Dr. Boozman's Check-up
As someone who grew up in Fort Smith, I know how much of a gamechanger this is for the community and our state as it will enhance economic development and opportunity in the region and strengthen Arkansas’s role in defending our national security. The Arkansas Congressional Delegation has worked tirelessly along with state and community leaders to demonstrate to the Air Force what we all knew – Fort Smith is the best location for this mission.
Here is some coverage of the excitement surrounding the selection in the River Valley and beyond:
KFSM: Officials say the military pilot training could possibly have an economic impact on the region as high as $1 billion a year.
SWARK Today: Since 2021, when the U.S. Air Force announced Ebbing Air National Guard Base as its preferred location for these missions, members of the delegation have worked to strengthen relationships with Singapore leaders and allies who have an interest in enhancing their air power with the F-35 in addition to recently securing $28 million to support the F-35 FMS program.
KATV: Ebbing ANGB will become the new location for the 425th Fighter Squadron, a Republic of Singapore F-16 Fighting Falcon training unit, currently based at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.
KAIT: State leaders have delivered critical funding in support of an expanded runway and community leaders have demonstrated their commitment to investments in this project, warm welcomes to foreign dignitaries, and a widespread embrace of the project at public comment events.
Stars and Stripes: Ebbing ANGB was selected to host this mission based on factors related to mission, infrastructure capacity, community support, environmental considerations and cost.
Dem Gaz: “We're very excited for all that this means for Fort Smith and the region. We are ready and willing to welcome these military members and their families to our community and show them the true meaning of Fort Smith hospitality. This is a big achievement for the area and one that will pay dividends for decades to come."
Talk Business: This new training center will bring about 900 military members and their families to the Fort Smith region, the chamber noted. The U.S. Air Force anticipates moving approximately 230 personnel to the base, and the Republic of Singapore will have 300 military personnel with 300 dependent families in the region.
Arkansas Business: Boozman called the announcement a "gamechanger" for Fort Smith. "The Arkansas Congressional Delegation has worked tirelessly along with state and community leaders to demonstrate to the Air Force what we all knew — Fort Smith is the best location for this mission," he said.
Deltaplex News: Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, U.S. Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton and Congressman Steve Womack applauded the U.S. Air Force’s selection of Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith as the home of the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) mission that will bring F-35 fighter planes and a Republic of Singapore F-16 squadron to the installation.
Times Record - It became official on Wednesday. Ebbing Air National Guard Base will be the location for the U.S. Air Force foreign jet fighter training program.
With an economic impact to the Arkansas River Valley anticipated to be about $1 billion a year, foreign pilots are expected to start training sometime between September 2024 and September 2025, the Air Force's fiscal year.
WASHINGTON – The Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated (RCAP) honored U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) with its 2023 Congressional Champion Award for his outstanding service, dedication and tireless advocacy on behalf of rural community and small towns in Arkansas and across the nation.
“As a rural state, Arkansas has unique needs that I’ve been proud to champion including expanded broadband, improved access to health care and modernized delivery of safe drinking water along with reforming how small communities can afford to update water and wastewater infrastructure. I’m honored to receive this recognition and will continue to advance causes important to residents who call these communities home as well as provide them with critical resources. As we craft the next farm bill, I am committed to enhancing policies that preserve the rural way of life,” Boozman said.
Senator Boozman was honored with the RCAP Congressional Champion Award.
RCAP’s congressional award is given to lawmakers who have gone above and beyond in backing policies that support small communities and take action on their behalf. RCAP Congressional Champion Award recipients have shown themselves to be exceptional allies of the RCAP network and the needs of rural America.
What They’re Saying: Boozman Kicks Off Farm Bill Listening Sessions with Arkansas Agriculture Community
Feb 27 2023
Congratulations to the Class of 2022
May 20 2022
What They’re Saying: Boozman Travels Arkansas, Talks Economy and More with Community Leaders During April
Apr 25 2022
Senator John Boozman (R-AR) submitted the following remarks into the Congressional Record, the official proceedings of Congress, recognizing Bentonville residents Dave and Jenny Marrs and their advocacy of adoption:
I rise today to recognize Dave and Jenny Marrs of Bentonville, Arkansas, on being named National Angels in Adoption honorees by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI).
The CCAI is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and I was honored to nominate Dave and Jenny for their work to support and promote adoption and other critical services for children in Arkansas and around the world.
Since 2001, the CCAI has played a vital role in eliminating barriers standing between orphaned and foster children becoming part of a loving family. As the CCAI’s signature public awareness program, Angels in Adoption annually recognizes outstanding individuals, families and organizations that have made extraordinary contributions to adoption and child welfare.
