I hope you and your family enjoyed a restful Passover and Easter. These past two weeks back in Arkansas have been productive as I've been spending time with central Arkansas’s teachers, students, families, business owners, and more.

As your voice in Congress, my job is to listen to what matters most to you and your family and to take your ideas back to Washington. I appreciate all those who shared their concerns with me.  

During this break, I also had the opportunity to visit the southwest border. Keeping our borders safe and secure is important for keeping Arkansans and Americans safe from terrorists and drug cartels entering our country illegally.                    

Securing our Borders

On my recent visit to Del Rio, Texas, I met with border patrol agents, state and local officials, including the Val Verde County judge and sheriff. This is my fourth visit to our southern border with Mexico, and I continue to build my understanding of the strategic challenges we face and what the House can do to deliver on our promise to better secure our borders and protect our families. 

While in the Del Rio Sector, I learned that at any given time only roughly 45 percent of our agents are patrolling the border with the other 55 percent engaged in administrative activity such as transporting prisoners, and doing paperwork or on leave.

I also learned that the agents are not able to fully utilize all of the resources available to them.  For example, the Val Verde County Sheriff reported that he has $96,000 in high-tech cameras sitting in storage because the county doesn't have the manpower to monitor the feeds. Clearly, we need more cooperation and coordination to maximize the deterrent force and the full security of our border. 

We also discussed President Trump’s recent decision to deploy National Guard troops to the border. Working carefully with state and local officials, guardsmen could be very beneficial to supplement inadequate manpower by way of aerial surveillance, ground observation, or some appropriate administrative tasks.

Here are four key takeaways from my trip:

First, we need to make sure that we have enough manpower patrolling the Southwest Border.

Second, we need the proper technology and implementation of it to ensure safety along the border.

Third, there is such a high volume of individuals that are in detention centers across the border. The 100 new federal judges funded in our FY18 appropriations measure signed recently by President Trump will help. Two new judges are expected in Del Rio.

Fourth, we must design a coordinated, effective set of barriers including a wall, fencing, sophisticated technology, and other means to protect the citizens of our country.

On the Rio Grande River with U.S. Border Patrol Agents in Del Rio, Texas and with Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez along the Rio Grande River. 

Keeping Arkansas Teachers and Students Safe 

This week, I sat down with members of the Arkansas State Teachers Association to discuss school safety, opioid and drug abuse, and seeing that each child has access to resources necessary for success. As the father of a high school student and college student, keeping central Arkansas students safe and secure at school with the tools for success is of particular importance to me. One important topic of discussion was access to quality mental health treatment and support. Every day, students come to school dealing with hunger, depression, poverty, negative home environments, and more. These issues can take an immense emotional and academic toll, and can be overwhelming for both the student and those on the front lines: teachers.

What happens when parents are unaware of or indifferent to their child’s struggles? When the school or parents don’t listen to the students’ cries and the teachers’ pleas for help? What action is actually going to be taken if someone does see something and say something?

We also discussed the need for teachers to be able to establish meaningful mentor relationships and to provide one-on-one instructions for their students. Unfortunately, our teachers often lack the time and resources to cultivate meaningful connections with every student in need, let alone with every student in their school. That is why school counselors and mentors are so important. Having trained adults interacting with students goes a long way toward helping students cultivate a better attitude toward school and helps reduce certain negative youth behaviors, including substance abuse. But along with mentorship and improved outcomes comes changing the perception and conversation around mental health.

We also discussed school security and the best practices for achieving safe places for our kids to learn. The FY18 funding bill recently passed by the House and signed into law by President Trump includes $2 billion to support state efforts to expand access to mental health treatment and $4 billion to fight the opioid epidemic plaguing our schools and communities. 

I am grateful for educators and their investment in and dedication to our Arkansas students.

Keeping Your Data Secure

Over the last several years, the federal government (IRS and OPM), along with numerous U.S. companies of all sizes have experienced major data breaches, and this has affected many Arkansans. Most notably, in 2017, Equifax announced a breach compromising the personal and financial data of over 145 million consumers nationwide and nearly 1.2 million Arkansans. These incidents underscore the serious threats to financial privacy and data security posed by individuals and criminal organizations — some based overseas — that seek access to personal financial data to commit fraud or identity theft.

Protecting individuals’ personal information from major cyber threats is a priority for the House. That is why, last week, my good friend, House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri, and I met with numerous data security firms, including Acxiom, FIS Global and the Venture Center, in the central Arkansas. We discussed legislation to establish new federal standards for handling data breaches and subsequent notifications if and when government and businesses lose consumers' personally identifiable information.

Data security is a priority, and making sure you know if you are affected immediately is crucial. I appreciate Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer joining us.

Meetings on data security held at the Little Rock Venture Center and with associates at Acxiom in Conway. 

Representative French Hill