In the episode of Tune-In above, I explain the three main steps that will be taken to repeal the healthcare law and substitute it with a healthcare plan that works. The three steps are budget reconciliation (which occurred last week), administrative action, and legislative repeal. Bottomline, we don't want to create a healthcare cliff, which could be devastating for the healthcare industry and also potentially harmful for the economy at large. For the carpenters out there, the plan to repeal and replace Obamacare will be a sort of lap joint, a fix that is relatively seamless and smooth.

Tune-In AR1

Obamacare Repeal Process

Obamacare Repeal, Cormorants, Cuba Trade by Congressman Rick Crawford (AR-1)

Obamacare Repeal, Cormorants, Cuba Trade

By nature of occupation, farming requires taking on tremendous risk and uncertainty in return for modest pay. The American farmer often faces unforeseeable hardships such as crop failure, pestilence, climate fluctuation, and natural disaster. This reality rings true especially for producers impacted by the floods in Arkansas and Louisiana this summer. For decades, farmers have relied upon ad-hoc disaster assistance to compensate for setbacks, but can no longer count on this solution. The agriculture community has also recently experienced a historic drop in net farm income and cuts to traditional farm support programs after the passage of the 2014 Farm Bill. I introduced the Farm Risk Abatement and Mitigation Election (FRAME) Act, which incentivizes farmers to save money for disaster scenarios

Private Disaster Relief for Farmers

Trade is important for economic development and growth. But often, the bigger the trade deal, the larger the opportunity for gaming the system. This week, the U.S. announced that they will be bringing a case against China to the World Trade Organization. To learn more about that case, the different types of trade agreements, and how all of those affect the 1st District, watch or listen to this week's Tune-In AR1.

Trade Agreements: Bad Actors

Streamlining was whole purpose behind pairing up educators and industry during our STEM tour in AR1. We have so many open jobs in the 1st District, and yet each year thousands of students graduate and don't apply for them. A lot of times that's because people just don't know what's available to them. During the tour I had many teachers tell me that they didn't even know these types of good paying jobs existed for their students right here in the 1st District. My takeaway from the week of the STEM tour and the rest of the August break is that we already have a lot of the tools at our disposal that we need to succeed. We have excellent people, good businesses, and great resources. We just need to do a better job of utilizing and streamlining those gifts.

STEM: Connecting Educators and Industry

Despite the fact that GMO's as a whole use less pesticides, less water, and in general are cheaper to produce, there are those who oppose them on the basis that they are bad for you. Study after study has proven that GMO's are just as nutritious as conventional food, but some critics still demand that food should be labeled in order to warn people that many of the products they consume use GMO's. Many families in the 1st District already have problems with access to healthy and affordable food. Mandatory Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) labeling could raise the cost of that food, and for no verifiable scientific reason. However, Vermont recently implemented its own state law that requires certain types of GMO labeling, and other States are already working on similar legislation. In order to prevent a patchwork of different state laws, which would become very complicated for food manufactures and costly for families at the supermarket, Congress this week passed national food labeling legislation that would replace complicated state-by-state rules.

Vermont Forces GMO National Labeling

Trying to change the United States' embargo against Cuba is a very politically charged and sensitive topic, particularly for the Cuban Americans who live in south Florida. However, Arkansas, and in particular Arkansas agriculture, stands to benefit greatly from a few small changes to that embargo. After an extremely busy and tense situation on the House floor, I convinced several of the most hard-line Florida Members of Congress that we can change the embargo in a way that allows Arkansas to sell its goods to the island nation while still respecting the sensibilities of their constituents.

A New Path to Cuba: The Florida Compromise

Following the devastating Orlando shooting, many officials propose a knee-jerk reaction to censor the 2nd amendment. But as we know, the problem is much more complex and involves solving the deeper problems behind why people commit mass shootings. One answer is radicalization, a phenomenon in which usually an isolated, young, malleable person becomes the victim of some hate-spewing agenda like radical Islam. Watch the short video below to learn more about how we as a nation and the Muslim community can combat youth radicalization.

Combating Youth Radicalization

Congressman Rick Crawford, Representative for the 1st Congressional District of Arkansas in Washington, interviews other lawmakers in Washington and his fellow Arkansans on current affairs, government reform, and legislation.

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Tune-In AR1

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