{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where chamber = \"Senate\", state = \"AR\" and year = 2019 sorted by date descending", "rows": [["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-iranian-backed-attack-on-us-embassy-in-iraq", "Cotton Statement on Iranian-Backed Attack on U.S. Embassy in Iraq", "2019-12-31", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement after Iran organized an attack on the United States Embassy in Baghdad:\n\n\"When an Iran-backed militia killed an American in Iraq last week, it met with a firm response. Now our embassy in Baghdad-sovereign U.S. territory-has been attacked in yet another reckless escalation. As the President notes, Iran must be held responsible.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-us-strikes-in-iraq-and-syria", "Cotton Statement on U.S. Strikes in Iraq and Syria", "2019-12-29", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement after the United States\n\nconducted strikes on five facilities in Iraq and Syria:\n\n\"Today's strikes against Iranian-backed groups in Iraq and Syria are a justified response to the killing of an American and the wounding of several American service members and Iraqis. Tehran must stop attacking Americans or else face even graver consequences.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-rocket-attack-on-iraqi-military-base", "Cotton Statement on Rocket Attack on Iraqi Military Base", "2019-12-28", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nDecember 28, 2019\n\nCotton Statement on Rocket Attack on Iraqi Military Base\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Following reports of a rocket attack that killed an American citizen and injured four American troops at a military base in Kirkuk, Iraq, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement:\n\n\u201cIf American blood was shed by an Iran-backed group, Tehran ought to face swift and severe consequences.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-cotton-shaheen-second-lady-applaud-law-reforming-occupational-licensing-for-military-spouses", "Senators Cotton, Shaheen, Second Lady Applaud Law Reforming Occupational Licensing for Military Spouses", "2019-12-21", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nDecember 21, 2019\n\nSenators Cotton, Shaheen, Second Lady Applaud Law Reforming Occupational Licensing for Military Spouses\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Yesterday the president signed into law the Portable Certification of Spouses (PCS) Act, legislation U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) included in the 2020 defense bill and introduced at a press conference with Second Lady Karen Pence in May.\n\nMany military spouses struggle to recertify their occupational licenses as they move\u2014on average every two to three years\u2014from state to state. The Portable Certification of Spouses Act will now allow the Defense Department to fund the creation of interstate compacts that will create common, portable credentials for major professions. The law will also help alleviate the burden military spouses bear when having to re-register a small business in a new state each time a service member gets reassigned to a new military installation.\n\n\"One-in-three military spouses work in a field that requires an occupational license, and too many of them are forced to re-certify every time they move between states. Military families already shoulder heavy loads for our country\u2014they shouldn't also have to worry about state regulations that prevent wives or husbands from working in their own profession. With our bill now law, those spouses can soon pursue their careers uninterrupted, even while they're moving their family from state to state and base to base,\u201d said Cotton.\n\n\u201cMilitary families make significant sacrifices on behalf of our country, so if we have the opportunity to make things a little easier for them, we need to seize it,\u201d said Shaheen. \u201cThis new law cuts through the red tape hindering military spouses from practicing their professions or restarting their businesses as they move with their families around the country. I\u2019m relieved for military families that this measure is now the law of the land and will work closely with the administration to make sure it is implemented comprehensively. I appreciate the support from members on both sides of the aisle to include this commonsense fix in the defense bill and provide support to military spouses, and I offer my sincerest thanks to our military families for their continued service to our nation.\u201d\n\n\u201cMilitary spouse employment is an important aspect of a strong and resilient military family,\u201d said Mrs. Pence. \u201cMilitary spouses make countless sacrifices, and it is the right thing for us to come alongside and do everything we can to enable them to work in their chosen field. I am thrilled the PCS Act is now law and I applaud the bipartisan collaboration to address military spouse employment challenges.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe signing of this legislation into law means that military spouses have one less hurdle to maintain their professional careers as they move following their active duty military spouse from base to base,\u201d said Andrea Krull, a small business owner whose husband is in the United States Navy. \u201cThis law will allow me to establish my business in one state and maintain that status for the duration of my husband\u2019s military service. It will allow me the opportunity to spend less time navigating administrative red tape and more time serving my clients, and ultimately providing for my family.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nOver 34 percent of military spouses work in fields that require a state license in order to practice. These spouses are often required to recertify and pay to recertify this license every time they move between states with their spouse. Re-certification has become too long, expensive, detrimental to the careers of spouses, and prohibitive financially to military families who could benefit from two household incomes instead of one. This process often effects a service member's desire to stay in the military long-term.\n\nThis law will impact spouses working in fields such as health-related occupations and education. 56 percent of licensed military spouses work in health-related occupations and 29 percent in education respectively. The fields which could may benefit from this law include, but are not limited to, the following: teachers, advance practice nurses, physician's assistants, occupational therapists, dentists, dental hygienists, nutritionists, counselors, social workers, veterinarians, cosmetologists, and realtors.\n\nThe PCS Act was originally introduced in May 2019 as a stand-alone bill before being included in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-hyde-smith-introduce-bill-to-protect-moms-and-babies-through-control-of-chemical-abortion-pills", "Cotton, Hyde-Smith Introduce Bill to Protect Moms and Babies Through Control of Chemical Abortion Pills", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) along with Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), this week introduced legislation to protect women by controlling the distribution of chemical abortion drugs, which have high complication rates for incomplete abortions, infections, severe bleeding, and death.\n\nThe Support and Value Expectant (SAVE) Moms and Babies Act would prevent labeling changes for already-approved abortion drugs; prevent providers from dispensing these drugs remotely, by mail, or via tele-medicine; and prevent the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from approving new chemical abortion drugs.\n\n\"The abortion pill can do serious harm to pregnant women, and making it more available would be deadly. Our bill would protect women and their babies from reckless campaigns to push the abortion pill by codifying important FDA regulations of this dangerous drug,\" Cotton said.\n\n\"Although abortion rates are declining nationwide, rates of chemical abortion are increasing dramatically. Increased use of abortion pills may give the impression that these procedures are safe, when in fact they are quite dangerous. Making chemical abortion pills more broadly available without proper medical oversight would endanger the lives of women. I am introducing this bill to codify the important FDA policy that protects women from dangers inherent in mail-order or do-it-yourself chemical abortions,\" Hyde-Smith said.\n\nIn addition to restricting the availability of chemical abortion drugs, the measure would also retain the FDA-imposed Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) currently applied to these drugs due to known or potential serious risk associated with the medication. It would also require medical practitioners to report to the FDA adverse events experienced by patients using an abortion drug,\n\nIn 2017, chemical abortions made up 39 percent of abortions reported by the 32 states that require reporting on specific abortion methods, up from 5.5 percent in 2001.\n\nOriginal cosponsors include Senators Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), and Jerry Moran (R-Kansas).\n\nSusan B. Anthony List (SBA List), March for Life Action, National Right to Life, Family Research Council, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are among the groups that support the bill.\n\n\"We are grateful to Senator Hyde-Smith for championing legislation to fight the reckless expansion of chemical abortion,\" said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. \"The abortion lobby has attempted to interfere with protective FDA regulations and flood the U.S. market with dangerous abortion drugs from overseas, threatening the health and safety of vulnerable women. On the heels of an abandoned study designed to discredit pro-life abortion pill reversal, which only proved the serious and potentially deadly risks inherent to abortion pills, the need for this bill could not be more pressing. We strongly support the SAVE Moms & Babies Act and urge Congress to pass it swiftly.\"\n\nA summary of the SAVE Moms and Babies Act is available here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-urge-response-to-national-security-threats-posed-by-chinese-drones", "Senators Urge Response to National Security Threats Posed by Chinese Drones", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. -Today, Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Rick Scott (R-Florida), and John Cornyn (R-Texas) wrote to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and Federal Aviation Administrator Stephen Dickson to express concerns regarding the national security threats posed by Chinese drones.\n\n\"We...urge you to immediately restrict the use of this equipment and technology that has the potential to jeopardize the security of critical information and infrastructure gained through this and other FAA programs,\" the Senators write. \"American taxpayer dollars should not fund state-controlled or state-owned firms that seek to undermine American national security and economic competitiveness.\"\n\nThe letter is available below and here.\n\nDear Secretary Chao and Administrator Dickson:\n\nWe write to express concern regarding the national security threats posed by Chinese drones and urge the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure that the use of such drones is excluded from its programs and partnerships.\n\nGiven the information presented in several government directives regarding the use of Chinese-manufactured drones, we were dismayed to learn that on December 3, 2019, one of the ten lead participants of DOT and FAA's Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Integration Pilot Program (IPP) announced its decision to partner with Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) Inc., a Chinese drone company, and use DJI drones for aircraft inspections, delivery of aircraft parts, airport perimeter security, and various airport safety inspections.\n\nOn August 2, 2017, the Department of the Army released a memorandum ordering a halt on the use of DJI applications and products, citing an \"increased awareness of cyber vulnerabilities associated with DJI products.\" Subsequently, on August 9, 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released an unclassified bulletin which specifically warned against DJI for targeting critical infrastructure and law enforcement and providing U.S. data to the Chinese government. The bulletin states with \"high confidence\" that \"the company [DJI] is selectively targeting government and privately owned entities within these sectors to expand its ability to collect and exploit sensitive U.S. data.\" The bulletin also warns that DJI-created apps, when used in conjunction with their UAS hardware, collect GPS locations and photographs taken by the device, register facial recognition data even when the system is off, and automatically upload information to cloud storage to which the Chinese government most likely has access. The bulletin continues, \"[a] foreign government with access to this information could easily coordinate physical or cyber attacks against critical sites.\"\n\nOn May 20, 2019, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued an industry alert of the potential risks to an organization's information posed by Chinese-made drones and DJI in particular. The alert states that the products \"contain components that can compromise data and share information on a server accessed beyond the company itself.\"\n\nMore recently, on October 30, 2019, the Department of Interior announced that it was grounding its fleet of more than 800 non-emergency drones purchased from China until a security review is completed. Further, Section 848 of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act specifically prohibits the Department of Defense from operating or procuring UAS manufactured in the China.\n\nWe commend the goal of the UAS IPP to partner federal, state, local, and tribal governments with the FAA to evaluate and integrate new technologies into airspace operations. We, however, urge you to immediately restrict the use of this equipment and technology that has the potential to jeopardize the security of critical information and infrastructure gained through this and other FAA programs. American taxpayer dollars should not fund state-controlled or state-owned firms that seek to undermine American national security and economic competitiveness. We therefore request the following information:\n\nHave the DOT and FAA reviewed the reports by ICE, CISA, the Army, and any other agencies to appropriately grasp the magnitude of the threat posed by the use of DJI hardware and software, and if so, what conclusions were drawn?\n\nHave the DOT and FAA conveyed their concerns with regard to data protection to the relevant state, local, and tribal partners in the IPP and any other program that may involve the use of drones?\n\nWhat, if any, security efforts have the DOT and FAA worked to implement with state, local, and tribal officials to ensure critical infrastructure data does not fall into the hands of the Chinese government?\n\nThank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your prompt response.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-china-shouldn-and-146t-lead-world-intellectual-property-organization", "Cotton, Colleagues: China Shouldn\u0092t Lead World Intellectual Property Organization", "2019-12-17", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nDecember 17, 2019\n\nCotton, Colleagues: China Shouldn\u2019t Lead World Intellectual Property Organization\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York), along with Representatives Jimmy Panetta (D-California) and Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin), sent a letter urging the president to strongly oppose China\u2019s efforts to lead the World Intellectual Property Organization at the United Nations.\n\nIn the letter, the lawmakers write that China\u2019s persistent violations of intellectual property protections\u2014as well as the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s aggressive industrial policies and technology practices that undermine U.S. innovation\u2014present serious risks to the United States\u2019 economic leadership and security. Those risks include Huawei Technologies, which was the top corporate filer of international patent applications to the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2018.\n\nThe lawmakers\u2019 letter to the president may be found here. The text is below.\n\nPresident Donald Trump\n\nThe White House\n\n1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW\n\nWashington, DC 20500\n\nDear Mr. President:\n\nWe write to express our concern about China\u2019s intent to lead the World Intellectual Property Organization at the United Nations and the threat this poses to both U.S. economic security and the integrity of international intellectual property rights and standards.\n\nLast month, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reportedly nominated a candidate to head this organization, which was established as a global forum for intellectual property policy and cooperation and to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world. Given China\u2019s persistent violations of intellectual property protections, including through trade secret theft, corporate espionage, and forced transfer of technology, the United States and its allies must stand firmly against such a move.\n\nThe CCP is strategically investing in and developing critical and emerging technologies as part of Made in China 2025 and other aggressive industrial policies. These initiatives include a patchwork of practices and tactics which coerce American companies to transfer their technology and intellectual property to domestic Chinese corporations with the effect of undermining U.S. innovation and economic leadership. In addition, Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies, which is thought to be influenced by the CCP and presents clear risks to U.S. national security, was the top corporate filer of international patent applications to the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2018.\n\nYour administration has repeatedly expressed concerns about the shortcomings in China\u2019s intellectual property regime. Notably, the Office of the United States Trade Representative\u2019s (USTR) Special 301 Report declares China a \u201cprecarious and uncertain environment\u201d for U.S. owners of all types of intellectual property. China also remains on USTR\u2019s Priority Watch List for failing to make fundamental changes to strengthen intellectual property protection and enforcement and for engaging in harmful conduct, including unauthorized intrusions and theft from networks of U.S. companies.\n\nMr. President, you have also accused China of \u201ctheft of intellectual property and also trade secrets on a grand scale\u201d in an address to the United Nations General Assembly in September. We cannot let a regime, which continues to blatantly undermine the rules-based system by failing to ensure open markets or respect for intellectual property rights, ascend as the leader of global intellectual property policy.