Dr. Boozman's Check-up
Week in Review: February 2-6
Feb 06 2015
The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act passes the Senate, Democrats filibuster Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding, the President proposes an out-of-touch budget and more in this “Week in Review.”
- Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act: The Senate unanimously passed this bill that will improve mental health care and suicide prevention resources for veterans by increasing access to mental health programs, providing incentives to recruit and retain psychiatrists to treat veterans and enhancing resources for members of the military transitioning to civilian life. If you missed my floor speech during the debate, you can watch it here.
- DHS Funding and the President’s Executive Overreach: In case you missed it, I spoke with the Washington Examiner about why I think defunding Obama’s executive actions on immigration is a “must have” in any new legislation to fund DHS.
- The President’s Out-of-Touch Budget Proposal: President Obama announced his FY 2016 Budget proposal. If implemented, the President’s proposal would create $2.1 trillion in new taxes, increase spending by 65 percent and add $8.5 trillion to the debt over the next ten years. It would fully fund Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with no restrictions on the President’s executive order declaring amnesty. Read why this is out-of-touch with the needs and concerns of the American people.
- What I'm Co-Sponsoring Week: Repealing Obamacare Act, Balanced Budget Amendment & More: I added my support to several bills this week, including efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, a Constitutional amendment that would require Washington to balance its budget and a bill to hold Iran accountable if the regime refuses to negotiate a deal regarding Tehran's nuclear program by June 30th. Read about these bills and more in this blog post.
- #ServingAR: My staff is taking the office on the road and hosting seven mobile offices around the state next week as part of my commitment to make it more convenient to get you the help you deserve. I will also be holding a “Facebook Q&A” and a telephone town hall on Monday. You can find out how to participate in both here.
- From the Mailbag: Last week I helped introduce a bipartisan bill to lift the travel ban to Cuba. In this edition of “From the Mailbag” I answer a question from James in Russellville about the US and Cuba moving toward normalized relations.
- UA Mentoring Program for Veteran and Minority Farmers Receives Federal Funding: I joined with U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) and U.S. Representative Steve Womack (AR-3) to announce that the University of Arkansas (UA) has been awarded funding to develop an online and in-person training and mentoring program for military veterans and minority farmers.