Congressional Recap: Highway Bill Gets Approval As Congress Heads To Recess

The debate over a highway bill capped this week’s action in the nation’s capital as lawmakers approved a short-term bill before heading to recess.

Meanwhile, one of the issues to be discussed after Congress gets back from recess – a nuclear weapons agreement between the United States and Iran – was discussed this week by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.

The following is the week that was in the nation’s capital:

HIGHWAY, VA BILLS APPROVED
The House and Senate went back and forth this week, attempting to negotiate a long-term highway bill.

However, the opposition of the House to a Senate bill, with an extension to the Export-Import Bank, caused only a short-term bill to be approved.

The House voted 385-34, with one present, Wednesday to approve the short-term bill funding highway programs through Oct. 29, 2015.

The House also voted 256-170 to approve a bill seeking to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Each of the four United States representatives – Reps. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, French Hill, R-Little Rock, Steve Womack, R-Rogers and Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs – said the short-term highway bill will help lawmakers reach a long-term solution.

The Senate also voted 91-4 Thursday to approve the short-term bill.

Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., who serves on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that crafted the long-term bill, said a long-term bill would help solve a pressing need.

“Arkansas and other states cannot and should not have to rely on short-term funding that fails to provide certainty for important infrastructure improvements. I am confident that we can come to an agreement to pass a long-term solution in the coming months,” Boozman said.

SEN. COTTON: U.S. SHOULD REJECT IRAN DEAL
A nuclear deal between the United States and Iran can create a multitude of problems, the state’s junior senator said Tuesday.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., delivered a speech Tuesday to the Hudson Institute about the deal, which must still be approved by Congress.

In his remarks, Cotton said the deal could dismantle more than 30 years’ worth of policy involving the Tehran regime.

“This is a peculiar and momentous time in U.S. foreign policy. We are on Day 9 of a 60-day period in which the lone superpower on earth will decide whether to accept a nuclear deal with Iran, a mortal and unrepentant enemy. 51 days to decide whether we abandon the framework of international sanctions on Iran that has taken over a decade of careful diplomacy to construct,” Cotton said.

“51 days to decide whether we continue to isolate, challenge, and pressure the ayatollahs of Iran, or empower them in ways that will forever change the balance of power in the Middle East, with grave implications for our friends and allies. 51 days to decide whether it is wise to join hands with a regime that, for a generation, has targeted and killed our troops, held our citizens hostage, and sought our nation’s destruction. This is a weighty decision. But it is not a hard one: the United States should reject this deal.”

The House will be back in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 8, while the Senate will return to D.C. this week to handle several bills before going on recess.