\n\nTherefore, we urge you to oppose China\u2019s leadership in the World Intellectual Property Organization and take the necessary diplomatic steps to ensure our allies and partners do the same before the Director General election next spring.\n\nSincerely,", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/-cotton-statement-on-united-kingdom-election-results", "Cotton Statement on United Kingdom Election Results", "2019-12-13", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nDecember 13, 2019\n\nCotton Statement on United Kingdom Election Results\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement after Prime Minister Boris Johnson\u2019s Conservatives won a powerful majority of parliamentary seats last night:\n\n\u201cCongratulations to Prime Minister Johnson, the Tories, and the British people on a resounding victory. Best of luck, now get Brexit done!\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-jones-and-merkley-reintroduce-bipartisan-legislation-to-stop-predatory-unsolicited-loans", "Cotton, Jones, and Merkley Reintroduce Bipartisan Legislation to Stop Predatory Unsolicited Loans", "2019-12-13", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) along with Senator Doug Jones (D-Alabama) and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) have reintroduced bipartisan legislation-the Unsolicited Loan Act -that would halt the predatory practice of mailing high-interest loans to consumers in the form of \"live\" checks.\n\nOften times, when consumers receive these checks in the mail they believe them to be from their bank or another trusted financial institution and are unaware the check is a high-interest loan. Under the Unsolicited Loan Act, this practice would be prohibited and would ensure consumers can only access loans for which they proactively applied. This legislation echoes Congress' ban on the mailing of live credit cards.\n\n\"People should understand exactly what they're getting into when taking on debt. But many individuals don't understand that \u2018live' checks mailed directly to consumers are just high-interest loans in disguise. Congress put an end to \u2018live' credit cards decades ago, it's time to do the same with \u2018live' checks,\" said Senator Cotton.\n\n\"We need to continue to take a stand for hard-working families and make sure we have protections in place to prevent these predatory tactics,\" said Senator Jones. \"Many honest folks are not aware that by depositing these checks they are actually taking on a high-interest loan. Congress must act now and pass this common-sense legislation to protect consumers from this predatory scam.\"\n\n\"Families across the country have fallen victim to scams where they think they're getting a lucky windfall or refund from their bank, and instead are being lured into a high-interest loan they never asked for,\" said Senator Merkley. \"It should be illegal to trick unsuspecting customers into loans they don't want, and that's why I'm urging my colleagues to take a stand for consumer fairness and transparency by passing the Unsolicited Loan Act.\"\n\nBackground on the Unsolicited Loan Act\n\nCongress has long recognized consumer loans should require an application by a customer and nearly 50 years ago the practice of mailing live credit cards was banned. In modern lending, formal loan applications are often quick to fill out and this legislation would not prohibit the direct mailing or marketing of a loan application. This legislation would allow for common-sense consumer protections to be put in place-without limiting access to credit-for consumers who willingly apply and seek lending products.\n\nThe Unsolicited Loan Act would also ensure that companies cannot shift from the mailing of live checks to other forms of transfer, such as a gift card or an \"e-check.\" Additionally, customers would not be held liable for debt incurred from illegal, unsolicited live check loans.\n\nThis legislation has been endorsed by The National Consumer Law Center on behalf of its low-income clients.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-first-test-of-post-inf-ballistic-missile", "Cotton Statement on First Test of Post-INF Ballistic Missile", "2019-12-12", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nDecember 12, 2019\n\nCotton Statement on First Test of Post-INF Ballistic Missile\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement after the Department of Defense conducted its first test of a conventionally-configured ballistic missile since the Russian Federation rendered the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty defunct:\n\n\u201cThis is a firm statement to the Russian Federation. They cannot violate international agreements without consequence. Now, I urge the Pentagon to regain the strategic advantage we lost due to the INF treaty by expediting the development and deployment of a new generation of ground-launched missiles. Today\u2019s test signals to Moscow and Beijing that the United States will no longer ignore their threats.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nFor years, Senator Cotton advocated for the United States to bring Russia back into compliance with the INF Treaty or to leave it altogether. A brief timeline is below:\n\nMarch 2015: Cotton talks about INF Treaty in Maiden Floor Speech\n\nOctober 2016: Cotton Statement Reports that Russia is Advancing its Missile Program in Violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty\n\nFebruary 2017: Cotton, Johnson, Rubio, Poe, and Rogers Introduce Intermediate-Range Forces Treaty Preservation Act\n\nMarch 2017: Cotton Statement on Reports that Russia Has Deployed a Banned Missile\n\nApril 2017: Cotton Op-Ed in the Washington Post: \"Russia has subverted our treaty on cruise missiles for years. It's time to act\"\n\nJuly 2017: Cotton Warns Russia to Comply with INF Treaty in CSIS Speech\n\nJuly 2017: Cotton Questions General Paul Selva on the INF Treaty during Senate Armed Services Committee hearing\n\nDecember 2017: Cotton, Colleagues Urge Appropriations Committee to fund measures to bring Russia into compliance with INF\n\nMarch 2018: Cotton Questions Pacific Command Chief Admiral Harry Harris on INF Treaty\n\nOctober 2018: Cotton Statement on Reports the U.S. is Preparing to Withdraw from INF Treaty\n\nDecember 2018: Cotton Statement on NATO Confirmation that Russia is in Breach of INF Treaty\n\nFebruary 2019: Cotton Statement on U.S. Withdrawal from INF Treaty\n\nAugust 2019: Cotton Statement on Formal End of the INF Treaty\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/dea-confirms-unlawful-to-sell-morphine-laced-poppy-seeds-that-killed-arkansas-student", "DEA Confirms: Unlawful to Sell Morphine-Laced Poppy Seeds That Killed Arkansas Student", "2019-12-12", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nDecember 12, 2019\n\nDEA Confirms: Unlawful to Sell Morphine-Laced Poppy Seeds That Killed Arkansan\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 The Drug Enforcement Administration has clarified that selling morphine-laced, unwashed poppy seeds\u2014the kind that killed Arkansan Stephen Hacala Jr.\u2014violates the Controlled Substances Act.\n\nEarlier this year, Senator Cotton introduced a bill banning the sale of the seeds and asked the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Department of Justice whether the Controlled Substances Act prohibited the sale of morphine-laced seeds. Following that inquiry, the Department of Justice agreed to investigate the Hacala case.\n\n\u201cStephen Hacala Jr. died from an opioid overdose because of a dangerous gap in our nation's drug laws. After years of work by Stephen\u2019s loving family, the DEA has finally acted to close that gap. Now, anyone who sells unwashed morphine-laced poppy seeds will face the full force of the law and can no longer hide behind legal technicalities,\u201d said Cotton.\n\nBackground:\n\n\u00b7 On April 3, 2016, Stephen Hacala Jr. died from morphine intoxication from unwashed poppy seeds sold through Amazon.\n\n\u00b7 A research team led by Dr. Madeleine Swortwood, assistant professor of forensic science at Sam Houston State University, studied the morphine content in different bags of poppy seeds. The researchers found that some bags of poppy seeds contained morphine levels many times higher than a fatal dose.\n\n\u00b7 Since then, as many as 20 other Americans have died from morphine-laced seeds sold through retailers.\n\n\u00b7 Companies have continued selling morphine-laced seeds to consumers due to perceived ambiguity in the Controlled Substances Act.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-propose-bills-to-clamp-down-on-world-bank-lending-to-china", "Senators Propose Bills to Clamp Down on World Bank Lending to China", "2019-12-12", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Following reports of a questionable $50 million World Bank loan to a Chinese organization associated with the forcible internment of Chinese Uighur Muslims, Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Marco Rubio (R-Florida) are introducing legislation to prevent such loans in the future.\n\nThe three senators introduced S.3108, which instructs U.S. representatives at the World Bank to vote against and use best efforts to deny any loan or extension to countries that significantly exceed the graduation thresholds or that are designated as a country of concern for religious freedom.\n\nGrassley and Cotton also introduced an additional measure, S.3017, which is a companion to the Accountability for World Bank Loans to China Act introduced in the House Representatives. That legislation codifies Congress' support for Administration efforts to graduate China from the World Bank's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) lending program.\n\n\"The World Bank is sending development aid meant for poor countries to China, the second largest economy in the world with access to plenty of capital. The ruling Chinese Communist Party uses these loans to fund its repression of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities. The United States must urge the World Bank to end these loans, which are contrary to its own guidelines and the demands of justice. Every dollar loaned to China is a dollar spent on strengthening the CCP's grip over the Chinese people,\" Cotton said.\n\n\"China has been lending development money outside its borders to extend its influence for years while taking in U.S. taxpayer dollars via World Bank loans. It's confounding that these loans still continue and they ought to stop,\" Grassley said. \"What's worse is that these loans might have helped free up resources used to violate human rights and force Uighurs into internment camps. Our bills provide a short-term and longer-term means to take away the status that allows China to receive loans and halt loans to any country like China that exceeds the World Bank graduation thresholds or poses a risk to religious freedom.\"\n\n\"This bill will provide the U.S. Governor of the World Bank with the necessary guidance to uphold U.S. interests and to focus on the bank's development mission,\" Rubio said. \"For too long, countries like China and Russia have been allowed to exploit the World Bank's limited resources even after they should no longer qualify for assistance. I'm proud to co-sponsor this bill, which will also reaffirm our nation's continued commitment to international religious freedom worldwide.\"\n\nThe World Bank International Bank IBRD program is designed to provide loans for economic-development purposes to middle-income developing countries. The threshold for graduation from the IBRD program currently stands at a gross national income per capita level of $6,975, which China has exceeded since 2016. China currently has a World Bank calculated gross national income per capita of level of $9,470. The Accountability for World Bank Loans to China Act codifies Congress' support for Administration efforts to graduate China from IBRD lending in a vote at the World Bank.\n\nFull text of S.3018 can be found HERE.\n\nFull text of S.3107 can be found HERE.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/12/11/cotton-secures-arkansas-interests-in-national-defense-authorization-act", "Cotton Secures Arkansas Interests in National Defense Authorization Act", "2019-12-11", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nDecember 11, 2019\n\nCotton Secures Arkansas Interests in National Defense Authorization Act\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Chairman of the Airland Subcommittee in the Senate Armed Services Committee, released a statement on the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020. Senator Cotton secured dozens of provisions in the annual defense bill to support Arkansas servicemembers and military families. For a copy of the conference report, click here.\n\n\u201cThe National Defense Authorization Act will strengthen America\u2019s warfighters and military families. This bill will make our military a stronger fighting force, while protecting America from fentanyl traffickers, terrorists, and other enemies. I\u2019m pleased that so many Arkansas priorities will now pass into law, including provisions to expand the Arkansas State Veteran\u2019s Cemetery and help military spouses transfer occupational licenses when they move across state lines,\u201d said Cotton.\n\nSenator Cotton\u2019s provisions address a range of issues, including cutting the flow of fentanyl from China, expanding Arkansas\u2019 State Veterans Cemetery, easing the process of military spouse licensing transfers, including homeschooled students in JROTC programs, updating burial honors for certain veterans, and sanctioning companies who are working on Russia\u2019s Nord Stream II pipeline.\n\n\u00b7Cracks Down on Chinese Fentanyl: America is suffering from the worst drug epidemic in our history, which has been fueled by deadly fentanyl from China. The bipartisan Fentanyl Sanctions Act, which Senator Cotton sponsored with Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), imposes new sanctions and penalties on fentanyl traffickers.\n\n\u00b7Allows Military Spouses to Transfer Occupational Licenses: Many Arkansas military spouses struggle with recertifying their occupational licenses as they move from state to state. The Portable Certification of Spouses amendment allows the Defense Department to fund the creation of interstate compacts that will create common credentials across major professions. The bill will also help alleviate the burden military spouses bear when having to re-register a small business in a new state each time a service member changes station.\n\n\u00b7Expanded Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery: Ensures we keep our promises to Arkansas veterans who choose to be buried alongside their brothers and sisters in arms by transferring approximately 141 acres from the Army National Guard to the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs.\n\n\u00b7Includes Homeschool Students in Local JROTC Units: Mandates inclusion of homeschooled students residing in the geographic area served by a JROTC unit. The bill ensures that homeschool students who want to participate in JROTC can do so.\n\n\u00b7Grants Full Military Honors Burial Rites: Allows Medal of Honor and Prisoner of War Medal recipients to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery with Full Military Honors, regardless of rank.\n\n\u00b7Sanctions companies constructing the Nord Stream II Russian pipeline: Sanctions companies working on the pipeline and allows the president to sanction firms providing insurance or other financial services to these pipeline construction companies.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-introduce-bill-imposing-sanctions-on-drug-cartels", "Cotton, Colleagues Introduce Bill Imposing Sanctions on Drug Cartels", "2019-12-11", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), along with Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), David Perdue (R-Georgia), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) today introduced the Significant Transnational Criminal Organization Designation Act, legislation that would subject certain foreign criminal organizations like drug cartels to sanctions, including immigration, financial, and criminal penalties. The process would be similar to the system used for designating entities as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).\n\n\"Criminal organizations and drug cartels like the one responsible for last month's attack in Mexico ought to be treated just like terrorist groups in the eyes of the U.S. government. This bill would help stop cartel violence by ensuring these groups-and anyone who helps them-face dire consequences for their actions,\" said Cotton.\n\n\"Drug cartels function at a high level of sophistication. It is imperative that they be subject to repercussions that appropriately correspond to their criminal activity. This legislation seeks to give law enforcement the tools needed to penalize their crimes,\" said Blackburn.\n\n\"From narcotics and human trafficking to fuel theft and money laundering, transnational criminal organizations don't care who they hurt by their single-minded focus on turning an enormous profit from corrupt dealings,\" said Cornyn. \"This legislation would provide law enforcement additional tools to keep Americans safe and shut down the Cartel networks.\"\n\n\"Though the camera crews have left, Texans and all Americans regularly face the consequences of an unsecured southern border,\" Cruz said. \"Violent gang members and drug cartels terrorize communities both abroad and along the Texas-Mexico border. This bill gives the president expanded options to label and take action against those cartels. This is an important step in safeguarding the American people.\"\n\n\"Mexican cartels are a national security and law enforcement threat,\" said Graham. \"It is time to update our laws to give us more tools to fight against this scourge. I fully support Senator Cotton's efforts so we can effectively deal with the transnational criminal activity emanating from Mexico.\"\n\n\"Violent Mexican cartels have gotten rich by flooding our communities with addictive drugs that are ruining lives and tearing families apart. Unfortunately, the Mexican government has been unwilling or unable to stop these criminals. Enough is enough. This bill will beat back the cartels by freezing their assets, removing them from the country, and sanctioning anyone who helps sustain their criminal enterprises,\" said Hawley.\n\n\"Cartels are the worst of humanity. As we saw in last month's horrific attack in Mexico, they terrorize innocent families and exploit children in order to fuel the drug trade and other illicit activity. These criminal organizations must face severe financial consequences for the terror they inflict in the United States and across the world. We have to put the cartels out of business once and for all,\" said Perdue.\n\n\"By providing a new tool to designate significant transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), subject them to financial and criminal penalties, and bar their members from the United States, this legislation will better equip us to meet the threats our nation faces from violent cartels and other foreign criminal networks. Our legislation also requires the president to submit a full report to Congress regarding the horrific attacks against Americans in Mexico last month, including whether the organization responsible should be designated as a Significant Transnational Criminal Organization and sanctioned under our legislation,\" said Romney.