Dr. Boozman's Check-up
Week in Review: June 17-21
Jun 21 2013
The immigration debate continues, legislation to repeal the death tax is introduced and more in this edition of the “Week in Review”
- Why I Oppose the Current Immigration Bill: The Senate continues to debate an immigration reform bill. As I mentioned at the onset of this debate, it is overdue and there are reasonable measures that we can take to reform our immigration system. However, the bill brought forth in the Senate fails to provide the necessary actions that will keep us from having to revisit this issue in the future. It remains to be seen if it can be improved enough to gain my support.
- Calling for a Repeal of the Death Tax: The federal government should eliminate the death tax to create jobs. That is why I helped to introduce the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2013 (S. 1183) this week. This bill will permanently end the federal estate tax that punishes our small business owners and agriculture producers.
- Supporting Disaster Relief: The entire Congressional delegation sent a letter to the President and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate supporting Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe’s request for a major disaster declaration for the state of Arkansas. Read the letter here.
- Recognizing Small Businesses: Small businesses play an integral role in securing the success of our economy. They represent core values that are at the heart of America. That is why this week we are celebrating National Small Business Week.
- Nevada County Mobile Office Set: Members of my staff will be in Prescott to help Arkansans with problems involving the federal government and to hear their thoughts about legislative issues on June 25th.
- Visiting with KASU: I visited with KASU in Jonesboro about the NSA controversy, the Syrian conflict, the Farm Bill, immigration reform and more. You can listen to the interview in its entirety here.
- PEPFAR: A 10-Year (and Counting) Success: This week, the State Department marked the ten-year anniversary of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Learn why this program, started under the vision and leadership of President George W. Bush, is a success story worth celebrating.
- Addressing Hunger at Home: Despite Arkansas’ role in the agriculture industry we are unfortunately all too familiar with hunger and malnourishment. Read about how we can address the issue of hunger in Arkansas.
- Celebrating Juneteenth: This week we celebrated “Juneteenth,” the day General Gordon Granger arrived in Texas with word that President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the last slaves in the United States were. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.
- AR Electric Cooperative Sends Young Arkansans to DC: We were happy to have this great group of students from across the state in Washington as part of the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Youth Group.