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Now, each person who enters the People’s House will learn about the Natural State through the life of Daisy Bates. She left an indelible mark on our nation’s history, shifting the trajectory of our state and our country for the better. I look forward to featuring her remarkable life in each future Capitol tour my staff and I give to Arkansans who visit us! It was an honor to be a part of this celebration, and I look forward to another later this year for Johnny Cash’s statue! On days like this, I’m particularly proud to be an Arkansan.
Tune in to this week’s Comment from the Capitol, HERE, where I report from Statuary Hall at the conclusion of the unveiling ceremony. I interviewed the sculptor, Benjamin Victor, as we looked at the statue, representing a civil rights hero and the very best of the Natural State and our nation!
Womack-Backed Legislation
We passed conservative legislation to advance our priorities and push back on the Biden Administration’s reckless agenda.
Keeping Illegal Immigrants Off the Decennial Census
The Constitution requires the government to census the population every 10 years. This is how U.S. Representatives and presidential electors for each state are apportioned.
While only citizens of the U.S. can vote for their preferred candidates for federal offices, the current practice for apportionment wrongly includes noncitizens—such as illegal immigrants—in a state’s population to calculate how many Representatives and electors are allocated to each state. This unfairly benefits states with higher noncitizen residents over states with a lower concentration of noncitizens, resulting in the former getting a higher apportionment of Representatives and electors, and hence, a stronger voice in the federal government.
This means that more than 4.7 million illegal immigrants that the Administration has released into communities during Biden’s border crisis, not to mention the 1.8 million known known illegal alien gotaways, could be included in the 2030 census for congressional and federal representation. It’s unfair to include noncitizens and illegal immigrants in apportioning the number of House Representatives and electors allocated to each state. This is common sense.
I voted for the Equal Representation Act, which requires the decennial census to include a citizenship question—in line with former President Trump’s efforts—and excludes noncitizens from the population on which the apportionment of U.S. House Representatives and electors for each state is based. This bill passed the House and will protect our democracy by making sure that only American citizens have a say in determining the direction of our country.
Protecting Consumer Choice
The Biden Administration has consistently abused its authority to push a reckless energy agenda on American families, which has stifled consumer choice, led to skyrocketing prices and hurt our economy. President Biden’s proposed standards aim to shut down the use of natural gas in homes and force electric appliances on the American people, regardless of cost, performance, or availability – putting their radical Green New Deal agenda before the needs of hardworking Americans.
These rules place a burden on Arkansan families and force them to use expensive appliances that simply don’t perform as well. While the Biden Administration adds new burdensome regulations for a multitude of everyday home appliances like dishwashers, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, and dryers, my House Republican colleagues and I passed legislation to protect consumer choice and keep government agencies out of your home.
The Hands off Our Home Appliances Act prevents the Secretary of Energy and the Department of Energy from implementing new or amended energy efficiency standards for appliances that are not technologically feasible and economically justified.
Looking ahead:
Next week, the House will tackle the final version of the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization legislation, which just passed the Senate yesterday. This legislation ensures the efficiency and safety of air travel. We have until Friday, May 17, to get this done. I will be sure to keep you updated as we progress on this critical piece of legislation.
Picture highlights from the week:
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Congratulations to West Point Football! On Monday, I joined the White House celebration where the Army Black Knights were awarded the Commander-in-Chief Trophy for winning the college football series between military academies. As always, go Army, beat Navy!
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It was great to have so many friendly faces visiting DC this week! The Arkansas Realtors were in town for their annual fly-in. I took them on a special night tour of the Capitol and met with them the following day to discuss updates to America’s tax laws to increase access to homeownership. In my new role as Chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee on Appropriations, I look forward to working to responsibly lower the cost of living in Arkansas and around the country.
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In a Financial Services and General Government hearing, I questioned IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel about the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), which is an important organization within the IRS that assists American taxpayers who are experiencing financial difficulty, need help solving tax problems, or believe the IRS is not performing as it should. Third District Arkansans heavily rely on this service, but it’s struggling to keep up with the demand. I’m focused on ensuring the Fiscal Year 2025 TAS appropriation effectively meets the true needs of the service.
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It was a pleasure having the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce in DC this week! My colleagues from Arkansas—Congressmen Westerman, Crawford, and Hill—and I gave updates and answered questions about what's happening in Congress and its impacts on the Natural State. Hearing directly from Arkansans while in DC is important to our work.
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Arkansans from Walmart and Sam’s Club came to my office to talk about issues facing retailers and what they are seeing at the store level. It’s great to hear their firsthand perspective so I can advocate for them in Congress!
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On my way back to Arkansas, I ran into Tanner Wade of Fayetteville at the airport! He’s a third-year Midshipman at the Naval Academy! It always warms my heart to see young Arkansans pursuing military service. Selecting our next generation of military leaders is my greatest honor as a congressman. I’m so proud of Tanner!
Happy Mother’s Day!
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On Sunday, I'll be wishing a happy Mother’s Day to all the incredible, hardworking, and loving mothers in Arkansas’ Third and across the country, particularly my own! Moms make ordinary moments magical and the hard times better. They bring joy into our days and make life beautiful. We take this day to celebrate how special they are in our lives. I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend!
I will be back in Washington, DC, next week for legislative business. Have a great weekend, and I hope to see you around! Be sure to check out my website, Twitter, and Instagram pages in the meantime.
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