\n\n\"We need a smart, full-scale offensive against the cartels that have turned parts of our southern border into a violent wasteland,\" said Sasse. \"This designation would give federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies the tools they need to go after the butchers who blur the line between drug trafficking and terrorism. Cartels have slaughtered innocent American children, blackmailed their way to the top, and flooded our country with drugs. Let's crush these sickos.\"\n\nBackground:\n\nThe Significant Transnational Criminal Organization Designation Act enables the federal government to impose on the most significant Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) the same sanctions that apply to FTOs including:\n\nBarring organization members and their immediate families from admission to the United States.\n\nFreezing assets,\n\nSeeking civil and criminal penalties against Individuals providing material assistance or resources to the organization.\n\nThe bill also requires the President to submit a report to Congress with the government's findings on the November 4, 2019 attack on U.S. citizens in northern Mexico once the investigation is completed, including whether the organization responsible should be designated a Significant TCO.\n\nClick here for the text of the legislation.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-schumer-bill-cracking-down-on-chinese-fentanyl-included-in-defense-bill", "Cotton, Schumer Bill Cracking Down on Chinese Fentanyl Included in Defense Bill", "2019-12-11", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nDecember 11, 2019\n\nCotton, Schumer Bill Cracking Down on Chinese Fentanyl Included in Defense Bill\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York) today announced that their Fentanyl Sanctions Act has been included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020, which is expected to pass early next week.\n\nThe senators\u2019 bill will hold China and other countries accountable for their commitments to crack down on producers and traffickers of fentanyl and other deadly synthetic opioids. Additionally, the legislation will provide the U.S. government with more tools and resources to sanction illicit traffickers from China, Mexico, and other countries. Read more about the bill here.\n\n\u201cThe Chinese government is the world's largest drug dealer,\" said Cotton. \"China has allowed fentanyl and other synthetic opioids to pour into the United States for years, killing tens of thousands of Americans. Our law enforcement and intelligence agencies need additional resources to target the fentanyl producers, traffickers, cartels, and other criminals who are funneling this poison across our borders and into our communities. I'm pleased that this year's NDAA includes our bipartisan amendment to give law enforcement critical tools to stop this scourge and hold China accountable.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe opioid epidemic is devastating and indiscriminate, and year after year, it\u2019s claimed tens of thousands of American lives. We must hold China, currently the world\u2019s largest producer of illicit fentanyl, accountable for its role in the trade of this deadly drug. Our bipartisan sanctions bill will do just that,\u201d said Schumer. \u201cFor years, Chinese laboratories have been cooking-up formulas of death and freely exporting lethal fentanyl across the United States\u2014and it has to stop.\u201d\n\nThe Fentanyl Sanctions Act was co-sponsored by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), Gary Peters (D-Michigan), Dianne Feinstein (D-California), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee).\n\nBackground:\n\nFollowing a commitment to the U.S. at the G-20 in December 2018, Chinese regulators announced on April 1, 2019, that a wider range of fentanyl derivatives would be declared controlled substances in China on May 1, 2019. China has struggled to enforce its current drug laws and continues to deny that its illicit fentanyl producers are a major source of the illicit opioids contributing to the U.S. opioid crisis.\n\nTo ensure accountability, the sanctions legislation would pressure the Chinese government to move forward with an aggressive plan to enforce its announced new laws and provide the president with flexible new sanction tools to go after actors, from manufacturers to traffickers, in China and other countries.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/12/09/cotton-statement-on-justice-department-report-concerning-russia-investigation", "Cotton Statement on Justice Department Report Concerning Russia Investigation", "2019-12-09", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nDecember 9, 2019\n\nCotton Statement on Justice Department Report Concerning Russia Investigation\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 After the Department of Justice released Inspector General Michael Horowitz\u2019s report on the origins of the Russia investigation, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement:\n\n\u201cThe Inspector General\u2019s report is clear that top officials at the FBI launched a highly improper, intrusive investigation into the president\u2019s campaign and associates during the 2016 election while suppressing and omitting critical evidence. I agree with Attorney General Barr that this was a clear abuse of the FISA process and the Department of Justice must take steps to restore integrity and credibility in the wake of this failure.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-decision-banning-russia-from-olympics", "Cotton Statement on Decision Banning Russia From Olympics", "2019-12-09", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nDecember 9, 2019\n\nCotton Statement on Decision Banning Russia From Olympics\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Following an announcement that the World Anti-Doping Agency had banned Russia from international sports after a doping scandal, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement:\n\n\u201cVladimir Putin\u2019s pathetic Olympic doping scheme once again has deprived young Russians of the opportunity to compete fairly on behalf of their country at the Olympic Games, just as his rule has deprived the Russian people of so many opportunities. Now Putin won\u2019t even have fraudulently won medals to distract the Russian people from the country\u2019s isolation, failing economy, and demographic collapse.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-further-delay-of-death-penalty-for-white-supremacist-and-murderer", "Cotton Statement on Further Delay of Death Penalty for White Supremacist and Murderer", "2019-12-06", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nDecember 6, 2019\n\nCotton Statement on Further Delay of Death Penalty for White Supremacist and Murderer\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 After a federal court in Indiana granted a stay of execution to convicted murderer Daniel Lewis Lee, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement:\n\n\u201cJustice should come quickly to the perpetrators of heinous crimes. But for more than 20 years, our justice system has instead protected a white supremacist who murdered an entire Arkansas family, including an eight-year-old girl. This brutal murderer has already exhausted every avenue of due process and is now employing frivolous delay tactics. It\u2019s time for him to face the consequences of his actions.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-strengthening-food-stamp-work-requirements", "Cotton Statement on Strengthening Food Stamp Work Requirements", "2019-12-04", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nDecember 4, 2019\n\nCotton Statement on Strengthening Food Stamp Work Requirements\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) released the following statement after the United States Department of Agriculture announced a rule that would strengthen work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program:\n\n\u201cArkansans want to help their fellow man in need, but their assistance should be taken in good faith. That means if you\u2019re receiving food stamps and you can get a job, you should. Secretary Perdue\u2019s decision to strengthen work requirements for food stamps ensures that food aid is being taken in good faith, going to the Americans who truly need it.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/11/28/cotton-statement-on-thanksgiving", "Cotton Statement on Thanksgiving", "2019-11-28", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement marking the Thanksgiving holiday:\n\n\"From the Cotton family to yours, we wish you and your loved ones a happy Thanksgiving.\n\n\"Nearly 400 years ago, our Pilgrim Fathers and the Native Americans shared the bounty of the New World at the first Thanksgiving. They gave thanks to God for delivering them from many hardships, including the near destruction of the Plymouth Colony from disease and starvation.\n\n\"Since that first banquet, America has grown from a dangerous and uncharted wilderness into a mighty and united nation. This Thanksgiving, let's rejoice in the many blessings we enjoy as citizens of the most prosperous and free country on Earth.\n\n\"Let's also give thanks for the many troops who are far from home. We can enjoy the company of family and friends in peace because of their faithful service.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:43:09Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-and-schumer-request-suspension-of-licenses-allowing-us-exports-to-huawei", "Cotton and Schumer Request Suspension of Licenses Allowing U.S. Exports to Huawei", "2019-11-21", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nNovember 21, 2019\n\nCotton and Schumer Request Suspension of Licenses Allowing U.S. Exports to Huawei\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York) today led a letter to the president expressing deep concern that the U.S. Department of Commerce has begun issuing export licenses to U.S. firms looking to resume business with Huawei Technologies\u2014despite the significant threats these license approvals pose to our national security.\n\nSenators Schumer and Cotton were joined on the letter by Senator Chris Van Hollen, (D-Maryland), Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska), Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), Senator Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), and Senator Doug Jones (D-Alabama).\n\nThe Senators write that the approval of these export licenses would undermine the original intent of the Entity List designation, allowing Huawei to continue to pose a serious threat to U.S. telecommunications infrastructure and national security more broadly.\n\nDear Mr. President:\n\nWe write to express our concern that the Department of Commerce has begun to issue licenses to some U.S. firms that conduct business with Huawei Technologies. Given the security risks posed by Huawei\u2019s operations in the U.S., we request that you take immediate action to suspend the approval of such licenses and ensure Congress is appropriately informed about the license approval process and related national security implications going forward.\n\nOn May 16, 2019, Huawei\u2014the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world\u2014and 68 of its affiliates were added to the Department of Commerce\u2019s Entity List for reasons of national security. To date, the Entity List includes 115 Huawei companies. This designation serves to effectively prohibit the export and transfer of certain U.S. goods and technology to Huawei.\n\nOn November 18, 2019, the Department of Commerce announced that it would be extending the Temporary General License for U.S. companies engaged in specific business activity with Huawei. While we disagree with this decision, we are even more concerned that the approval of additional, more permanent licenses will allow Huawei to fully resume its engagement with certain U.S. firms without an adequate assessment of the risks to national security.\n\nIt is our understanding that the Department of Commerce has begun to send out 20-day intent to deny letters and some approvals for specific licenses for U.S. companies to sell components to Huawei. Though licenses are to be granted under a presumption of denial, Secretary Ross said previously that the Department will approve \u201cquite a few\u201d of the license requests that were received, of which there are nearly 300.[1]\n\nMr. President, Secretary Ross has expressed that this decision was made to implement your G-20 Summit directive announced this June. However, you have said yourself that you did not want the U.S. doing business with Huawei. National security experts widely agree that Chinese companies cooperate heavily with the Chinese Communist Party, and the Chinese government is thought to exercise considerable influence over Huawei, in particular.\n\nConsequently, we believe that the approval of these export licenses would undermine the original intent of the Entity List designation, allowing Huawei to continue to pose a serious threat to U.S. telecommunications infrastructure and national security more broadly.\n\nWe therefore request:\n\nThe Department of Commerce suspend the granting of licenses to U.S. companies until providing Congress with a report outlining specific criteria for determining whether or not the approval of any license poses a national security threat.\n\nThat Congressional leadership and relevant committees be notified prior to the issuance of any licenses to U.S. firms to sell components to Huawei and its affiliates.\n\nThank you for your prompt attention to this important matter.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:43:09Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-delay-of-death-penalty-for-daniel-lewis-lee", "Cotton Statement on Delay of Death Penalty for Daniel Lewis Lee", "2019-11-21", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement after a district court judge halted the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee:\n\n\"Daniel Lewis Lee is a white supremacist who pitilessly murdered an entire family in Arkansas, including an eight-year-old girl. Lee has been on death row for 20 years, and now an activist judge has again shielded him from justice and the sentence handed down by a jury of his peers. These endless delays make a mockery of our justice system and treat the victims of violent crime with stunning disregard.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:43:09Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-calls-for-passage-of-hong-kong-human-rights-and-democracy-act-after-violent-siege-of-university", "Cotton Calls for Passage of Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act After Violent Siege of University", "2019-11-18", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement after police trapped students inside Hong Kong Polytechnic University during protests:\n\n\"Hong Kong's authorities have turned a place of higher learning into a place of violence by trapping student demonstrators on their own campus. It's time for Beijing to see their appalling tactics in Hong Kong have real and direct consequences. The Senate should pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act and consider additional ways to hold the CCP accountable.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:43:09Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-schumer-urge-commerce-department-to-implement-export-controls", "Cotton, Schumer Urge Commerce Department to Implement Export Controls", "2019-11-18", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nNovember 18, 2019\n\nCotton, Schumer Urge Commerce Department to Implement Export Controls\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York) today sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross concerning the implementation status of the Export Control Reform Act, a law critical for keeping sensitive American technology out of the hands of American military competitors like China.\n\nIn the letter, the Senators note the danger of exporting critical U.S. technologies to companies with Chinese ties, and they question why the Commerce Department has been slow to complete export-control reviews mandated in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act.\n\nThe Honorable Wilbur Ross\n\nSecretary of Commerce\n\nU.S. Department of Commerce\n\n1401 Constitution Avenue NW\n\nWashington, DC 20230\n\nDear Secretary Ross,\n\nWe write to you today about the Commerce Department\u2019s progress on a series of policy reviews mandated by the Export Control Reform Act of 2018.\n\nAs you know, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is engaging in a rapid military buildup in an attempt to displace the United States as the world\u2019s leading power. In order to surpass U.S. military capabilities, the CCP\u2019s strategy is to steal as much American dual-use technology as it can get its hands on. As Vice President Pence observed, \u201cthe Chinese Communist Party is turning plowshares into swords on a massive scale\u201d using stolen American technology. The CCP has effectively fused its military and civilian industrial bases to ensure that the People\u2019s Liberation Army can rapidly develop and field cutting-edge military platforms. This strategy of \u201cMilitary-Civil Fusion\u201d is deeply concerning to Congress, as it leads to American businesses unwittingly exporting sensitive technology to our primary military competitor.\n\nCongress passed two critical pieces of legislation to combat China\u2019s technology strategy as part of the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). First, the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA) updated the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States\u2019 authority to screen foreign investments that may be harmful to our national security. Second, the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) provided a permanent statutory authority for the Export Administration Regulations. These laws are two sides of the same coin. Both provide our government with vital tools necessary to keep sensitive, cutting-edge American technology from falling into the CCP\u2019s hands.\n\nIn September 2019, the Department of Treasury released draft regulations to implement FIRRMA. By contrast, the Commerce Department has been slow to complete a series of critical export-control reviews mandated in ECRA. Accordingly, we ask the following questions:\n\n1.Section 1758 of the fiscal year 2019 NDAA mandates that the Commerce Department institute interim controls around emerging and foundational technologies that are essential to the national security of the United States. Disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing could be key components of future warfare. We understand the technical challenges of evaluating cutting-edge technologies, as well as the staffing and institutional challenges faced by the Department of Commerce, but it is imperative that the Department act expeditiously to develop guidance around these technologies to prevent them from being exported to our military competitors.