair had to listen to the crowd boo and jeer--and sometimes cheer--as they talked about the president's taxes, Obamacare, Syrian attacks and Russian hacking. But the two gentlemen seem to think it's part of their job to stand up to the criticism their opponents serve up at these town hall meetings. Call it courage. It's one thing to talk to a political club of like-minded people, all... Read more

Exactly 45 years after saving the crew of a burning C-130 plane in a war zone, four Vietnam War veterans on Tuesday received Silver Stars for gallantry in action. During an awards ceremony in Little Rock, U.S. Rep. French Hill pinned a medal on each of the recipients -- Capt. Robert Frank of Leavenworth, Kan., Chief Warrant Officer 2 Robert Monette of Madison, Ala., Spc. 4 Leonard Shearer of Glendale, Ariz., and Spc. 4 John DesLauriers of Texas. Those were their Army ranks at the time of the act... Read more

Four U.S. Army veterans who rescued seven people from a burning transport plane during the Vietnam War each received a Silver Star on Tuesday for their heroic actions. Robert Monette, Robert Frank, Spc. John Deslouriers and Spc. Leonard "Bruce" Shearer -- the crew members of UH-1H "Huey" -- reunited in Little Rock, Ark., for the ceremony, Stars and Stripes reported. Arkansas Rep. French Hill presented the medals to the veterans. Three of the crash survivors who were rescued in the mission also a... Read more

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Arkansas Congressman French Hill awarded four veterans with the Silver Star in Little Rock Monday, the 45th anniversary of their heroic actions in Vietnam. On April 18, 1972, Robert J. Monette, John F. Deslouriers, Leonard B. Shearer, and Robert A. Frank flew their helicopter into enemy territory to rescue seven U.S. crew members whose C-130 aircraft went down. Frank, the mission commander, told Channel 7 News he remembers watching the burning aircraft crash into a field. "A... Read more

A trio of Republican lawmakers are asking Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to soften his proposal to deregulate the business data services market. Members of the Arkansas delegation — Sens. Tom CottonTom CottonSasse: Someone subscribed me to Nickleback emails as a prankThe Memo: Five takeaways from Jeff Sessions’s testimonySessions decries 'detestable lie'MORE and John BoozmanJohn BoozmanThe Hill's 12:30 ReportGOP leader tempers ObamaCare expectationsSenators pan WH proposal t... Read more

The four-man Army crew of a UH-1H "Huey" chased a burning C-130 transport plane as it crashed near Saigon in 1972, hovered over the wreckage and pulled five men onto their helicopter. They did this while taking -- and returning -- fire. And they all survived. On Tuesday -- 45 years later, to the day -- the Huey crew will receive Silver Stars, the military's third-highest decoration, for their action. Robert Monette, who was the helicopter pilot that day, said the medals were "unexpected, and ver... Read more

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and U.S. Rep. French Hill faced an emotional crowd of 1,000 people Monday at a joint town-hall-style meeting in Little Rock where the two Republicans fielded questions about a range of issues, including President Donald Trump's decision to bomb a Syrian air base and the House's vote on health care. Some audience members wore Trump hats, but they were outnumbered by the president's opponents -- many with T-shirts with the names of Planned Parenthood and Moms Demand Action for... Read more

Cheers and jeers erupted in a Little Rock conference hall for each question U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and U.S. Rep. French Hill answered from constituents at a town hall Monday afternoon. Cotton and Hall spoke on a range of topics — from taxes to affordable health care to internet privacy — for an hour-and-a-half at a conference room at the Little Rock Embassy Suites. People arrived early to fill about 700 seats and line the walls. Attendees could submit slips of paper with their names, their hometow... Read more