1) The Obama Administration’s overreaching mandates harm Arkansas’s farmers, ranchers and loggers. I’m helping to lead efforts to push back. At every turn, the Obama Administration has sought to expand the federal government’s reach into the family farm. Arkansas farmers, ranchers and private landowners are rightfully concerned about this tremendous overreach that threatens their ability to use their property and continue their livelihood. Mandates like the ‘Waters of the United States’ rule will raise costs without providing benefits, take control away from states and increase uncertainty all while causing project delays as Arkansans try to figure out where these power-grab apply. That is why overturning the WOTUS rule is a top priority for the Senate. Learn more…

2) Expanding trade opportunities opens new markets for Arkansas’s agricultural producers. Arkansas’s farmers, loggers and ranchers benefit from trade, and I’m working to open additional export markets. Agriculture is Arkansas's leading economic industry, and our state is the country’s top exporter of rice and ranks among the top ten for poultry, cotton, farmed fish and soybeans. Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) offers the possibility of additional markets for Arkansas’ producers. When negotiated properly, free and fair trade agreements improve market access for exports, grow our economy, and great jobs at home. One market that is primed for the commodities that Arkansas produces is Cuba. The number one barrier that farmers and agricultural exporters in Arkansas and across the country have faced when trying to export to Cuba is that private firms are prohibited from providing financing to exporters for the Cuban market. A bill that I introduced with Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), the Agricultural Export Expansion Act, will change that. Learn more…

3) The current law that authorizes the nation’s child nutrition programs is slated to expire on September 30, 2015. Congress will be considering options to reauthorize some these programs while bringing much-needed reform to others. In an effort to help move reform forward, I introduced the Hunger Free Summer for Kids Act, legislation to make federal child nutrition programs more efficient and flexible to reach children in need during the summer months when school meals are not available. I will be working to get this bill included with the larger reauthorization. Learn more…

4) Congress must ensure that the Farm Bill is implemented properly. Programs authorized by this law are vital to ensuring that we do not become dependent on other countries for our food supply—in the vein that we have of our energy needs—and allow Arkansas’s family farms to compete in a high risk and heavily subsidized global marketplace. And perhaps most importantly, the Farm Bill is a jobs bill. Just like any other industry, family farms and agribusinesses need certainty in order to plan for future development and growth. That makes the proper implementation of the farm bill all that much more important. I am committed to ensuring the strict oversight necessary to achieve that goal. Learn more…