\n\nWhat is the status of this review process following the open comment period on emerging technologies that closed on January 10, 2019? Has the Department of Commerce established a regular interagency working group to lead this process? Has the Department of Commerce developed a series of interim controls and worked with the Department of State to propose that these technologies be controlled by the appropriate multilateral regime, or are these technologies still being transferred as they were before the fiscal year 2019 NDAA was signed into law?\n\n2.Section 1759 of the fiscal year 2019 NDAA mandates that the Department of Commerce conduct a review of license requirements for exports, reexports, or in-country transfers of items to countries subject to a comprehensive United States arms embargo and implement the results of this review not later than 270 days after enactment. Regimes currently under arms embargo from the United States include China, Iran, and North Korea, among others. We believe that this review should assess the CCP\u2019s attempts to circumvent the U.S. arms embargo by stealing U.S. technology with military applications and by acquiring dual-use technologies that currently fall under the threshold for control.\n\nWhat is the status of this review and implementation of the results? Will this review determine specific sectors of the U.S. economy that the Chinese are targeting for espionage and forced technology-transfer efforts? Will you modify the scope of controls for military end uses and end-users in China? Will you make the results of this review public?\n\nWe urge you to conduct these mandatory reviews as quickly and thoroughly as possible. Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter of national security.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:43:09Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-iranian-protests", "Cotton Statement on Iranian Protests", "2019-11-16", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement on protests in Iran:\n\n\"The Iranian people are tired of the regime ignoring their basic needs while funneling vast sums to terrorists throughout the Middle East. We must stand with these brave protestors demanding accountability from the ayatollahs.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:43:09Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-introduce-keep-our-communities-safe-act", "Cotton, Colleagues Introduce Keep Our Communities Safe Act", "2019-11-15", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nNovember 15, 2019\n\nCotton, Colleagues Introduce Keep Our Communities Safe Act\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), along with Senators Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), John Boozman (R-Arkansas), David Perdue (R-Georgia), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced the Keep Our Communities Safe Act. The legislation would close the legal loophole that requires immigration authorities to release back into the United States illegal aliens who have not been accepted for deportation to other countries after being detained for six months, a practice also referred to as \"catch and release.\"\n\nFull text of the bill can be found here.\n\n\u201cNon-citizens who assault and rob Americans should be deported, not released on a technicality,\u201dCotton said. \u201cUnfortunately, a \u2018catch and release\u2019 loophole puts criminals like Binh Thai Luc back onto our streets if they can\u2019t be deported quickly enough. My bill eliminates that loophole and would keep violent non-citizens in federal custody until they\u2019re sent back to their home country.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Keep Our Communities Safe Act closes the \u2018catch-and-release\u2019 loophole, which puts our law-abiding citizens, local law enforcement officials and communities at risk,\u201dInhofe said. \u201cIt will ensure that illegal aliens who have been found guilty of violent crimes and aggravated felonies are not able to remain in our communities. As the current law stands, an illegal alien with a criminal record is released back into the United States after six months if no other country accepts them for deportation. It\u2019s past time to enact legislation to fix this problem.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe fact that violent criminals can be released back into our communities as the result of a loophole is a clear example of how our immigration system is broken and in desperate need of repair,\u201dsaid Boozman. \u201cThe Keep Our Communities Safe Act will fix that by protecting American families and ensuring dangerous illegal immigrants remain detained.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is unconscionable that current law allows illegal aliens who have committed violent crimes to be released back in the United States,\u201dsaid Perdue. \u201cLoopholes like this jeopardize the safety of law-abiding citizens and put local law enforcement in extremely dangerous situations. By closing this loophole, federal authorities will have the ability to detain criminal illegal aliens, reduce incentives for illegal crossings at our southern border, and keep our communities safe.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s reckless to release illegal aliens into our country \u2013 despite warranting detention \u2013 because of an arbitrary timeline,\u201d Cramer said.\u201cSuch disregard for the rule of law is not only bad policy, but it also poses a threat to American citizens. Our legislation to close these loopholes will help deter those who want to come into our country and take advantage of our broken immigration system.\u201d\n\n\u201cThough the news crews have left and Congressional Democrat\u2019s attention is elsewhere, there is still an ongoing humanitarian crisis happening at our southern border,\u201dsaid Cruz. \u201cIt is a crisis that continues to overwhelm Texas border communities each and every day. Inexplicitly, Congress put loopholes in federal immigration law mandating \u2018catch and release,\u2019 which forces Border Patrol agents to eventually release everyone, including convicted criminals and the children they\u2019ve brought with them. According to rapid DNA testing, nearly 30 percent of adults are not related to the children in their custody. That is cruel and inhumane, and it explains why we are hearing more and more reports of children being rented or sold by the cartels. I am proud to cosponsor this bill to close these loopholes and keep Texans and all Americans safe.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:43:09Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/11/12/cotton-statement-on-eu-targeting-of-israeli-products", "Cotton Statement on EU Targeting of Israeli Products", "2019-11-12", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nNovember 12, 2019\n\nCotton Statement on EU Targeting of Israeli Products\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement after the European Court of Justice ruled earlier today that European Union states must label goods originating from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights as \u201dmade in a settlement\u201d:\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s disgraceful for the European Court of Justice to endorse the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. Yet again, the international community reveals its obsession with singling out and punishing Israel.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:43:09Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-in-honor-of-veterans-day", "Cotton Statement in Honor of Veterans Day", "2019-11-11", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement in honor of Veterans Day:\n\n\"America's veterans gave the best years of their youth to defend their country, and many gave far more than that. It was a true honor to serve alongside these men and women in the Army and see their service and sacrifice firsthand. Today we recognize all our veterans, and their families, and remember the cause for which they fought.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:43:09Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-resignation-of-bolivian-president-evo-morales", "Cotton Statement on Resignation of Bolivian President Evo Morales", "2019-11-10", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nNovember 10, 2019\n\nCotton Statement on Resignation of Bolivian President Evo Morales\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement after reports that Bolivian President Evo Morales resigned amid accusations of election fraud:\n\n\u201cThe Bolivian people resisted Evo Morales\u2018s attempt to tamper with their constitution, and now they\u2019ve rejected his theft of an election. They have called for an end to Morales\u2019s 14-year assault on Bolivia\u2019s democratic institutions. Now they can chart a future of their own.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:43:09Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-pow/mia-flag-bill-becomes-law-ahead-of-veterans-day", "Cotton POW/MIA Flag Bill Becomes Law Ahead of Veterans Day", "2019-11-08", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.- Yesterday, the president signed into law Senator Cotton's National POW/MIA Flag Act, which requires the POW/MIA flag to be displayed whenever the American flag is displayed on prominent federal properties to honor the more than 82,000 Americans who are listed as Prisoners of War (POW), Missing in Action (MIA), or otherwise unaccounted for from our nation's past wars and conflicts. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), along with Senators John Thune (R-South Dakota), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona), Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), and Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) were original co-sponsors of the bill, which was first introduced during the 115th Congress and reintroduced earlier this year.\n\n\"There's no better time than Veterans Day to honor those who left our shores only to be held captive, and those who have still not returned,\" said Senator Cotton. \"Over 82,000 Americans remain missing from past wars and prominently displaying the POW/MIA flag will help remind all Americans of their service and sacrifice.\"\n\n\"All three of my veteran brothers came home safe after their service, but many do not,\" said Senator Warren. \"This bipartisan law ensures that the POW/MIA Flag is consistently and prominently displayed and that we never forget those servicemembers who have not returned home.\"\n\nThe National POW/MIA Flag Act requires the POW/MIA flag to be displayed whenever the American flag is displayed at federal locations already designated under existing law. Those locations include the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, every national cemetery, the buildings containing the official offices of the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, the office of the Director of the Selective Service System, each major military installation (as designated by the Secretary of Defense), each Department of Veterans Affairs medical center, and each United States Postal Service Post Office.\n\nBefore this bill became law, the POW/MIA Flag was required to be displayed by the federal government on certain prominent federal properties only six days per year: Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, National POW/MIA Recognition Day, and Veterans Day.\n\nRepresentatives Chris Pappas (D-NH-01) and Jack Bergman (R-MI-01) sponsored the House version of the bill.\n\nThe legislation is supported by Rolling Thunder, Inc. National; Rolling Thunder Inc. Massachusetts Chapters 1 and 2; the National League of POW/MIA Families; Veterans of Foreign Wars; The American Legion; American Ex-Prisoners of War; and the National Alliance of Families for the Return of America's Missing Servicemen.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:43:09Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-announces-winter-and-spring-internships-for-state-offices", "Cotton Announces Winter and Spring Internships for State Offices", "2019-11-05", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nNovember 5, 2019\n\nCotton Announces Winter and Spring Internships for State Offices\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today announced he is seeking interns for his state offices in Little Rock and Springdale. Internships will be offered in two sessions: January 13 \u2013 February 29 and March 9 \u2013 April 24.\n\nInterns will have the opportunity to help with the daily operations of Senator Cotton's office. Depending on their college requirements, students may be able to receive academic credit for their service. Interested applicants should send a resume and cover letter to state_internships@cotton.senate.gov and specify their desired office location and session before November 29, 2019.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:43:09Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-cruz-introduce-bill-sanctioning-foreign-government-officials-who-hold-americans-hostage", "Cotton, Cruz Introduce Bill Sanctioning Foreign Government Officials Who Hold Americans Hostage", "2019-11-05", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nNovember 5, 2019\n\nCotton, Cruz Introduce Bill Sanctioning Foreign Government Officials Who Hold Americans Hostage\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) today introduced The Global Hostage Act, a bill that would require the president to impose sanctions on foreign government officials responsible for taking Americans hostage. It would also bar those officials and their families from receiving U.S. visas. The bill text is available here.\n\n\u201cIf you\u2019re in the business of kidnapping Americans, you shouldn\u2019t be able to send your kids to American universities or take lavish vacations in the United States. My bill would punish those who hold Americans hostage by sanctioning their assets and blocking their travel to the United States,\u201d said Cotton.\n\n\u201cAcross the globe brutal regimes and terrorist groups seize Americans and use them as hostages, hoping to receive concessions from the United States,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t give them that hope. To that end, our bill imposes sanctions on all those who engage in hostage taking of American citizens and legal permanent residents, and bars their family members from entering the United States. This is a battle I have been waging throughout my service in the Senate, including keeping out diplomats appointed by the Iranian regime who seized our hostages in 1979.\u201d\n\nSpecifically, the bill:\n\n\u00b7 Requires that the executive branch impose mandatory sanctions on foreign government officials responsible for taking U.S. hostages.\n\n\u00b7 Denies U.S. visas to sanctioned hostage takers and their family members.\n\n\u00b7 Creates a mechanism for Congress to require that the executive branch review specific foreign government officials for hostage-taking sanctions eligibility.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:43:09Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/democrats-vote-against-troops-ukraine-defense-funding", "Democrats Vote Against Troops, Ukraine Defense Funding", "2019-10-31", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nOctober 31, 2019\n\nDemocrats Vote Against Troops, Ukraine Defense Funding\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) released the following statement after Senate Democrats blocked funding for a 2020 defense appropriations package:\n\n\u201cDemocrats claimed that they could impeach the president and still do the people\u2019s business. Today\u2019s vote against funding our troops and protecting our borders proves they can\u2019t. Not only that, Democrats just voted to block security assistance to Ukraine for political reasons\u2014the very thing they accuse the president of doing. It\u2019s time for the Democrats to get over their obsession with the president and get back to work.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/10/30/cotton-cruz-introduce-resolution-calling-for-withdrawal-of-united-states-from-open-skies-treaty", "Cotton, Cruz Introduce Resolution Calling for Withdrawal of United States From Open Skies Treaty", "2019-10-30", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nOctober 30, 2019\n\nCotton, Cruz Introduce Resolution Calling for Withdrawal of United States From Open Skies Treaty\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) today introduced a resolution calling for the withdrawal the United States from the Open Skies Treaty. Read the full text of the resolution here.\n\n\u201cThe Open Skies Treaty could be more appropriately named the \u2018Russian Spies Over America Treaty,\u2019 Cotton said. \u201cAmerica ought to withdraw from this flawed accord, which invites Russia to fly spy planes over our houses while Putin violates the treaty by restricting U.S. flights over Russia.\u201d\n\n\u201cRussia is in open violation of the Open Skies Treaty,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cIt enhances Russia\u2019s surveillance of major American cities, strengthens Russia\u2019s espionage capabilities, and costs the United States millions of dollars. The treaty no longer serves America\u2019s national security interests, and it is long past time the United States withdraw.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nSenator Cotton has long criticized the Open Skies Treaty and has advocated for the United States to abandon it. Last week, Senator Cotton questioned Vice Admiral Charles Richard about the treaty\u2019s weaknesses. Senator Cotton has issued statements regarding Russia\u2019s violations here and here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-protect-babies-with-down-syndrome", "Cotton, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Protect Babies With Down Syndrome", "2019-10-30", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.- Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today joined Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) and 12 colleagues in introducing the Down Syndrome Discrimination by Abortion Prohibition Act, which would prohibit abortion of unborn babies who have been diagnosed with Down syndrome. Congressman Ron Estes (R-Kansas) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.\n\nThe bill's other sponsors are Senators Steve Daines (R-Montana), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Rick Scott (R-Florida), James Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), John Thune (South Dakota), Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee).\n\nAs prenatal screenings become more widely available, more parents learn that their baby may have Down syndrome prior to birth. Sadly, many of these babies are aborted following a diagnosis. Roughly two-thirds of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted in the United States; countries like Denmark and Iceland terminate almost every baby diagnosed with Down syndrome. The Down Syndrome Discrimination by Abortion Prohibition Act would prohibit abortion providers from performing an abortion with the knowledge that a pregnant woman is seeking an abortion, in whole or in part, because of a Down syndrome diagnosis.