2 report 1st year in D.C. splendid

WASHINGTON -- Arkansas voters, during the midterm elections of 2014, picked a banker and a forester to fill vacant seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Halfway through their first two-year terms, the two Republican lawmakers say they're enjoying their new jobs, though Capitol Hill can be challenging and occasionally frustrating.

"It's been a great year. I've loved it. I'm honored to have the responsibility. ... You know it's a dream situation for me," said 2nd District U.S. Rep. French Hill of Little Rock.

As founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Delta Trust & Banking Corp., Hill started and managed a successful Arkansas-based financial institution that was purchased by Simmons First National Corp. in 2014.

Now Hill sits on the House Financial Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over banks and banking.

Last year, Hill sponsored a bill to briefly delay enforcement of new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules governing home sales and refinancing.

His legislation, which protects businesses that make good-faith efforts to comply with the new regulations, overwhelmingly passed in the House and is pending in the Senate.

"I think there's no doubt I feel my prime accomplishment inside the House in the first year was getting into that committee, being a productive, contributing member," he said. "My banking experience has allowed me to, I think, make a meaningful contribution to securities and banking issues."

Hill's fellow freshman, 4th District U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs, said he's also had a successful first year.

"I'm still in awe when I walk through the buildings, and just think about the history of the place and what it means to get to be the voice of approximately 750,000 people back home. It's still a very humbling experience to get be in this position," the forestry expert said.

In Washington, he serves on the House Committee on Natural Resources, which has jurisdiction over public lands, including the national forests and the National Park Service.

Westerman is the only House member with a graduate degree in forestry. He studied the subject at Yale.

In July, the House passed a bill he sponsored -- the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015 -- to overhaul the nation's forest management policies.

It's awaiting action in the Senate and has drawn opposition from the White House, which says the measure would undermine existing environmental safeguards.

Westerman said the current system needs changes, including better strategies for preventing forest fires.

"We're not managing those assets as we should, and it's a treasure. We need to be treating it much better," he said. "We're talking about millions of acres and billions and billions of dollars, and right now we're spending way too much money fighting fires and that's not even the biggest cost. The biggest cost is the billions of dollars of assets that are going up in flames."

Westerman, who is also an engineer and the former Arkansas House majority leader, says he enjoys the job, but it's hard to be away from his wife and children.

"The toughest thing, by far, is the time that's spent here in D.C. away from my family. That's hands down the toughest part of the job," he said. "I have teenagers in school, and as far as the family was concerned, moving to Washington, D.C., was a nonstarter."

So at the end of each workweek, he boards a plane and heads home.

Generally, Sunday is set aside for faith and family. Westerman is a deacon at Walnut Valley Baptist Church in Hot Springs Village.

"I still teach a Sunday School class at church," he said.

He prepares the weekly lesson "early in the morning, late at night or on the airplane, just whenever I get an opportunity," he said.

Both Westerman and Hill have past experience on Capitol Hill. Westerman worked as a summer intern for Sen. David Pryor, a Democrat, in the 1980s, an opportunity he was given because of his stint as state president of Future Farmers of America.

Before joining the administration of George H.W. Bush, Hill worked for then-U.S. Sen. John Tower of Texas, as well as the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

Serving in Congress, Hill said, takes discipline, stamina and strong time-management skills.

"I knew what to expect, but this is a challenging job for people who don't know how to allocate their time," he said.

Few substantive things happen quickly or easily. "Achieving change is hard work, requires persistence, perseverance, and it always has since 1789," Hill said, referring to the year when George Washington was elected president and Congress met for the first time.

Both lawmakers say they've had a number of incredible experiences during their first years.

Westerman said one of the highlights was attending the annual March for Life, which marks the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down anti-abortion laws.

"I had never envisioned what a half-million people in a crowd would look like," Westerman said. "They were literally there to be voices for unborn children that didn't have a voice. ... It was a powerful experience."

Hill said he was moved by a citizenship ceremony, where immigrants renounce their allegiance to other nations and pledge to "support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America."

"It was so touching to see those 60 or so new citizens from many countries all over the world with their families, many dressed up, with the [Daughters of the American Revolution] ladies there to hand them their American flag and copy of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. It was really a setting out of a Norman Rockwell painting and, man, I was proud to be a part of that," Hill said.

SundayMonday on 01/17/2016