We Hear You, Arkansas!

There is a disconnect between Arkansas and Washington D.C. The career politicians in Washington are not listening to people here in Arkansas, and this is the fundamental problem with politics.

Our campaign is doing things differently—we will listen to and fight for every single Arkansan.

We’ve traveled throughout the state and heard your concerns loud and clear: to make a difference, we have to fix the system, eliminate corruption, and restore government to its founding democratic principle—that it’s made of, by and for the people.

To accomplish this goal, we need a Senator who understands Arkansas and works as hard as the people who live here. We need a senator who works for the Natural State and its people—not a pawn to Washington politicians and special interests.

We need a Senator who is not afraid to stand up to anyone in either party, if it is the best for the people of Arkansas. I would be honored to be that Senator, a leader who gets Arkansas, who listens to Arkansas, and who knows that solutions are in Arkansas; not Washington.

Having served as the United States Attorney in Western Arkansas and prosecuted numerous cases, I approach every issue by focusing on the facts and then asking one simple question:  “what is the right thing to do?”

These principles are guiding our campaign, and that’s why I’m standing up for all Arkansans and the issues that impact our daily lives. Here’s what we’re going to do:

• Clean Up Politics: we will get rid of secret money in politics, restore integrity in our government, and bring power back to the people. I will fight to completely overhaul campaign finance in this country and bring transparency back to government—something my opponent, Sen. John Boozman, has repeatedly voted against.
• Reignite Arkansas’s Economy: we’re going to reform the tax code and lower taxes for families and small businesses; negotiate fairer trade deals that keep jobs here at home; fight for a higher minimum wage; and strengthen Arkansas’s infrastructure, including highways, waterways and broadband internet.
• Protect and Improve Healthcare: we’re going to bring down the costs of healthcare and make sure Arkansans are able to obtain affordable health insurance. This means fighting Senator John Boozman’s repeated efforts to repeal Arkansas Works and the Private Option, and preventing Boozman’s attempts to eliminate health insurance for 400,000 Arkansans.
• Keep America Safe: we’ll ensure our nation’s military, intelligence and diplomatic communities have the resources they need to destroy ISIS and to protect Americans here at home and abroad.
• Strengthen Education and Job Training: we’ll invest in our children and their education, fight for better schools, and ensure affordable student loans. And for the backbone of our economy—our dedicated workforce—we’re going to revitalize vocational schools and community colleges and ensure that every Arkansan has the opportunity to learn the skills they need to spark the innovative jobs of the future.
• Reform Our Immigration System: we’ll pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation that focuses on immediate action to secure our borders and establish a pathway to legal status for law-abiding and tax-paying immigrants.
• Defend the Second Amendment: we will preserve our right to responsible gun ownership and defend the individual right to protect ourselves.
• End Discrimination and Defend Equal Opportunity: I will fight for principles of equality and opportunity for every Arkansan and ensure everyone is treated fairly under the law. And, I will stand strongly against prejudice in any form because you should never be discriminated against because of how you were born, what you look like, or who you love.
• Fight Crime & Keep Our Children Safe: we’re going to work to end the cycle of poverty and violence that has troubled our nation for generations. As your next Senator, I will lead efforts to reform our criminal justice system to focus not only locking up the worst violent criminals, but also on rehabilitating criminals so they have the opportunity to reform and rejoin society as engaged citizens.
• Restore Fiscal Responsibility and Accountability: we must return to regular order and force Congress to do its job by passing a budget on time every year. It’s time to stop the blame. It’s time to correct the reckless spending, balance the budget and reduce the debt. It’s time to get to work.
• Stand Up for Seniors: we will fight attempts to privatize Social Security and Medicare; and we will stop efforts to raise the retirement age or to cut benefits. I will not rest until seniors get the cost-of-living adjustments they have earned and we lower the cost of prescription drugs.
• Care for Veterans: we’ll give our Veterans the voice they need in Congress by ensuring we reform the VA, strengthen veterans health care, including mental health, reduce veteran unemployment and end veteran homelessness. We will also hold officials in the VA accountable when they fail our veterans and bring efficiency to the VA to provide the best healthcare for the people to whom we owe the most.
• Invest in Arkansas Agriculture: we have to do what we can to help our farming communities prosper by advocating for fairer trade deals that promote our commodities. Using common sense to stop overly burdensome regulations, we must always remember that agriculture is the bedrock of the Arkansas’s economy and way of life.

Our campaign is focused on reaching out to every Arkansan, to give them a strong voice, a fair shot and a clear difference. I am running to hold Washington accountable. And, I’m running to fight for every Arkansan. I hope you’ll join our campaign.