Washington Update 

Debt Ceiling

Congressman Womack discusses the legislative proposals being brought to the floor on the radio 

Next week, government funding will run out. To avert a shutdown, a continuing resolution (CR) or passage of full appropriations is needed before September 30^th. It is very obvious that passage of the 12 full-year appropriations bills, which must be signed into law before the deadline, won’t happen. So, a CR is necessary. Why are we here? It’s quite simple. House Democrats have failed to do their job.

Earlier this year, House Democrats rammed through their partisan appropriations package, a “bloated bus” which significantly increased funding for their socialist spending priorities. They knew these bills wouldn’t be signed into law – but they wasted time putting them on the floor anyway. Their package also failed to include all necessary funding bills—for example, they didn't even consider the Defense Appropriations bill! Let's not forget, they’ve known for months of these realities, and the fact we are hurtling towards this deadline.

Now, fast forward to this week. Instead of passing a clean CR, they once again are trying to use a dire situation to advance more of their radical spending agenda. I want to keep the government operating—but I will not sit back and allow the other side to use necessary actions, like advancing a necessary short-term funding bill, as a trojan horse to plow ahead with their monstrous spending spree. What am I talking about?

House Democrats decided they would attach suspending the debt ceiling—which is the limit of how much money the federal government can add to our cumulative debt—to the CR. You can think of the debt limit as you would your own credit card limit. Well, as inflation has shown, the other side has been spending a lot of money. They have not been shy of pursuing a radical, partisan agenda—with their latest proposal calling for piling on trillions more in debt. They are pushing for the most expensive piece of legislation in America’s history—alongside historic tax increases—but they need to raise the debt limit to do so. I don’t think so.

Both the debt limit and impending days until government funding lapses are crises of their own making. This situation is quintessential Pelosi-Schumer governance: dismiss good-faith negotiations and create a chaos as the sand in the hourglass runs out. They won’t compromise on anything—unless it’s caving to the radical left—but expect blind cooperation from everyone else. Speaker Pelosi loves this type of doomsday legislating because it gives her power. By creating turbulence and anxiety related to the negative effects of these circumstances, she can coerce members to vote for bloated packages. It’s about forcing a “my way or the highway” environment.

For Democrats, this vote is about giving themselves a blank check to enable their socialist vision. They’ve quickly maxed out the credit card limit on the American taxpayer’s dime—but it isn’t enough for them. Their only plan is to exacerbate already untenable deficits and debt.

Congressman Womack sits on the House floor with other members during votes 

I voted against this bill. Instead of driving our nation’s fiscal instability, my colleagues on the other side should abandon reconciliation and enact meaningful spending and budget reforms.

We could have implemented those changes years ago. In the fall of 2018, the Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform was having its final vote.

We had the opportunity to institute changes, including moving to a biennial budget, ensuring realistic deadlines for Congress to complete its budget and appropriations work, and requiring a joint Budget Committee hearing on the fiscal state of the nation, that would have helped prevent the very situation we are currently in. But what happened? A number of Democrat members voted present.

They had the chance to produce real change but lacked the courage to vote yes.

So, as I said earlier, this situation is fundamentally a crisis of the other side’s own making. Both because of their insatiable appetite to spend and their past decision to derail desperately needed budget and appropriations process reform.

The American people deserve better. We need fundamental changes to restrain government spending—and we also need comprehensive budget and appropriations process reform.

Standing with Israel

Congressman Womack delivers speech on supporting our ally Israel 

You may have noticed that the vote on the above-mentioned legislation took longer than expected. In fact, votes were postponed for almost the entire day. It was not because Democrats decided to abandon their misguided proposal to address the border crisis, prioritize fiscal sanity, or call for accountability in Afghanistan. It’s because Speaker Pelosi had to negotiate with the radical left to strip our ally Israel of critical self-defense resources. She ended up caving to the extreme members of her caucus.

In the same week President Biden pledged to stand with our allies, his Democrat counterparts removed critical defense resources for our longstanding ally and friend. We shouldn’t be surprised, given the openly anti-Semitic sentiments—and comparisons of Israel and America to terrorist organizations—expressed by some on the other side.

The State of Israel has the right to exist free from terror. This point should not be controversial. The Iron Dome has no offensive capability, and, yet, there are still members on the Democrat side of the aisle who oppose it. Interestingly, we didn’t see the same visceral reaction to leaving more than a billion dollars’ worth of artillery in the hands of terrorists in Afghanistan, as we are seeing with this defensive system.

They openly opposed a capability that protects women and children from terrorist rocket attacks. It's critically important to both American security and Middle East regional stability that our relationship remains strong. I spoke on the House floor to voice my steadfast support for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system and right to exist free from terror. I also voted to pass a supplemental bill to reverse the radical actions of the far left to strip our ally Israel of critical self-defense resources.

Watch my speech here.

Supporting American Troops

Congressman Womack proudly voted to support the NDAA and U.S. troops

Our military stands watch as defenders of freedom and forces for good across the globe. We must always ensure our warfighters are the best equipped and trained. I was proud to support the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022, which authorizes $778 billion for national security activities. This NDAA includes the elements necessary to resource our troops and protect the homeland. Importantly, it also makes clear that Congress won’t allow President Biden to shortchange our men and women in uniform by stopping the reckless cuts he proposed.

