Washington news in brief: Hill bill addresses medical supplies | Independents seek signatures leeway

Washington news in brief: Hill bill addresses medical supplies | Independents seek signatures leeway

Arkansas Democrat Gazette
04/12/2020

Hill bill addresses medical supplies

U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., has introduced legislation that would amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 "to ensure the supply of certain medical articles essential to national defense."

The Defense Production Act seeks "to establish a system of priorities and allocations for materials and facilities, authorize the requisitioning thereof, provide financial assistance for expansion of productive capacity and supply, provide for price and wage stabilization, provide for the settlement of labor disputes, strengthen controls over credit, and by these measures facilitate the production of goods and services necessary for the national security."

The Korean War-era law, passed in 1950, has been amended and reauthorized over the years.

The bill would require President Donald Trump "to create a strategy on securing medical article supply chains, including for drugs that diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent disease," according to a summary of the bill.

It would also give him explicit authority to use the law to "protect supply chains by allowing entities to increase the security of supply chains and their activities."

"I'm arguing that this health supply chain is now a major national security issue," Hill said in an interview March 31.

Hill introduced the legislation shortly before Congress began its extended recess. It has been assigned to the House Financial Services Committee, according to Congress.gov.

"I believe what the pandemic has made visible to all Americans is that we have that weakness in our medical supply chain," Hill said.

Many of the supplies or supply components are made in foreign companies, particularly China, he said.

Congressional art contest to go on

The Congressional Art Competition is proceeding despite the coronavirus pandemic, according to Congressional Institute President Mark Strand.

The institute, a nonprofit group sponsoring the contest, has pushed back its recognition ceremony for winning artists from June to July 22, a move designed to increase the chances that the event takes place.

Each congressional district is able to submit one student's artwork for the exhibition, which is displayed in a tunnel linking House office buildings to the U.S. Capitol.

All four House members from Arkansas have participated in recent years.

Given the pandemic, "we're encouraging offices to use online judging," Strand said Friday.

The winning art will be forwarded to Washington for installation, most likely in late June, he said.

Since the art competition was launched in 1982, more than 700,000 students have submitted artwork for the display, organizers say.

Under the House's rules, "exhibits depicting subjects of contemporary political controversy or a sensationalistic or gruesome nature are not allowed."

Winners get a free trip to Washington.

The young artists deserve to be recognized, and their work ought to be displayed, Strand said.

"They're kids from all parts of this country, whether it's inner city or Indian reservations or rural areas. This is just a once-in-a-lifetime chance for them to get their art really seen be a lot of people -- millions of people, literally -- because it hangs in the Capitol," he said. "I just don't want to lose that year for those kids, so we're going to find a way to do it, one way or another."

Independents seek signatures leeway

Independent U.S. Senate candidate Dan Whitfield has written to Gov. Asa Hutchinson asking him to alter signature requirements for independent candidates who declared for office during the Nov. 4-11 filing period.

The Bella Vista candidate is joined by five independent candidates for state representative.

"This request is reasonable considering the impact of the COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus), which has led to a Worldwide Pandemic, National, and State emergencies, in order to keep Arkansans health and safety the top priority," the letter states.

It asks Hutchinson to issue an executive order waiving the signature requirements. Alternatively, Hutchinson could reduce the number of required signatures by 60%.

Since social distancing and other measures were adopted in mid-March, "the practice of collecting signatures has nearly ground to a halt," it notes.

By May 1, independent candidates must submit signatures of at least 3% of the number of voters who participated in the 2018 gubernatorial election in the district for which they are running, but no more than 10,000 signatures. In the 2018 gubernatorial election, 891,509 people voted; 3% would be 26,745 for a statewide office, but the maximum required is 10,000.

Information for this article was contributed by Hunter Field of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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