\n\n\"Babies with disabilities deserve our love and protection. But sadly, many of these babies don't even get a chance at life. Protecting unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome moves us closer to a society that respects life in all forms and all stages,\" Cotton said.\n\n\"Every life has value and that extends to the unborn,\" Inhofe said. \"To take away the precious life of an unborn baby is murder, but to deny a child the chance at life because of his or her chromosome count is a heinous effort to eliminate a vibrant community through abortion. That's why I am introducing a bill to prohibit abortion based on a Down syndrome diagnosis. All children should be given the chance at life and today, with the introduction of the Down Syndrome Discrimination by Abortion Prohibition Act, we have a chance to give a voice to the voiceless and build on pro-life legislation we've already championed, including the Life at Conception Act, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivor Protection Act and the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.\"\n\nEight states have enacted legislation to prohibit abortion on the basis of Down syndrome. Several additional states have introduced similar legislation. The Supreme Court recently declined to rule on an Indiana law protecting Down syndrome babies, so abortion targeting babies with disabilities remains sadly available in many states.\n\nBill Overview\n\nThe bill would prohibit abortion providers from performing abortions being sought because the baby has been diagnosed with Down syndrome.\n\nThe bill requires abortion providers to ask mothers if they are aware of any test results indicating their child has Down syndrome and to inform her of the prohibitions in this law.\n\nThe bill prohibits anyone from forcing a woman to have an abortion because the baby has Down syndrome.\n\nThe bill imposes a fine and/or imprisonment of up to five years on those who violate the law, and pulls federal funds under existing federal disability anti-discrimination laws from associated abortion clinics.\n\nThe bill protects the mother by barring her from being prosecuted or held liable for any violation of the law and includes guardrails to protect her privacy in all court proceedings\n\nTo read full text of the bill, click here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-introduces-the-small-business-audit-correction-act", "Cotton Introduces the Small Business Audit Correction Act", "2019-10-30", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.- Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) along with Senators Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Doug Jones (D-Alabama), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) yesterday introduced the Small Business Audit Correction Act to provide much-needed regulatory relief to small investment brokers by exempting them from certain audit requirements and reinstating previous regulations. The bill was first introduced in the 115th Congress. Last year a similar version passed the House Financial Services Committee in bipartisan fashion.\n\n\"Requiring our small non-custodial broker-dealers to get the same audits required of public companies only results in higher costs and fewer small firms, and all because of a provision that wasn't even supposed to be aimed at non-custodial firms. This bill will return audit requirements to the former standard, one appropriate for these kinds of firms and which will allow our small broker-dealers to expand and help create more jobs,\" said Cotton.\n\nBackground:\n\nThe Dodd-Frank Act requires all investment brokers and dealers, irrespective of size, to hire a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)-registered audit firm to conduct audits using significantly more complex guidelines designed for larger, public companies.\n\nThis requirement is devastating for small investment firms, particularly in states like Alabama, North Carolina, Arizona and Arkansas. These firms are closing at an alarming rate, in part due to skyrocketing audit costs required by a rule that is illogical for firms that don't hold customer assets.\n\nThe Small Business Audit Correction Act would exempt privately-held, small non-custodial brokers and dealers in good standing from the requirement to hire a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)-registered audit firm to meet their annual SEA Rule 17a-5 reporting obligation and would instead reinstate the previous regulatory audit requirements.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-successful-raid-targeting-isis-leader", "Cotton Statement on Successful Raid Targeting ISIS Leader", "2019-10-27", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "\"The world's most wanted man has been eliminated thanks to the brave men and women of the United States military and the president's decisive leadership. This raid serves as a reminder to America's enemies that there's no safe place in the world for them to lay their heads. It also reminds us that strength and vigilance are the only way to defeat terrorist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda, which continue to threaten America and our allies.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-schumer-request-assessment-of-national-security-risks-posed-by-china-owned-video-sharing-platform-tiktok-a-potential-counterintelligence-threat-with-over-110-million-downloads-in-us-alone", "Cotton, Schumer Request Assessment Of National Security Risks Posed By China-Owned Video-Sharing Platform, TikTok, A Potential Counterintelligence Threat With Over 110 Million Downloads In U.S., Alone", "2019-10-24", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. -Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) late yesterday sent a letter to Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, formally requesting that the Intelligence Community conduct an assessment of the national security risks posed by TikTok and other China-owned content platforms in the U.S., and requested a Congressional briefing on the findings. Leader Schumer and Senator Cotton's request comes amid growing concern about national security and cybersecurity risks posed by TikTok, a short-form video application owned by Beijing-based ByteDance and boasting more than 110 million downloads in the United States alone, as well as other China-based applications with a significant U.S. presence.\n\nThe Senators note that while ByteDance claims TikTok does not operate in China and stores U.S. user data in the U.S., ByteDance is still required to adhere to the laws of China. Importantly, security experts have voiced concern that China's intelligence, national security, and cybersecurity laws compel Chinese companies to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Such concerns \"about the potential for Chinese intelligence and security services to use Chinese information technology firms as routine and systemic espionage platforms against the U.S. and allies\" are also expressed in the U.S. Intelligence Community's Worldwide Threat Assessment report for 2019.\n\nIn the letter, the Senators emphasize that the TikTok platform is also a potential target of foreign influence campaigns like those carried out during the 2016 election on U.S.-based social media platforms. Leader Schumer and Senator Cotton say further action is needed to address the growing counterintelligence and national security threats posed by China-owned technology firms and demand an assessment of the national security risks posed by TikTok and other China-owned content platforms in the U.S., as well as a Congressional briefing on the findings.\n\nSenator Cotton and Senator Schumer's letter to Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire can be found here and below:\n\nThe Honorable Joseph Maguire\n\nActing Director of National Intelligence\n\nOffice of the Director of National Intelligence\n\nWashington, DC 20511\n\nDear Acting Director Maguire:\n\nWe write to express our concerns about TikTok, a short-form video application, and the national security risks posed by its growing use in the United States.\n\nTikTok is owned by Beijing-based technology company ByteDance, which operates several other content platforms in China. ByteDance regards its platforms as part of an artificial intelligence company powered by algorithms that \"learn\" each user's interests and preferences through repeat interaction.\n\nTikTok's terms of service and privacy policies describe how it collects data from its users and their devices, including user content and communications, IP address, location-related data, device identifiers, cookies, metadata, and other sensitive personal information. While the company has stated that TikTok does not operate in China and stores U.S. user data in the U.S., ByteDance is still required to adhere to the laws of China.\n\nSecurity experts have voiced concerns that China's vague patchwork of intelligence, national security, and cybersecurity laws compel Chinese companies to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Without an independent judiciary to review requests made by the Chinese government for data or other actions, there is no legal mechanism for Chinese companies to appeal if they disagree with a request.\n\nQuestions have also been raised regarding the potential for censorship or manipulation of certain content. TikTok reportedly censors materials deemed politically sensitive to the Chinese Communist Party, including content related to the recent Hong Kong protests, as well as references to Tiananmen Square, Tibetan and Taiwanese independence, and the treatment of Uighurs. The platform is also a potential target of foreign influence campaigns like those carried out during the 2016 election on U.S.-based social media platforms.\n\nThe Administration has rightly taken initial steps to address other critical security risks posed by China. These steps include the addition of Huawei to the Entity List, as well as the recent Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States orders for certain Chinese firms to divest their stakes in U.S. companies over concerns about the security of sensitive personal data. However, further action is needed, particularly as China continues to shut out U.S.-based technology firms while promoting and expanding the global reach of its own companies.\n\nWith over 110 million downloads in the U.S. alone, TikTok is a potential counterintelligence threat we cannot ignore. Given these concerns, we ask that the Intelligence Community conduct an assessment of the national security risks posed by TikTok and other China-based content platforms operating in the U.S. and brief Congress on these findings. Thank you for your consideration regarding this important matter.\n\nSincerely,", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-introduce-resolution-honoring-beirut-bombing-victims", "Cotton, Colleagues Introduce Resolution Honoring Beirut Bombing Victims", "2019-10-23", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nOctober 23, 2019\n\nCotton, Colleagues Introduce Resolution Honoring Beirut Bombing Victims\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), along with Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Doug Jones (D-Alabama), Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada), Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Chris Coons (D-Delaware), Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), and Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) introduced a resolution that would designate today as a national day of remembrance for members of the United States Armed Forces who were killed or injured by the terrorist attack on the United States Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon on October 23, 1983. Text of the resolution may be found here.\n\n\u201cThis fateful day in 1983 marks the deadliest day for the Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima. Iran\u2019s terrorist proxy Hezbollah killed 220 Marines, along with 21 other servicemembers across our Armed Forces. Our resolution makes certain that our nation remembers their sacrifice on the anniversary of their tragic deaths,\u201d said Cotton.\n\n\u201cOn this solemn anniversary, we honor the nine Rhode Island Marines and all of the service members who were killed in a terror attack while serving on a peacekeeping mission in Beirut,\u201d said Whitehouse. \u201cWe are eternally grateful for their sacrifice and continue to fight for restitution for the victims' families.\u201d\n\n\u201cIran and its proxies have the blood of thousands of Americans on their hands, including the 241 men and women of the Armed Forces killed on October 23, 1983,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cToday we honor their sacrifice by remembering their service, and resolving to continue battling against the threat that Iran poses to the United States.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Camp Lejeune family remembers October 23, 1983 with a heavy heart, where North Carolina tragically lost loved ones to the Beirut barracks bombings carried out by Hezbollah terrorists,\u201d said Tillis. \u201cNorth Carolina is the proud home of the Beirut Memorial to remember the 241 American peacekeepers who lost their lives on that fateful day, and I am honored to co-sponsor the resolution to designate today as a day of remembrance for those who were killed or injured.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nOn October 23, 1983, an Iranian national drove a truck bomb into the U.S. Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. The devastating bombing killed 220 Marines and dozens of other personnel. The attack was perpetrated by Hezbollah, a terror group founded, trained, and financially supported by the Iranian regime.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-honors-36th-anniversary-of-the-beirut-bombing-on-the-senate-floor", "Cotton Honors 36th Anniversary of the Beirut Bombing on the Senate Floor", "2019-10-23", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Thirty-six years ago this week, an Iranian suicide bomber detonated thousands of pounds of explosives inside a Marine compound in Beirut, Lebanon.\n\nSo terrible was the blast that 15 miles out at sea, Marines aboard the USS Iwo Jima could see black smoke building over Beirut like an ominous storm cloud.\n\nThe devastating attack claimed the lives of 241 Americans who were bravely keeping the peace in a country wracked by violence. A separate blast claimed the lives of 58 of our French allies.\n\nThis anniversary is a sobering reminder that freedom comes at a price-a price too often paid by brave Americans in uniform. In Beirut, it was 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers. As a memorial to their valor, Madame President, I ask consent to include their names in the record following my remarks.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-north-macedonia-and-146s-accession-into-nato", "Cotton Statement on North Macedonia\u0092s Accession into NATO", "2019-10-22", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nOctober 22, 2019\n\nCotton Statement on North Macedonia\u2019s Accession into NATO\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) issued the following statement following the Senate\u2019s vote ratifying North Macedonia\u2019s accession into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization:", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-call-for-nba-to-stand-against-ccp-censorship-and-bullying", "Cotton, Colleagues Call for NBA to Stand Against CCP Censorship and Bullying", "2019-10-10", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska), along with Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin), yesterday sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver about the league's shameful response to Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey's tweet in support of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement. The letter warns that capitulating to China's demands is a betrayal of the league's players, employees, and fans that sets a disturbing precedent for free speech, both in America and for Americans living and working in China. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), along with Representatives Tom Malinowski (D-New Jersey), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) and Jim Banks (R-Indiana) also signed the letter.\n\n\"Unless American businesses aggressively confront this intimidation campaign, the Chinese government will increasingly punish free speech outside China's borders. The most common method is to threaten access to the growing Chinese domestic market for any international company or organization that criticizes, or allows its employees to criticize, Chinese government policies. If not resisted, this pressure could result in American and multinational companies making employment conditional on silence regarding topics deemed sensitive by the Chinese Communist Party. This is an outcome that Americans reject, and one that you should reject - especially given that the NBA represents a unique brand for which there is no competition, inside or outside China. You have more power to take a stand than most of the Chinese government's targets and should have the courage and integrity to use it. It's not unreasonable to expect American companies to put our fundamental democratic rights ahead of profit - the very rights that have fostered their success and our nation's wealth,\" the letter states.\n\nThe letter calls on the NBA to have the \"courage and integrity\" to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party, and outlines four steps the league can take to uphold its commitment to \"addressing important social issues in the U.S. and around the world.\"\n\nThe letter is available here. The full text also is below:\n\nCommissioner Silver,\n\nWe are writing to express our deep concern about the NBA's and Houston Rockets' recent statements apologizing for Rockets GM Daryl Morey's tweet in support of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protestors. It is outrageous that the Chinese Communist Party is using its economic power to suppress the speech of Americans inside the United States. It is also outrageous that the NBA has caved to Chinese government demands for contrition. We are deeply concerned that individuals associated with the league may now engage in self-censorship that is inconsistent with American and the league's stated values-and that this incident will only encourage further intimidation of American companies and persons by the Chinese government.\n\nWe are aware that the NBA has a lucrative and longstanding market in China. As such, your corporate due diligence would have noted that the Chinese government has systematically used international business partnerships to stifle opinions with which it disagrees. The NBA should have anticipated the challenges of doing business in a country run by a repressive single party government-including by being prepared to stand in strong defense of the freedom of expression of its employees, players, and affiliates across the globe.