Mountain Home – U.S. Senator John Boozman toured Mountain Home’s Eaton Corporation on Tuesday, April 7. Eaton, a world leading power management company, employs more than 400 people in the Mountain Home area. The north Arkansas facility is one of the world’s largest producers of synthetic rubber and hydraulic hose for commercial construction. Following the tour, Boozman visited with KTLO about ways Washington can help create an economic environment that encourages job growth.

I wrote the following piece for the Jonesboro Sun (subscription required) about the EPA's overreaching efforts to exert federal control over almost all state and local waters.

Let Arkansans Have a Say in Environmental Protection
by U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR)
Jonesboro Sun
Sunday, March 29, 2015 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) bureaucrats in Washington, DC want you to think there are only two options: either give them wide-ranging power to control how we protect our environment, or live with dirty air and dirty water.

Arkansans know better. State and local work to protect the environment makes sense. It empowers citizens to speak up and be heard, and it allows us to weigh the costs and benefits of new rules. The frustration shared by many Arkansans is the direct result of an agency that often abuses its authority, forcing unnecessary costly mandates on them. And to add insult to injury, many times these mandates fail to provide honest environmental protection.

Last March, the EPA proposed the “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule that could impose federal mandates over ditches, puddles and other waters that have never been controlled by Washington. This EPA power-grab violates the intent of the Clean Water Act (CWA), which provides water quality protection through partnerships between the federal government and the states. CWA does not provide unlimited power to the federal government.

Earlier this week, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge testified on this topic before the Senate Agriculture Committee. As a member of the Committee, I appreciated her testimony. She highlighted the “questionable legal basis for the proposed rule.” While displaying a printed copy of the massive rule, she explained that it “fails miserably at offering any clarity” for farmers and other land owners.

Over one million comments have been submitted to the EPA. Unfortunately, the Obama administration has doubled down on this rule, despite the opposition of more than 160 agricultural organizations and more than 70 non-agriculture organizations, including Arkansas groups like the Arkansas Associated Builders and Contractors and Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association.

For the past year, thousands of Arkansas farmers, ranchers, foresters and landowners have shared their concerns with me about the impact of the proposed WOTUS rule. The costs of permits and extended delays would add up quickly. We all pay these costs when we go to the grocery store or the lumber yard. As a voice for the Natural State, I am fighting against this agency overreach.

My colleagues and I have questioned the head of the EPA, Gina McCarthy, at several hearings. We have urged the Obama Administration to withdraw this harmful proposal. Despite what the proposed rule says, during our hearings, the head of the EPA has testified that the agency does not intend to take additional control of water. Since the EPA says it does not want to grab more power, at a minimum Congress should vote to hold the EPA to the commitments made in these hearings. Ultimately, I believe Congress must pass legislation to completely reject this rule and protect the role of states, local communities and citizens.

We must protect water quality, but we can do this without giving all power to Washington. Local citizens, including farmers and landowners have rights we must defend. I will continue to stand for Arkansas as long as I serve as your Senator.

Secretary of State John Kerry once said, that when it comes to negotiating with Iran about its nuclear weapons program, “No deal is better than a bad deal.”

Now it appears he is negotiating for any deal.

The Obama Administration is considering what was once unacceptable—allowing the Iranians to maintain the capacity to continue enrichment activities at Fordow. This is no ordinary site. It is a fortified, underground military bunker built into the side of a mountain. It was constructed in secret and serves one purpose—to covertly produce weapons-grade highly enriched uranium. 

The Associated Press reports that “[I]n return, Iran would be required to scale back the number of centrifuges it runs at its Natanz facility and accept other restrictions on nuclear-related work.” 

Citing officials involved in the talks on background, the Associated Press story indicates that instead of uranium, any centrifuges at the Fordow facility “would be fed elements such as zinc, xenon or germanium for separating out isotopes used in medicine, industry or science.” 

Any agreement of this nature would rely on Iran’s commitment to allow international inspectors to verify compliance. This is far too much trust to place in a regime that regularly deploys double-talk, delay tactics and manipulation when it comes to dealing with the international community. There is absolutely no reason, given the regime’s history, to believe that international inspectors will have the ability to honestly see what is going on at Fordow. None. 

This troubling report shows the negotiations have moved a long way from the Obama Administration’s original position that Fordow must be shuttered. We have reached a point in the negotiations where the U.S. and our allies have conceded the upper-hand to the Iranians.

If this report is accurate, we will not achieve what the President promised at the onset of these talks. If President Obama is unwilling to walk away from a bad deal, once the guiding principle of the negotiations, Congress must have the authority to reject it.

The White House is celebrating five years of Obamacare today. The President’s website calls it a “historic law that has transformed the lives of millions of Americans.”  I would agree with his claim that it has changed the lives of millions. I would disagree with his assessment that this change was for the better.

With a price tag in the trillions, the law creates more problems than it solves. It drives up health care costs, busts our budget, stifles job growth and raises taxes on hardworking Arkansans.

In its brief five years of existence, Obamacare has managed to point every indicator the wrong direction. Access to care went down. Cost of care went up. Coverage options shrunk. New taxes were created.

I remain hopeful that the case currently before the Supreme Court will end Obamacare. While the President’s law has survived a challenge in front of the Supreme Court before, the latest challenge taking on the law’s subsidies has his supporters rightly worried. If the Court rules against the President, Congress has to be prepared to have an immediate replacement in place.

This week, the Senate is considering a budget resolution that will clear the way for the repeal of Obamacare and reserve funds for programs that will strengthen the doctor-patient relationship, expand choice, and lower health care costs. We are prepared to address this crisis with market-based reform that puts patients in control and forces insurance companies to compete for their business. An approach that emphasizes flexibility, portability and fairness, not government mandates. 

In the previous session of Congress, I voted to repeal, defund, and chisel away at parts of Obamacare. I will continue to support these efforts as we move forward in this session of Congress. We need to make this anniversary Obamacare’s last.