Dave and Jenny are the parents of five children, including Sylvie whom they adopted from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They had always known they wanted to adopt and, in 2012, began the process to make Sylvie part of their family. It only took a few months for Sylvie to legally became their child, but the couple had no idea how difficult it would be to bring her home to Arkansas when international challenges brought the process to a halt. Shortly after their visit to the Congo, the Congolese government shut down adoptions. Dave and Jenny were devasted, but the hardships only strengthened their resolve to rescue their daughter. It was during that process that my office first met the Marrs family and I am pleased we were able to advocate for them with the U.S. State Department and Embassy officials. After more than 600 days, their Sylvie finally arrived home.
Inspired by their newest addition to the family, Dave and Jenny developed a passion for orphan care, family preservation and adoption. The family started a nonprofit blueberry farm in Northwest Arkansas as a way to help fund a program to educate orphaned and at-risk teenage boys in Marondera, Zimbabwe. They also advocate for children in need, including working closely with the philanthropic organization Help One Now to empower families in developing nations through capable local leaders.
The Marrs family has traveled the world to see firsthand the extreme poverty and truly dark circumstances facing parentless children around the globe. While visiting the Congo, the couple witnessed extreme starvation in the orphanage where their daughter Sylvie was living. This shocked Dave and Jenny, launching them into action. They organized an online raffle to raise money to feed the kids and their program was so successful it was able to feed three orphanages for an entire month. The Marrses have also used their platform on their hit HGTV show “Fixer to Fabulous” to help spread awareness about adoption and share their journey with viewers.
It was a privilege to nominate Dave and Jenny for their exemplary work that led to this well-deserved national honor, and I believe I speak for all Arkansans when I say they have made our state incredibly proud. They join influential and deserving members of this community, including Mohammed Ali and First Lady Laura Bush, as recipients of this important recognition. I am grateful for the life-changing efforts Dave and Jenny Marrs – as well as their wonderful children Nathan, Ben, Sylvie, Charlotte and Luke – have contributed to shine a light on this truly worthy and necessary cause.
MEMO
TO: Arkansas’s Second Amendment Supporters
FROM: Senator John Boozman
RE: Opposition to David Chipman’s nomination to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Date: July 28, 2021
President Joe Biden has nominated David Chipman to serve as Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). I believe he is unfit to lead the bureau and will vote against his confirmation.
Chipman has not proven that he supports the Second Amendment, and in fact his record exhibits the opposite. Given the ongoing efforts around the country to implement unfair and unconstitutional gun control laws, I believe the head of the ATF should have a solid understanding and be a strong advocate for the Second Amendment.
Chipman has a deeply flawed interpretation of our individual right to keep and bear arms. He worked for the ATF for almost 25 years. After serving in supervisory roles in Michigan and Washington, D.C. he retired in 2012. He has since become a senior policy advisor at Giffords, a gun control group that advocates for stricter firearms laws. Chipman’s nomination is another clear signal from the president that gun control measures remain a key priority on the administration’s agenda.
Chipman has even shown his contempt and disdain for legal gun buyers, equating the rise in the purchase of guns during the pandemic to preparing for a zombie attack, “…the people who hoarded guns might decide six months from now—once they see no zombies around but they’ve run out of tuna and beef jerky—that they need the money to buy food.” Openly mocking lawful gun owners for exercising their constitutional right is troubling for anyone, but coming from the person nominated to lead the ATF it is downright disturbing and unacceptable.
I am a proud supporter of the Second Amendment and believe the Director of the ATF should not have a predisposed hostility to it. I have serious concerns with Chipman's track record of vocal support for extensive gun control measures and his mistaken understanding of the Second Amendment. That’s why I feel it is more important than ever to continue my strong and vocal support for our Second Amendment right and forcefully oppose his nomination.
I’ve long been a champion of this fundamental right. As a member of the Second Amendment Task Force, I have been a constant advocate of efforts to protect and enhance the ability of law-abiding citizens to own firearms. I’ve fought to protect this founding principle by pushing back on the Biden administration’s policies and nominees that threaten to erode it, as well as by supporting legislation to defend it. Here are some of the highlights from this Congress:
- Opposing the nomination of Merrick Garland to serve as U.S. Attorney General because of his stance on guns and his previous rulings as federal judge that threatened the right to keep and bear arms.
- Urging the administration to withdraw overreaching rules including the ATF’s proposed rule banning the use of stabilizing braces on firearms.
- Cosponsoring the Federal Firearm Licensee Protection Act of 2021, the Hearing Protection Act, the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2021 and the Protecting the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Act.
Arkansans and Americans across our country understand the need to uphold and protect the Second Amendment. They are right, and I will continue that fight in the Senate.