\n\nNBA players have a rich history of speaking out on sensitive topics of social justice and human rights inside the United States, and the NBA takes pride in defending their right to do so. Yet while it is easy to defend freedom of speech when it costs you nothing, equivocating when profits are at stake is a betrayal of fundamental American values.\n\nWorse, your statements come at a time when we would hope to see Americans standing up and speaking out in defense of the rights of the people of Hong Kong. The NBA's initial statement, and pressure placed on Mr. Morey to back away from his statement, has not only sold out an American citizen. It reinforces the Chinese Communist Party view that those who point to Chinese repression in Hong Kong are at best stating opinions, not facts, and that the official Chinese government view deserves equal respect. Hundreds of millions of people within China will read your statements as an admission that their government's propaganda is correct; millions of people in Hong Kong will be dispirited. That you have more potential fans in China than in Hong Kong is no excuse for bending over backwards to express \"sensitivity\" only to one side.\n\nUnless American businesses aggressively confront this intimidation campaign, the Chinese government will increasingly punish free speech outside China's borders. The most common method is to threaten access to the growing Chinese domestic market for any international company or organization that criticizes, or allows its employees to criticize, Chinese government policies. If not resisted, this pressure could result in American and multinational companies making employment conditional on silence regarding topics deemed sensitive by the Chinese Communist Party. This is an outcome that Americans reject, and one that you should reject - especially given that the NBA represents a unique brand for which there is no competition, inside or outside China. You have more power to take a stand than most of the Chinese government's targets and should have the courage and integrity to use it. It's not unreasonable to expect American companies to put our fundamental democratic rights ahead of profit - the very rights that have fostered their success and our nation's wealth.\n\nTherefore, we urge you to take the following steps:\n\n1. Build upon your statement of October 8 in which you said \"the NBA will not put itself in a position of regulating what players, employees, and team owners say or will not say on these issues\" by clarifying that (a) NBA players, staff, partners, and fans in the United States are American persons-as such, you support their right to express their opinions no matter the economic consequences, and (b) while the NBA will follow Chinese law in China, the Chinese Communist Party must respect that the association will abide by American laws and principles in its global operations, including by not conditioning employment on any guidelines of expression on international political issues.\n\n2. Suspend NBA activities in China until government-controlled broadcasters and government-controlled commercial sponsors end their boycott of NBA activities and the selective treatment of the Houston Rockets, and emphasize that the association will stand unified in the face of future efforts by Chinese government-controlled entities to single out individual teams, players, or associates for boycotts or selective treatment.\n\n3. Reevaluate the NBA's training camp in Xinjiang, where up to a million Chinese citizens are held in concentration camps as part of a massive, government-run campaign of ethno-religious repression.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-demands-answers-from-intelligence-community-ig", "Cotton Demands Answers From Intelligence Community IG", "2019-10-09", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today sent a letter to Michael Atkinson, Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, after his evasive testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence during a closed hearing on September 26. Inspector General Atkinson repeatedly refused to answer questions about the political bias of the \"whistleblower\", despite being in a closed session and despite this information being unclassified. The Inspector General wouldn't reveal this information to the Senate Intelligence Committee, but later revealed it to the House Intelligence Committee. The letter outlines five outstanding questions Senator Cotton has for Inspector General Atkinson and asks him to reply no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 11. The full text of the letter is below and can be found by clicking here.\n\nDear Inspector General Atkinson,\n\nYour disappointing testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on September 26 was evasive to the point of being insolent and obstructive. Despite repeated questions, you refused to explain what you meant in your written report by \"indicia of an arguable political bias on the part of the Complainant in favor of a rival political candidate.\" This information is, of course, unclassified and we were meeting in a closed setting. Yet you moralized about how you were duty bound not to share even a hint of this political bias with us.\n\nBut now I see media reports that you revealed to the House Intelligence Committee not only that the complainant is a registered Democrat, but also that he has a professional relationship with a Democratic presidential campaign. I'm dissatisfied, to put it mildly, with your refusal to answer my questions, while more fully briefing the three-ring circus that the House Intelligence Committee has become.\n\nSo, I will ask again and give you one more chance to answer: what are these \"indicia of arguable political bias\"? More specifically:\n\nDoes the complainant have (or did he once have) a professional relationship with a Democratic presidential candidate or campaign?\n\nIf so, which candidate or campaign and what is the nature of that relationship?\n\nWhat other \"indicia of arguable political bias\" of the complainant did you find?\n\nDid you or anyone subject to your control or influence share with CNN that the \"arguable political bias\" was merely that the complainant is a registered Democrat?\n\nWhy did you refuse to answer my questions at the September 26 hearing?\n\nThis information is urgently relevant for the American people and their elected representatives to evaluate the complainant's credibility and to determine whether the House's so-called impeachment inquiry has been, in reality, a well-coordinated partisan attack from the beginning.\n\nThis information is also simple, unclassified, and personally known to you. Therefore, please reply in writing no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 11. I look forward to your answers, even two weeks late.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/10/08/cotton-applauds-decision-to-blacklist-several-chinese-tech-companies", "Cotton Applauds Decision to Blacklist Several Chinese Tech Companies", "2019-10-08", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement on the administration's decision to blacklist several Chinese technology companies:\n\n\"I applaud the administration's decision to blacklist 28 additional Chinese entities, ensuring that sensitive American technology will no longer be used to build the Communist Party's dystopian surveillance state. Beijing must face economic consequences for its crimes against millions of Chinese ethnic and religious minorities. The United States must continue to stand up for all those suffering under the yoke of the Party's rule-from Xinjiang to Tibet to Hong Kong.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-russia-and-146s-open-skies-treaty-violations", "Cotton Statement on Russia\u0092s Open Skies Treaty Violations", "2019-10-08", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement on Russia's violations of the Open Skies Treaty:\n\n\"Vladimir Putin has violated the Open Skies Treaty for years while continuing to benefit from surveillance flights over the United States. The president should withdraw from the treaty and redeploy the hundreds of millions of dollars the Pentagon wastes on Open Skies flights and equipment to increase U.S. combat power.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-send-letter-to-microsoft-president-detailing-huawei-and-146s-threat-to-national-security", "Cotton, Colleagues Send Letter to Microsoft President Detailing Huawei\u0092s Threat to National Security", "2019-10-07", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Cotton, Colleagues Send Letter to Microsoft President Detailing Huawei\u0092s Threat to National Security\n\nContact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) along with Senators Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), and Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) today sent a letter to Microsoft President Brad Smith in response to his recent comments that the U.S. government should provide more evidence of wrongdoing by Huawei so that business leaders can decide whether to continue doing business with the Chinese telecommunications company. The letter reproduces publicly available evidence of Huawei's spying, technology theft, and economic warfare, which illustrates the enormous threat Huawei poses to the national security of America and its allies. It goes on to recommend that the government look for appropriate ways to share intelligence about Huawei with affected businesses. The full text of the letter can be found below and by clicking here.\n\nBrad Smith\n\nPresident\n\nMicrosoft\n\nOne Microsoft Way\n\nRedmond, WA 98052\n\nDear Mr. Smith,\n\nWe're writing in response to a recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek, which includes your remarks about the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei. You encouraged the United States government to disclose additional intelligence about Huawei's espionage, so that business leaders \"can decide for ourselves\" whether to continue dealing with the company.\n\nWe appreciate Microsoft's communications with our offices and your understanding of the threats posed by Huawei. We also understand that many American companies have conducted business in good faith with Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications companies. While the U.S. government and American industry must take certain steps to protect our people and our telecommunications infrastructure, we do not want to cause undue harm to those American companies.\n\nWe believe, however, that a review of publicly available evidence indicates that the security concerns about Huawei are real and urgent. To highlight those concerns to American citizens and businesses, we list below just some of this evidence:\n\nEspionage Activities\n\nHuawei's president and founder, Ren Zhengfei, is a former engineer for the People's Liberation Army and a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP has office space and minders inside Huawei's Shenzhen headquarters.\n\nBeginning in 2006, the Chinese government financed and built the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Huawei servers inside the building secretly transferred data to servers in Shanghai every night for five years until the theft was discovered. The AU replaced its Huawei servers at great expense, and declined an offer by China to help configure its new servers.\n\nLast year, Huawei technicians collaborated with Ugandan intelligence officers to hack an encrypted messaging platform used by a political opponent of the regime.\n\nEarlier this year, Polish authorities arrested a Huawei sales director and former Chinese diplomat on charges he was spying for the Chinese government.[4]\n\nAn independent research firm in the United States examined hundreds of Huawei products and \"found Huawei devices to be less secure than comparable devices from other vendors\" with \"hundreds of cases of potential backdoor vulnerabilities...a large number of known vulnerabilities...and hundreds of potential 0-day vulnerabilities.\"\n\nA recent think tank study reviewed the resumes of 25,000 Huawei employees and found several who were simultaneously employed by Chinese intelligence services.\n\nTechnology Theft & Economic Warfare\n\nHuawei has received tens of billions of dollars in grants, export finance, and loan guarantees from China's state policy banks, which indicates the government's vested interest in Huawei's overseas expansion.\n\nHuawei allegedly used shell companies in Iran and Syria to deceive European banks into clearing hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions that violated U.S. sanctions against doing business with the repressive regimes in Tehran and Damascus.\n\nEarlier this year, the U.S. government indicted Huawei for stealing advanced robotics technology from T-Mobile in the United States. The company allegedly offered rewards to employees who stole trade secrets from competitors.\n\nIn 2003, Cisco filed suit against Huawei, alleging \"systematic and wholesale infringement of Cisco's intellectual property.\" It was later established that Huawei copied proprietary source code from a Cisco router down to the letter, including coding errors, help screens, and user manuals. A third-party expert concluded the similarities between the two sets of code were \"beyond coincidence,\" despite Huawei's claims to the contrary. The case was settled out of court.\n\nIn 2010, Motorola filed suit against Huawei after a Motorola employee with ties to Huawei was stopped from boarding a flight to Beijing with a carry-on bag full of confidential documents from Motorola. The lawsuit revealed that Motorola employees created a company to funnel Motorola's trade secrets to Huawei. The case was settled out of court.\n\nA former cybersecurity executive for Nortel has implicated Huawei in the company's downfall, warning other companies against doing business with Huawei. He alleges Huawei was involved in cyberattacks that emanated from China, stealing business plans and intellectual property. These attacks contributed to Nortel's bankruptcy.\n\nThis evidence, in conjunction with testimony from U.S. government officials and our allies, Britain, Japan, and Australia, makes a compelling case that Huawei serves as an intelligence-gathering apparatus for the Chinese state. As Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has said, \"Huawei is the means by which China would get into our networks and our systems, and either attempt to extract information or to corrupt it, or to undermine what we're trying to do.\"\n\nOf course, the government has more classified evidence to support this case, and we sympathize with your expressed concern that Microsoft and other businesses are not privy to this intelligence. We believe the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the intelligence community could share more of this intelligence in an appropriate fashion to affected businesses. We would welcome further conversation with Microsoft and other businesses about coordinating such briefings.\n\nThank you again for Microsoft's cooperation with our offices. And thank you for the many ways in which Microsoft works with our military, intelligence community, and law enforcement agencies.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-ernst-introduce-legislation-to-hold-states-accountable-for-botched-abortions", "Cotton, Ernst Introduce Legislation to Hold States Accountable for Botched Abortions", "2019-10-03", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) last week introduced legislation that would require states to report information about abortion to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including cases where infants are born alive during abortions. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska), and Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) are co-sponsors of the legislation. Congressmen Ralph Norman (R-South Carolina) and Gary Palmer (R-Alabama) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.\n\n\"The American people deserve to know how many babies are born alive during abortion attempts in our country. This is life or death information, yet most states don't collect it. Our bill would require states to report accurate and complete data about abortion, including instances where babies are born alive during abortions,\" said Cotton.\n\n\"America's main source of abortion data comes from a biased think tank that only collects information on a voluntary basis. That's unacceptable. Why wouldn't we want the most reliable and complete data possible surrounding such an important issue?\" said Ernst. \"Requiring comprehensive reporting from every state will finally give Americans-regardless of your stance on the issue-an accurate look at abortion trends in our country.\"\n\n\"The truth is we have no idea how many children are born alive each year following an abortion procedure. In fact, we don't even have reliable information on the number of abortions performed because states are not compelled to provide those numbers. This bill would rectify that. Congress needs this information in order to make sound policy decisions. Equally as important, the American people deserve to know,\" said Norman.\n\n\"Accurate and transparent reporting on abortion and children who survive abortion attempts is essential to public health research and to determining sound policy,\" said Palmer. \"Reporting abortion data has been voluntary for too long, and this has led to states withholding many data points routinely requested by the CDC. We must standardize and enforce reporting processes in this area and ensure that states have necessary assistance in collecting the required abortion data. States should not be allowed to distort or provide faulty data in an effort to cover up the true numbers of innocent lives lost by abortion.\"\n\nBackground\n\nCurrently, states submit abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on a voluntary basis. Three states totaling 15% of the population fail to provide any data, meaning federal government reports about abortion are based on incomplete information. This bill requires states to report accurate and complete data about abortion as a condition for receiving certain Medicaid family-planning funds.\n\nThe bill requires states to report cases where babies are born alive during abortions. At present, only a handful of states record these cases. Three states with robust reporting requirements have recorded dozens of babies born alive during abortions just in the past few years. This bill would give the American people and policymakers a more accurate understanding of how often these tragic cases occur.\n\nThe bill is supported by Americans United for Life and the Susan B. Anthony List.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-founding-of-the-people-and-146s-republic-of-china", "Cotton Statement on the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People\u0092s Republic of China", "2019-10-01", "2019", "2019-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China:\n\n\"To see the price of the PRC's anniversary celebration, look no further than what's happening in Hong Kong: a ceaseless war against those who wish to live in freedom. From the Great Leap Forward to the Cultural Revolution to the camps in Xinjiang today, it has been a ghoulish 70 years of Chinese Communist Party control.