Senate Adjourns Without Farm Bill or Cost-of-Living Relief for Arkansas Families
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas U.S. Senate candidate Hallie Shoffner released the following statement after the U.S. Senate adjourned for a state work period lasting through the November election:
“Arkansas families and businesses are being squeezed by the cost of fuel, food, health care and electricity. Winter is coming, farmers are still struggling, and families are trying to figure out how to make every dollar stretch a little further.
“And the Senate left Washington without delivering the relief Arkansans need.
“Tom Cotton will no doubt start appearing around the state at carefully curated events designed to keep the real problems away from him, making the case for another term. The only reason he’s here is because he wants something he hasn’t earned: our votes.
“He’s already spent millions of dollars on ads attacking me, and there’s more coming before Election Day, to make you afraid of me and to distract from years of failing to deliver for Arkansas. This race should be about more than political ads: whether the people of Arkansas are actually seeing results from the person they sent to Washington.
But after 14 years in Washington, Tom Cotton has a record Arkansans can examine for themselves to determine who he’s helping:
“Not Farmers. The Farm Bill cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee, but the Senate went home without bringing it to the floor for a vote. Arkansas farmers are still waiting for the certainty a long-term Farm Bill is supposed to provide.
“Not Families. The Senate also left without passing broad legislation to lower families’ health-care costs or household energy costs. A bipartisan energy and permitting agreement was introduced this week, but a vote is not expected until after the election. Another proposal dealing with rising electricity costs failed to advance.
“Certainly not our service members. The war with Iran continues. Last week, the Senate considered a resolution directing the removal of U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran. Tom Cotton voted against it.
“Arkansas does not need more campaign rhetoric or another round of Washington culture wars. We need our leaders working on the problems people are dealing with every day: keeping farms in business, lowering the cost of groceries and fuel, making health care affordable, strengthening our energy system and getting our fiscal house in order.
“I’m a farmer. I’m a small-business owner. I serve on the board of Arkansas’s largest hunger-relief organization. These issues aren’t talking points to me. I see what rising costs mean for farmers trying to plant another crop, businesses trying to make payroll and families trying to put good food on the table.
“Tonight, I’ll be home in Newport for Homecoming. I’ll see people I grew up with, share some memories and probably hear many of the same concerns I hear everywhere I travel in Arkansas. That’s the point of showing up: listening to people, understanding what they’re carrying and taking those concerns seriously to fight for them in Washington. That is the kind of work I believe a United States Senator should be doing. And that’s the work I look forward to doing.
“Arkansas has real problems that require real work. I will stay focused on those problems and on fighting for Arkansas.”
About Hallie Shoffner
Hallie Shoffner is a wife, mother, sixth-generation Arkansan, row crop farmer and small
business owner, running for U.S. Senate to fight for her neighbors. For more information, visit hallieshoffner.com.
