The last week before the August in-state work period begins was a busy one with a vote to defund Planned Parenthood, another harmful EPA mandate announced and my introduction of a bill to provide flexibility to federal child nutrition summer meals programs. Read about these and more in the Week in Review.

• Defund Planned Parenthood Vote: I voted in favor of moving legislation forward that would defund Planned Parenthood and redirect money for the organization to other women’s health care services. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats filibustered this bill. We will continue to look for options to achieve this goal. Watch my visit with Neil Cavuto on Fox Business about why this action is necessary.
  
  
• EPA Announces Flawed Carbon Mandate: We intend to vigorously fight the EPA’s carbon mandate that makes Arkansas families vulnerable to high energy costs, electricity blackouts and job cuts. That pain falls hardest on low-income families and seniors living on a fixed-income who will be forced to pay more for electricity and many other essential needs. These news rules will drive industry overseas, hurting American workers and creating foreign factories that emit far more than we would.
  
  
• New Bill to Provide Flexibility to Federal Child Nutrition Summer Meals Programs: I introduced the Hunger Free Summer for Kids Act to make federal child nutrition programs more efficient and flexible to reach children in need during the summer months when school meals are not available.
  
  
• Senate Approves New Name for Helena-West Helena Federal Building: On Wednesday, I took to the Senate floor to call up and pass S.1707 which renames the Helena-West Helena Federal building in honor of Judge Jacob Trieber, the nation’s first Jewish Federal Judge, and a long-time resident and community leader of Phillips County. The Senate unanimously approved the bill, which I introduced with Senator Cotton.
  
  
• 125^th Anniversary of the Law Creating UAPB Commemorated: A resolution I introduced to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Second Morrill Act, the law that established educational opportunities for African-Americans with the creation of 19 land-grant universities passed the Senate by unanimous consent. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff was created by the Second Morrill Act and is an accomplished leader in agriculture innovation. I am proud to recognize UAPB and all 1890 Land-Grant Universities.

• Effort to Halt ITAR Changes: I joined with twenty-seven of my colleagues to urge Secretary of State John Kerry and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Anthony Dearth to modify or delay proposed changes to definitions in the International traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) which has the potential to limit Americans’ constitutionally-protected freedoms.  

• Korean War Wall of Remembrance Called for: I joined with U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) to introduce legislation that would authorize a Wall of Remembrance to be added to the Korean War Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
  
  
• Veterans History Project in the News: Last Saturday, my office hosted a Veterans History Project workshop in Springdale to teach Arkansans how they can help capture the experiences of our veterans and have them included in the collection at the Library of Congress. I am proud to see so many people are interested in participating in the project and sharing the stories of our veterans. Watch KNWA’s report from the workshop