Media

The federal budget process isn't likely to be dinner table conversation, it rarely grabs cable news headlines, and it's usually the furthest thing from our minds. But on Nov. 19 in a now-annual pattern, Congress punted its appropriation – government funding – duties for another month in what's called a continuing resolution (CR). I voted against this CR, for several reasons.

At any given time this week, impeachment proceedings completely dominated national news headlines. Yet while networks focused on the partisan process, a huge win for poultry producers across America slipped quietly under the radar. On November 14, China lifted its ban on poultry imports from the United States, thereby reopening a huge market for poultry production.

Former President Ronald Reagan once said, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We did not pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." This Veterans Day week, we get to honor the men and women who have fought to protect these freedoms.

The weather is finally getting colder, just in time to kick off hunting season in Arkansas. If you've ever been to my office in D.C., you'll immediately see how much I love hunting. I have pictures from some of my favorite duck hunts hanging on the wall, and just this week I was comparing notes with a visitor on the best places to duck hunt in Arkansas.

If you've driven in Southwest Arkansas for any length of time, you've probably gotten stuck behind a log truck for a few miles. These trucks, stacked high with freshly cut trees, represent just one link in a long chain of timber production. As a forester by trade, I always look forward to Forest Products Week each year, since it's a dedicated time to celebrate the advancement of sustainable forestry from seed to sawmill.