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:39:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-applauds-confirmation-of-general-hyten-as-vice-chairman-of-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff", "Cotton Applauds Confirmation of General Hyten as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff", "2019-09-26", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) submitted the remarks below to the Congressional Record after the Senate confirmed General John Hyten to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:\n\n\"Earlier today, this body confirmed General John Hyten as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The vote was 75 to 22. It should've been 100 to zero.\n\nGeneral Hyten has weathered a storm of malicious attacks on his character-attacks that've been elevated by credulous pundits and politicians, even as they've been debunked again and again by independent investigations.\n\nToday General Hyten got his due and the Joint Chiefs gained a great leader-all because he refused to back down, and because a majority of this body was willing to follow the facts where they lead.\n\nGeneral Hyten has devoted his life to public service. He attended Harvard University on an ROTC scholarship and spent the next three decades mastering warfare in a new domain: Space. Today, he's an undisputed expert in space technology and operations, having served in senior positions at Strategic Command, Central Command, Air Force Space Command, and the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base.\n\nGen. Hyten's expertise and leadership will only grow more valuable in the years ahead, as the United States competes with China for dominance in space and cyberspace.\n\nUnfortunately, we haven't spent the past few months discussing Gen. Hyten's qualifications for the job-or the strategic challenges we face as a nation.\n\nInstead, Gen. Hyten's nomination was marred by false accusations of misconduct by a subordinate. This accuser has a long and disturbing history of responding to professional setbacks with serious accusations against her superiors.\n\nThese accusations-all of them, against Gen. Hyten and others in her chain of command-have been dismissed by competent, independent military investigations.\n\nMultiple inspectors general have now looked into these claims. Countless manhours have been devoted to uncovering the truth. And the truth is that Gen. Hyten is innocent.\n\nToday the Senate said \"Enough\" to the malicious claims against him.\n\nEnsuring justice for Gen. Hyten meant nothing more and nothing less than following the facts where they led.\n\nWhen we follow the facts, it sends a clear message to our men and women in uniform that they'll be treated fairly by the Armed Service-not railroaded by a media mob or hung out to dry by their chain of command.\n\nFor victims of sexual assault and harassment, following the facts will ensure that justice is done. It'll mean the same for victims of false claims like Gen. Hyten.\n\nI know of few leaders who take sexual misconduct more seriously than my colleague, Senator Martha McSally-herself a victim of sexual assault. It speaks volumes about this case-as well as her own courage-that Senator McSally has stood up for a good man in the face of truly reprehensible attacks.\n\nI'll close with her words. \"[T]he full truth was revealed in this process,\" she said. \"The truth is that General Hyten is innocent of these charges.\"\n\nIndeed he is. So today he has been confirmed as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, with our full confidence that he'll continue to serve with the courage and brilliance that have so far distinguished his career.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-discusses-ukraine-joe-biden-and-democratic-attempts-to-impeach-the-president-on-hugh-hewitt-and-cnbc", "Cotton Discusses Ukraine, Joe Biden, and Democratic Attempts to Impeach the President on Hugh Hewitt and CNBC", "2019-09-26", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - This morning, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) joined CNBC's Squawk Box and the Hugh Hewitt Radio show to discuss Ukraine, Joe Biden, and democratic attempts to impeach the President. Click here to listen to his Hugh Hewitt interview and click here to watch his CNBC interview. Excerpts of his comments can be found below.\n\nOn Hugh Hewitt\n\n\"...Let's take stock about the situation with Hunter Biden and Joe Biden. Hunter Biden was hired by a Ukrainian oligarch for $50,000 a month. A month! Not a year, a month-$50,000 a month. At a time when he was a known alcoholic and drug addict, who had no experience whatsoever in Ukraine or in the oil and gas industry. What do we think that oligarch believed he was buying? He was buying access and influence to the Biden family. And sure enough, there's Vice President Joe Biden on camera bragging and boasting about how he flew into Kiev and got all chesty and told Poroshenko, the president at the time, to fire the prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden's patrons. And lo and behold, threatening to withhold a billion dollars of U.S. aid to Ukraine if they didn't fire the prosecutor who was investigating Hunter Biden's patrons. Now, maybe there's nothing there, Hugh. Maybe everything is on the up and up. But surely the American people deserve to know what exactly happened and that that investigation itself was tainted by corruption.\"\n\n\"The main thing he was being paid $50,000 a month to do was be the Vice President of the United States' son. Look, Hugh, there's a local angle to this as well, if you want to know a little bit about Hunter Biden's character. There is a young woman, in her twenties, in Arkansas, who has filed a paternity suit in Arkansas state court against Hunter Biden. And he is dodging process and has done so for months. He is literally hiding out from process servers so he doesn't have to submit to a DNA test. He claims that he's not the father of this child. If that's the case, why doesn't he just accept process and provide a DNA sample? But no, he is literally hiding out from those working for a young woman in Arkansas who is raising a child by herself after she's filed suit against Hunter Biden in Arkansas state court.\"\n\n\"...And I think most of your listeners know that even in America where we have the gold standards of the rule of law and anti-corruption investigations and practices, a lot of people would think that that means access and influence to the Vice President. Ukraine is not America. Ukraine has many troubles, and they are divided by rival factions that point the fingers at each other and try to win and gain and preserve influence with patrons not only in Ukraine, but around the world. And of course, there's no greater partner to have than the United States government in a place like Ukraine.\"\n\n\"...But at some point, if there's going to be hearings in Congress about President Trump conducting a routine diplomatic phone call, then we need to look at what kicked all this off, which is Hunter Biden's activities in Ukraine, which by the way just scratches the surface of what Hunter Biden has done, or for that matter, Joe Biden's brother, James Biden.\"\n\nOn CNBC\n\n\"It's a little mystifying to me, and I think most Americans now that they've read the transcript of the president's call with the president of Ukraine, exactly what the Democrats are talking about. In fact, Nancy Pelosi said one of the grounds for the impeachment inquiry would be withholding information from Congress and the people. Well, the transcript has been released publicly. I, and members of the Intelligence Committee, have reviewed the whistleblower report. I believe it's going to be released publicly in the next few days-I don't see why it can't be with appropriate redactions for a few classified matters-and what's apparent is there is no quid pro quo that the president asked for anything in return for U.S. aid to Ukraine. It was a fairly straightforward, diplomatic conversation. Certainly, it's not what Joe Biden has boasted about doing. Joe Biden boasted, on television, about withholding American aid to Ukraine if Ukraine didn't fire the prosecutor that was looking into his son's company. Now let's just be clear here, a Ukrainian oligarch didn't find Hunter Biden's resume on Ziprecruiter.com and start paying him $50,000 because he's an expert in Ukrainian oil and gas. He did that because Joe Biden was Vice President of the United States.\"\n\n\"First, I think the president has reasonable concerns about Ukraine. Ukraine is riven by rival factions. Those factions point the finger at each other a lot. One thing the president wanted to know earlier this year was whether President Zelensky, a newcomer to Ukrainian politics, was going to be better than some of the past leaders of Ukraine, especially when it comes to combatting corruption. ... Joe Biden was the sitting Vice President of the United States, went to Ukraine, and demanded the firing of a prosecutor that was investigating his son's company, otherwise he was going to withhold a billion dollars in aid. He boasted about that. He bragged about that. That was under a previous Ukrainian administration. Now, with a new Ukrainian administration, the president wanted to know whether it was more trustworthy, whether it was going to take a more serious tack on corruption, and whether there were past actions that needed to be reopened. I'm not saying there's anything there, I'm saying these are reasonable questions when you look at the facts and that a sitting vice president's son was getting $50,000 a month. It's a common topic of conversation between our president and presidents of other nations when we're dealing with corruption, and especially with aid to those nations.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-introduces-tariff-rebate-act", "Cotton Introduces Tariff Rebate Act", "2019-09-26", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today introduced the Tariff Rebate Act, legislation that would return tariff revenue collected by the Department of Treasury to American families in the form of a rebate check.\n\n\"Tariffs are an effective way to apply pressure to China and other nations in trade negotiations, but there's no reason that tariff revenue can't help working Americans in the process,\" said Cotton.\n\nThis bill would require that the annual revenues from section 201, 232, and 301 tariffs be rebated to those filing in the three lowest tax brackets. To be eligible to receive a tariff rebate, the filer must be an American citizen or legal resident, file federal taxes, and make less than $84,200 for individual filers or $168,400 for joint filers.\n\nBackground:\n\n201 tariffs have been levied on washing machines and imported solar cells and modules. Customs and Border Patrol has assessed more than $1.08 billion in Section 201 tariffs as of September 19, 2019.\n\n232 Tariffs are the national-security tariffs levied on steel and aluminum. Customs and Border Patrol has assessed $6.23 billion in Section 232 steel tariffs, and $1.77 billion in Section 232 aluminum tariffs as of September 19, 2019.\n\n301 tariffs are China tariffs levied on a variety of goods. Customs and Border Patrol has assessed $29.81 billion in Section 301 tariffs as of September 19, 2019.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-iran-and-146s-nuclear-agreement-violations", "Cotton Statement on Iran\u0092s Nuclear Agreement Violations", "2019-09-26", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. -Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement after reports that Iran has again violated its nuclear agreement by increasing uranium production:\n\n\"While President Rouhani glad-handed world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, his nuclear scientists were ramping up the regime's uranium enrichment using advanced centrifuges. I urge our European allies to recognize the ayatollahs' deceit and join us in snapping back sanctions on this murderous regime.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-introduce-legislation-to-improve-corporate-transparency-and-combat-money-laundering-terrorist-financing", "Senators Introduce Legislation To Improve Corporate Transparency And Combat Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing", "2019-09-26", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senate Banking Committee members, U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia), Doug Jones (D-Alabama), Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), and John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada), and Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) today introduced bipartisan legislation to improve corporate transparency, strengthen national security, and help law enforcement combat illicit financial activity being carried out by terrorists, drug and human traffickers, and other criminals.\n\nThe Improving Laundering Laws and Increasing Comprehensive Information Tracking of Criminal Activity in Shell Holdings (ILLICIT CASH) Act would, for the first time, require shell companies - often used as fronts for criminal activity - to disclose their true owners to the U.S. Department of Treasury. It would also update decades-old anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) policies, by giving Treasury and law enforcement the tools they need to fight criminal networks. This includes improving overall communication between law enforcement, financial institutions, and regulators, and facilitating the adoption of critical 21st century technologies.\n\n\"Right now, criminals and terrorists are exploiting our financial system using shell companies that hide their identities. This legislation will allow law enforcement to track ill-gotten gains while at the same time protecting small businesses from unnecessary regulation. I'm proud that we've delivered a product that respects the needs of Arkansas small businesses, from startups to steel companies,\" said Cotton.\n\n\"Transparency is the best weapon we have against the misuse of our financial system by those who would harm the United States and our allies,\" said Warner. \"As bad actors use ever more sophisticated techniques, we need to make sure federal agencies have the tools they need to prevent this abuse of our financial system and protect our national security. That starts with making sure we have a full usable record of who actually owns these shell companies.\"\n\n\"It is simply too easy in the United States for criminals to hide behind anonymous shell companies. Our bipartisan bill gives the American law enforcement and national security officials the tools they need to fight back against the criminals that seek to exploit our financial system and fund their illegal activities,\" said Jones.\n\n\"Our legislation protects Americans by depriving criminals and terrorists of tools they use to finance illicit activity. Developed through months of hard work and consensus-building, the ILLICIT CASH Act gives the Treasury Department and law enforcement the tools they need to combat illegal financial activity without burdening legitimate businesses. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to advance this important issue - the first serious overhaul of our anti-money laundering system in decades,\" said Rounds.\n\n\"It's still far too easy for rogue regimes, corrupt oligarchs, human traffickers and drug cartels to use American shell companies to launder money through the United States,\" said Menendez. \"Our bill gives our national security and law enforcement professionals new tools to make sure our financial system can no longer be a safe haven for illegal actors.\"\n\n\"Transparency is a powerful tool to use against criminal activity because it makes it impossible to hide. Criminals know it's easier to set up a shell company than it is to get a library card in the U.S. This bill will help dismantle criminal networks by ensuring that we know who truly owns shell companies,\" said Kennedy.\n\n\"From money laundering to funding terrorism and sex trafficking, it's outrageous that in the United States it is still incredibly easy for criminals to set up shell companies to hide their illicit financial activity,\" said Cortez Masto. \"I'm proud to cosponsor comprehensive legislation that gives the Treasury Department and law enforcement the modern-day tools they need to track down these criminals, prevent abuse of our financial system and keep Americans safe.\"\n\nAccording to research from the University of Texas and Brigham Young University, the U.S. remains one of the easiest places in the world to set up an anonymous shell company. A recent report by Global Financial Integrity demonstrates that, in all 50 U.S. states, more information is currently required to obtain a library card than to register a company. Human traffickers, terrorist groups, arms dealers, transnational criminal organizations, kleptocrats, drug cartels, and rogue regimes have all used U.S.-registered shell companies to hide their identities and facilitate illicit activities. Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies find it increasingly difficult to investigate these illicit financial networks without access to information about the beneficial ownership of corporate entities involved.\n\nAt the same time, U.S. AML-CFT laws have not kept pace with the growing exploitation of the global financial system to facilitate criminal activity. According to a United Nations Report, money laundering activity and illicit cross-border financial flows have generated upwards of $300 billion annually in criminal proceeds. While tracking these growing sums is increasingly difficult, U.S. laws have also failed to adequately address the small dollar financing of global terrorist groups.\n\n\"Our own research and data have shown that the criminals behind trafficking operations use secrecy to hide both their identity and the proceeds of their crimes. Secrecy allows them to profit with impunity. By ending the ability of traffickers and others to use anonymous companies, the ILLICIT CASH Act will, for the first time, provide critical information to the police and prosecutors with whom we work to follow the money. We applaud the bill sponsors for working across party lines to take these effective steps to address the deep, lasting and unimaginable harms caused by human trafficking,\" said Bradley Myles, CEO, Polaris.\n\n\"As end users of evidence collected throughout the investigative process, it is imperative that prosecutors have as much information as possible in order to determine the best course of action for prosecuting an individual or entity that has committed a crime. Beneficial ownership data collection is vital to this effort, and law enforcement and prosecutors must have lawful access to that information. NDAA is excited to support the Illicit Cash Act and looks forward to working with Senators Warner, Jones, Cotton, Rounds, Kennedy, Menendez, Cortez Masto & Moran in moving this legislation through Congress,\" said Nelson Bunn, Executive Director, National District Attorneys Association.\n\n\"We appreciate Senators Warner, Cotton, Jones, Rounds, Menendez, Kennedy, Cortez Masto and Moran's hard work in building additional bipartisan support and pushing this legislation forward. Their legislation would both modernize our antiquated AML regime and help law enforcement and national security officials by closing the anonymous shell company loophole exploited by human traffickers, drug smugglers, and terrorists,\" said Greg Baer, President and CEO, Bank Policy Institute.