A sampling of authorizations I strongly supported include:

• Stopping Biden Defense Cuts: Reverses harmful cuts proposed by President Biden and ensures our military is properly resourced.
• Supporting Arkansas Troops: Provides resources to support our troops at Ebbing, Fort Chaffee, and other Arkansas installations.
• Troop Pay Raise: Gives our courageous troops a pay raise.
• Afghanistan Accountability: Implements more than 20 provisions to hold the Biden Administration accountable for its disastrous withdrawal in Afghanistan, including necessitating reports detailing the number of American citizens left behind, requiring a plan to evacuate them, and prohibiting any financial support of the Taliban.
• Confronting Russian Aggression: Requires mandatory sanctions against Putin’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline. This is necessary following President Biden’s misguided actions, which have enabled this geopolitical weapon for Moscow at every turn. Womack has helped lead the fight against this project to protect U.S. and European security.
• Countering China: Bolsters resources to improve lethality, reduces our reliance on Chinese supply chains, requires assessment of CCP ties to COVID-19 origins, and implements other deterrence efforts.
• Helping Military Families: Follows the Natural State’s lead by ensuring portability of professional licensures for military spouses when their sponsor receives military change of station orders.
• Border Security: Declares the situation at our southern border a national security crisis and directs National Guard resources to support enforcement efforts.

More information on the bill and provisions I backed here.

Defending Life

Congressman Womack voted to uphold the sanctity of life by taking action against H.R. 3755

Today, I voted to uphold the sanctity of life by taking action against H.R. 3755, legislation part of House Democrats’ extreme pro-abortion agenda. The bill would abolish several federal and state pro-life laws and remove nearly all pro-life protections for the unborn.

We must protect the voiceless. This extreme legislation would invalidate nearly every pro-life law in the country and threaten conscience protections for medical professionals. I voted against this egregious attack on life. I will always defend the unborn and sanctity of life.

I also joined my colleagues in calling for a complete investigation into alarming reports related to the University of Pittsburgh’s procurement and use of abortive fetal tissue for research. Recent reports from the NIH show the university may have violated federal law by altering abortion procedures solely for the purpose of obtaining fetal tissue. Even worse, the reports show that university researchers may have harvested organs from babies who were old enough to live outside the womb. Learn more here.

Other notes and meetings:

Arkansas Highway Commission: Met with Arkansas Highway Commissioner Keith Gibson of Fort Smith and Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) leadership, including Director Lorie Tudor, Deputy Director Randy Ort, Assistant Chief for Administration Kevin Thornton, and Gill Rogers, to discuss surface infrastructure in the Natural State, ongoing projects, and work on I-49 and I-40.

Congressman Womack with Arkansas Highway and ARDOT leadership

University of Arkansas – Naval Surface Warfare Center: Participated in a great call between the University of Arkansas Silicon-Geranium-Tin-Lead Infrared Research team and the Naval Surface Warfare Center – Crane. The University of Arkansas is home to world-class IR researchers, and this project will help the Navy significantly improve its IR capabilities while bringing more of this important work to Northwest Arkansas.

LeadAR: Rep. Crawford and I joined the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service's leadership program, LeadAR, members to talk about our work in Congress, as well as policy issues ranging from agriculture to broadband. The group was full of proud Arkansans, and I especially appreciated meeting those from the Third District, including Tiffany Henry, Krista Patrick, Brian See, and Jennifer Terry!

Congressman Womack with LeadAR members

Forest Resources Association: Spoke with Arkansas members of the Forest Resources Association, including Steve Evans of Russellville, to discuss their workforce and transportation challenges. We talked about the DRIVE Safe Act, which would allow 18-20-year-olds who pass a rigorous safety examination to obtain a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) and operate trucks on interstate routes.

National Turkey Federation: The Natural State has a long and proud history of our farmers and poultry producers helping feed and fuel families and our economy. AR-3 is a top 3 turkey producing district in the country! I appreciated meeting with the National Turkey Federation to talk about labor shortage challenges, potential trade opportunities with our Australian allies, and animal health issues. I led an effort to secure funding from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in the FY22 Agriculture Appropriations Bill for Histomonas (Blackhead) research. This disease devastates turkey flocks with mortality rates approaching 80%, and there is currently no treatment available. Once the FY22 Agriculture Appropriations Bill becomes law, ARS will begin research.

Congressman Womack with National Turkey Federation representatives

National Association of Trailer Manufacturers (NATM): Met with Arkansans—like Rick Huddleston of Flipping—who are part of NATM. We talked about their safety focus, workforce challenges, and supply chain issues. We discussed how the workforce shortage is significantly impacting their operations. We also discussed their supply chain issues, which I am hearing from far too many of my constituents in Arkansas. To help solve the issues we are seeing at our nation’s ports, I cosponsored H.R. 4996 – Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021. This bill would ensure the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has the tools it needs to properly advance over-ocean trade and help both importers and exporters in addressing some of our current international supply chain issues.

Rally for Medical Research: Keturah White of Bentonville shared her personal medical story with me. She expressed how innovations developed through NIH research helped save her life, and I appreciated getting a firsthand account of how federal investments are changing the lives of residents in my district.

Congressman Womack listens to Keturah White during his meeting with Rally for Medical Research

Arkansas Municipal League: I appreciated meeting with the Arkansas Municipal League, giving them an update on the latest from Washington, and speaking about the importance of broadband to people across Arkansas.

I also got a surprise visit from some of my great friends from college. It was great to see Dan and Marsha Loveday and Marc and Becky Kilburn, catch up, and reminisce on our memories from Arkansas Tech!

Congressman Womack with friends from Arkansas Tech University 

Wishing you a great weekend ahead! You can keep an eye on my website or check out my Twitter and Instagram pages to stay up-to-date with the latest news from my office.

P.S.: Calling all AR-3 middle and high school students. Do you have a passion for coding or a great idea for a new app? Sign up for the Congressional App Challenge today! Submissions are due by November 1. Learn more about the competition here.