Weekly Columns

I am grateful that I had the opportunity to attend President Biden's Joint Address to Congress this week, not only because I have a deep respect for the institutions of Congress and the Presidency, but also because every President deserves to make his case to Congress and the nation.

Conservation is inherently conservative. While the Left has radicalized the narrative on environmental issues, I'm here to set the record straight. A strong economy and a clean environment go hand in hand. I was proud to re-introduce my bill, the Trillion Trees Act this week as a part of House Republicans' energy innovation agenda. The Trillion Trees Act is an important step in supporting market-based solutions to climate issues that we can all get behind.

For every bad idea put forth in the House of Representatives by the Democrat majority, it seems another, even more radical piece of legislation follows right behind it. This week, Representative Jerry Nadler (D-NY) filed legislation to expand the Supreme Court from nine justices to 13 claiming that he is not packing the court, but rather, "unpacking it." He said the bill would "restore balance to the nation's highest court after four years of norm-breaking actions by Republicans led to its current composition."

About a month ago, I took to social media to ask the people of Arkansas' Fourth District to nominate their fellow residents who have gone above and beyond to selflessly serve others in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The response was staggering! We received an incredible number of inspirational stories of those who gave back to their communities while expecting nothing in return. Last week, I visited 17 of these Hometown Heroes to congratulate them on their service and listen to their stories.

Recently, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to increase the population threshold for a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) to 100,000 or more persons. The current population threshold of 50,000 or more persons has been unchanged since 1950. Declassified cities will either lose access to some federal programs or see greatly diminished federal funding from those using the MSA designation as a qualifying factor.

I recently introduced two bipartisan bills to ensure veterans exposed to Agent Orange while serving their country during the Vietnam War-era receive the benefits they were promised and have earned. Upon retirement, many Vietnam War-era veterans stationed in Vietnam and Thailand were denied certain health benefits despite a clear connection between their time in service, the herbicides used during their service, and their subsequent poor health status.

This week, I had the honor of hosting a group of Keystone XL Pipeline, agriculture, steel, energy, and construction workers to discuss the true cost of President Biden's energy policies. Recently, President Biden cancelled the Keystone XL Pipeline permit and oil and gas leasing on federal lands, which put thousands of people instantly out of work and deprived our economy of a major investment-- all with the stroke of a pen. These men and women shared their stories on how the cancellation has affected them and their families personally, and their industries financially.

Above all else, my duty as an elected official and a member of Congress is to uphold and protect the Constitution. That is why I strongly opposed the two gun control bills that Democrats pushed through the House of Representatives this week. These bills directly limit Americans' constitutional right to bear arms as specified in the Second Amendment.