State group's D.C. meal draws crowd
WASHINGTON -- The Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce held its 58th annual Washington Fly-In and Congressional Dinner on Wednesday, drawing three dozen people to the nation's capital.
More than 50 had signed up for the trip, but several stayed home because of a snowstorm warning and a slew of flight cancellations on the East Coast.
Chamber President and CEO Randy Zook said those who braved the weather were glad they did.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials briefed the group on trade, immigration and tax issues. The Arkansans also heard a lot about health care legislation. "That's the hot topic," Zook said.
Later, the business leaders visited with members of the Arkansas congressional delegation.
The meetings were "very productive," Zook said, adding, "We learned a lot about what's going on on the Hill."
That evening, the group headed to Hill County Barbecue Market for dinner.
Roughly 100-120 people showed up for the meal, Zook said, adding, "We had a great crowd and a heck of a time."
22 students make Washington visit
When Jeana Cearley took students to the nation's capital in 2015, it snowed 8 inches and most of the city shut down.
Hoping to avoid another brush with bad weather, the history and government teacher scheduled this year's trip for mid-March, a decision that ended up backfiring.
Cearley and 22 students from Columbia Christian School in Magnolia arrived just in time for Winter Storm Stella, which dropped a couple of inches of snow on Washington.
The blizzard conditions that had originally been forecast never materialized, so the high school students spent the day visiting the city's monuments.
While in Washington, they met with their elected officials: U.S. Sens. John Boozman of Rogers and Tom Cotton of Dardanelle, as well as U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs.
The trip was worthwhile, Cearley said.
"My biggest aim with teaching them history is that they will be self-sufficient, contributing citizens to the United States of America, and I want them to know how our government works," she said. "Most of them have been very sheltered in south Arkansas, so this is an experience that they'll never forget, and it brings them into the larger world to see what's going on out there."
Financial policy focus of Hill talk
U.S. Rep. French Hill spoke to the Exchequer Club at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington last week, telling its members about the House Financial Services Committee's efforts to overhaul the nation's financial regulatory policy.
The Republican from Little Rock serves on the committee.
The Exchequer's Club, which was founded in 1960, attracts civic and business leaders from across the city.
Politico has described it as "sort of a social society for financial types."
Hill is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Delta Trust and Banking Corp., a Little Rock financial institution that he founded and led before its purchase in 2014 by Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff.
Hill served as deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for corporate finance, and was later a special assistant to the president and executive secretary to the Economic Policy Council.
Religious leaders support aid funds
More than 100 religious leaders sent a letter to congressional leaders this week urging them not to slash funding for the nation's international aid programs.
The Rev. Ronnie Floyd, pastor of Cross Church in Northwest Arkansas and a former Southern Baptist Convention president, was listed as a signatory. So was the Rev. Chris Ellis, the minister of Mission and Outreach at Second Baptist Church in Little Rock.
The Trump administration last week released a budget blueprint calling for more military and homeland security spending, and sharp cuts in programs that benefit foreign countries.
The church leaders said they were writing "to share our support for the International Affairs Budget that every day brings hope to poor, hungry, vulnerable and displaced men, women and children around the world."
They highlighted America's natural and economic resources, while noting that around the globe, 65 million people have had to leave their homes to escape conflict and persecution. Worldwide, they said, nearly 800 million people don't have enough to eat.
"Matthew 25 tells us when we serve the least of these, we are serving the Lord. As people of faith, we cannot turn our back on those in desperate need," they wrote.
Health bill needs fixes, Cotton says
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., spoke at the National Review Institute's Ideas Summit in Washington on Thursday. During an interview with the conservative magazine's Mona Charen, he criticized the American Health Care Act, saying, "I think it's fixable, but it needs a lot of fixing."
Republicans have promised to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare. But the bill favored by the House leadership has drawn sharp criticism from some conservatives, including Cotton.
He expressed concern that the current version doesn't do anything about rising premiums, National Review reported.
Charen asked Cotton whether the legislation would pass, asking him, "On a scale of zero to 5, zero being no chance, 5 being metaphysical certitude, how likely is it that a health care reform bill will get signed into law?"
"The bill as written is close to 1," Cotton said, adding "For a modified bill, [it's] 3½, approaching 4."
Planning to visit the nation's capital? Know something happening in Washington, D.C.? Please contact Frank Lockwood at (202) 662-7690 or flockwood@arkansasonline.com. Want the latest from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Washington bureau? It's available on Twitter, @LockwoodFrank.
SundayMonday on 03/19/2017