\n\n\"The ease with which bad actors can hide illicit cash in the U.S. undermines our national security, props up rogue leaders and renegade regimes, and destroys lives - both here and abroad. The ILLICIT CASH Act is a direct and effective response to the dangers and devastation that result from the lack of safeguards to protect our financial system from abuse,\" said Gary Kalman, Executive Director, Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition.\n\n\"When we are able to expose the link between shell companies and drug trafficking, corruption, organized crime and terrorist finance, law enforcement will be able to bring these criminals to justice and make our citizens and our nation safer. This legislation will help law enforcement by removing the mask that hides these illicit actors,\" said Pat Yoes, President, Fraternal Order of Police.\n\nGiven the critical importance of cracking down on criminal shell companies and the need to combat money laundering and terrorism, the ILLICIT CASH Act envisions a more transparent corporate ownership system and an updated, effective and efficient AML-CFT regime designed for the 21st century. Specifically, this legislation would:\n\nEstablish federal reporting requirements mandating that all beneficial ownership information be maintained in a comprehensive federal database, with strict privacy protections, accessible by federal and local law enforcement.\n\nHelp recruit and retain top talent at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) by putting employees on a pay scale comparable to that of federal financial regulators.\n\nCreate a hub of financial expert investigators at FinCEN to investigate potential AML-CFT activity in collaboration with federal government agencies.\n\nFacilitate communications between the Treasury and financial institutions by establishing a Treasury financial institution liaison to seek and receive comments regarding AML-CFT rules, regulations, and examinations.\n\nRequire the Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide the Treasury Department with metrics on the usefulness of AML-CFT data from financial institutions for law enforcement purposes, as well as data on the past and current trends identified by DOJ in the AML-CFT landscape.\n\nRequire law enforcement to coordinate with financial regulators to provide periodic feedback to financial institutions on their suspicious activity reports.\n\nPrioritize the protection of personally identifying information while establishing a clear path for financial institutions to share AML-CFT information for the purposes of identifying suspicious activity.\n\nPrevent foreign banks from obstructing money laundering or terrorist financing investigations by requiring these banks to produce records in a manner that establishes their authenticity and reliability for evidentiary purposes, and compelling them to comply with subpoenas. This legislation would also authorize contempt sanctions for banks that fail to comply and increase penalties on repeat BSA violators.\n\nEnsure the inclusion of current and future payment systems in the AML-CFT regime by updating the definition of \"coins and currency\" to include digital currency.\n\nA section-by-section analysis of this bill is available here. A two-page summary is available here. The full text of the bill is available here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-schumer-statement-after-senate-passes-motion-to-instruct-ndaa-conference-committee-to-retain-and-strengthen-provision-to-keep-huawei-on-entity-list", "Cotton, Schumer Statement After Senate Passes Motion To Instruct NDAA Conference Committee To Retain And Strengthen Provision To Keep Huawei On Entity List", "2019-09-25", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York) today issued the following joint statement after the Senate passed their Motion to Instruct the NDAA Conference Committee to retain and strengthen an amendment from Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) to the NDAA prohibiting the removal of Huawei from the entity list without the consent of Congress:\n\n\"Huawei is the eyes and ears of the Chinese Communist Party overseas and a menace to our economic and national security. Today, the Senate sent a strong message that Huawei should be treated like the Chinese spy company that it is. We urge all conferees to include this important measure in the final version of the NDAA.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-prison-cellphone-jamming-report", "Cotton Statement on Prison Cellphone Jamming Report", "2019-09-25", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Justice announced the release of a report detailing the promising results and potential of contraband cellphone jamming technology in prisons:\n\n\"This report proves that cellphone jamming devices can prevent prisoners from using contraband cellphones without disrupting legitimate cellphone use nearby. Congress should take up and pass my bill, The Cellphone Jamming Reform Act, so that state and federal prisons can use this technology to stop inmates from directing criminal activities from behind bars.\"\n\nBackground\n\nEarlier this year, Senators Cotton, Graham, and Representative Kustoff introduced legislation to prevent contraband cellphone use in federal and state prison facilities by allowing state and federal prisons to use cell phone jamming systems. Currently, the Federal Communications Act doesn't allow facilities to use this technology.\n\nThe use of contraband cellphones is widespread in both federal and state prison facilities. Inmates have used contraband cellphones to conduct illegal activities, including ordering hits on individuals outside of the prison walls, running illegal drug operations, conducting illegal business deals, facilitating sex trafficking, and organizing escapes which endanger correctional employees, other inmates, and members of the public.\n\nBy the numbers. The number of contraband cellphones confiscated from various locations:\n\nFederal Bureau of Prisons: 5,116 in 2016\n\nArkansas prisons: 1,550 in 2017\n\nSouth Carolina prisons: ~ 4,500 in 2017\n\nGeorgia prisons: ~13,000 in 2014\n\nCalifornia prisons: ~14,000 in 2017\n\nCell Phones and Contraband Sparked South Carolina Prison Incident that Killed 7, a gang fight over territory using cellphones to trade contraband sparked a brawl inside the Lee Correctional Institution near Bishopville, South Carolina, that left seven inmates dead and 20 injured.\n\nBureau of Prisons Correctional officer Lt. Osvaldo Albarati was murdered in 2013 for interrupting an illicit contraband cellphone business. His actual assassination was initiated by an inmate using a contraband cellphone to contact the gunman as outlined in the indictment.\n\nA 2018 report showed an FCI Fort Dix inmate arranged murder and assault from a smuggled phone in a Jersey prison. Another inmate of same Jersey prison was reportedly charged with possessing and distributing child pornography on a contraband phone within the prison. Six other inmates also pled guilty.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-boozman-push-to-lower-indian-pecan-tariffs", "Cotton, Boozman Push to Lower Indian Pecan Tariffs", "2019-09-24", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Arkansas's U.S. Senators Tom Cotton and John Boozman joined with colleagues to urge U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to prioritize a reduction in pecan tariffs as the Trump Administration continues trade negotiations with India.\n\nCotton and Boozman joined ten of their colleagues on a letter authored by Sen. David Perdue (R-Georgia) to urge action to provide relief from the negative impact India's current tariff on imported pecans is having on American growers.\n\nReducing the tariff to levels shared by similar tree nuts would result in higher imports, greater revenues and a better U.S.-India trade relationship. It is estimated that U.S. pecan exports to India would increase to $300 million within five years if the current 36 percent tariff was reduced to 10 percent or less.\n\n\"The current disparity in the tariffs India charges on different varieties of tree nuts has created an unlevel playing field for American producers. The current tariff on U.S. pecans entering India is approximately 36 percent, while the tariff for similar products, such as pistachios and almonds, is only 10 percent,\" wrote the senators.\n\n\"Lowering the tariff on pecans would satisfy the demand of the Indian people for additional varieties of tree nuts without impacting India's virtually nonexistent domestic pecan industry,\" continued the senators.\n\nSens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia), Doug Jones (D-Alabama), Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) and Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) also signed the letter.\n\nRead the full text of the letter here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-democratic-attempts-to-impeach-the-president", "Cotton Statement on Democratic Attempts to Impeach the President", "2019-09-24", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement on Speaker Pelosi's announcement that the House will open formal impeachment hearings against the president:\n\n\"Despite an unprecedented act of transparency by the president in releasing the transcript of his call with a foreign leader, the Democrats nevertheless plunged headlong into their nonstop obsession with impeachment. I only wish they'd get the facts before jumping to a conclusion, while dedicating a fraction of the energy to improving the lives of Arkansans.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/arkansas-lawmakers-announce-dot-grant-for-russellville-regional-airport", "Arkansas Lawmakers Announce DOT Grant for Russellville Regional Airport", "2019-09-23", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and John Boozman (R-Arkansas) and Congressman Steve Womack today announced that Russellville Regional Airport will receive $1,575,212 in federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The investment will be used for infrastructure and safety improvement projects, including a runway overlay, which will improve the runway pavement strength, and upgraded runway lighting.\n\n\"Russellville's airport is an important driver of economic growth and a gateway to the region. This investment will enhance safety for travelers to the area and ensure the airport's utility for years to come,\" said Cotton.\n\n\"This investment in the Russellville Regional Airport will improve safety and efficiency. These upgrades will support long-term growth and development in the region,\" said Boozman.\n\n\"The Russellville Regional Airport is a vital transportation center that moves our residents, businesses, and economy. This funding will improve local aviation infrastructure to support traveler experience and facility operations. With the region continually growing, smart investments like this will keep the airport safe and modern,\" said Womack.\n\n\"The importance of this project to rehabilitate our runway making it safer and stronger is paramount. The upgrade of the lighting system to LED lights will provide an energy savings to the city and ultimately the taxpayer. This entire project of over $1.5 million dollars will be at zero tax cost to the taxpayers of Russellville. We appreciate the Congressional support we received for this and other programs,\" said Keith Frazier, Russellville Regional Airport Director.\n\nThe Russellville Regional Airport has seen passenger traffic rapidly increase, with its economic impact nearly doubling in the last 10 years. With usage of the airport fast-growing, it's critically important that the runways and airfield light systems are modernized to handle increased capacity, bolster runway strength, improve aircraft guidance, and support the safety of travelers. Additionally, a local contractor will be handling the projects, ensuring that the funding is further invested in the community.\n\nThe DOT grant will be disbursed through the Federal Aviation Administration. The Arkansas Congressional delegation has continually fought for federal investments that improve vital infrastructure, create jobs, and support residents throughout the Natural State.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-duckworth-bill-to-help-more-families-of-fallen-service-members-travel-to-dover-air-force-base", "Cotton, Duckworth Bill to Help More Families of Fallen Service Members Travel to Dover Air Force Base", "2019-09-19", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C.- Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) today introduced the Fallen Heroes Family Travel Act, which would allow the Department of Defense to pay for family travel to Dover Air Force Base for any service member who dies outside the United States. Under current law, the Department of Defense can only pay for travel to Dover Air Force Base for family members of service members who die in a combat zone.\n\n\"Traveling to Dover Air Force Base to witness the repatriation of remains allows the families of our fallen heroes to begin the healing process. The families of our service members serve beside them in the defense of our nation, and we have an obligation to ensure they receive the same care as they grieve-no matter where their loved one passed away,\" said Cotton.\n\n\"Cost shouldn't prevent any military families from being able to travel to Dover Air Force Base to receive the remains of a loved one who died while serving our nation,\" said Duckworth. \"That's why I'm joining Senator Cotton in introducing the Fallen Heroes Family Travel Act, a bipartisan bill that would allow the Department of Defense to pay for this travel regardless of whether the Servicemember died in a combat or non-combat situation.\"\n\nCompanion legislation was introduced earlier this year in the House of Representatives by Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Illinois).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-prohibit-us-government-from-purchasing-drones-from-adversaries", "Cotton, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Prohibit U.S. Government from Purchasing Drones From Adversaries", "2019-09-18", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202)224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Today, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) along with Senators Rick Scott (R-Florida), Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), and Marco Rubio (R-Florida) introduced the American Security Drone Act of 2019, which prohibits the U.S. government from purchasing drones manufactured in countries identified as national security threats like Iran and China.\n\n\"China has stolen sensitive drone technology from America's businesses and military for years, and now sells it back to us from a dominant position in the commercial drone market. Relying on drones made by our adversaries is a clear risk to our national security. This bill will ensure that all drones purchased by the U.S. government are made right here in America, or else by friendly nations that don't wish us harm,\" said Cotton.\n\n\"There are nations around the world, like China, that are actively building up their militaries to compete with America. China is STEALING our technology and intellectual property, yet the U.S. Government continues to buy critical technology, like drones, with American tax dollars from Chinese companies backed by their government. For far too long, we have turned a blind eye to China and allowed their technology into some of the most critical operations of the U.S. Government. This has to stop. The American Security Drone Act protects our information and national security by prohibiting the federal government and our military from buying drones manufactured in countries that are our adversaries,\" said Scott.\n\n\"Our taxpayer dollars shouldn't be used to support Chinese-developed technologies that undercut American companies and put our national security at risk. We know that China and other adversaries have used drones to spy and collect sensitive data in the past, and I've heard directly from companies in Connecticut that are concerned about this issue. Instead of rewarding bad actors like China we should be investing in the development of a U.S.-based supply chain that creates jobs and protects our national security,\" said Murphy.\n\nThe American Security Drone Act:", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-appointment-of-robert-o-and-146brien-as-national-security-adviser", "Cotton Statement on Appointment of Robert O\u0092Brien as National Security Adviser", "2019-09-18", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement on the appointment of Robert O'Brien as national security adviser:\n\n\"I commend President Trump for selecting Robert O'Brien as his national security adviser. I've known Robert for years in his past roles, and am confident he understands the urgent threats our nation faces, from China to Iran.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-denounces-baseless-attacks-against-justice-kavanaugh", "Cotton Denounces Baseless Attacks Against Justice Kavanaugh", "2019-09-16", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) issued the following statement following the New York Times's publication and subsequent correction of yet more unverified, unsubstantiated allegations against Justice Kavanaugh:\n\n\"Democrats and their allies in the media are again launching baseless attacks on Justice Kavanaugh, with no evidence and no regard for due process and basic fairness. Yet even The New York Times had to issue a \u2018correction' that should've been called a \u2018retraction.' This is what happens when partisans become obsessive and when reporters spend a year digging for dirt and find nothing, but don't want to return their fat book advance.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-attacks-on-saudi-oil-facilities", "Cotton Statement on Attacks on Saudi Oil Facilities", "2019-09-14", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) issued the following statement after reports of attacks against key Saudi Arabian oil facilities:\n\n\"The United States stands with our Saudi partners in confronting Iran's campaign of terror across the Middle East. The ayatollahs' desperate efforts to cripple global energy markets will only renew our commitment to maximum pressure. The Iranian regime and its proxies ought to face consequences for these attacks.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-introduces-bill-to-allow-fish-farmers-to-protect-ponds-from-birds", "Cotton Introduces Bill to Allow Fish Farmers to Protect Ponds From Birds", "2019-09-12", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) introduced the Cormorant Relief Act, legislation that would restore the ability of Arkansas catfish farmers and other aquaculture producers to kill double-crested cormorants that threaten their livelihoods. Congressmen Jack Bergman (MI-01) and Collin Peterson (MN-07) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives earlier this year.\n\n\"Double-crested cormorants pose a significant threat to Arkansas's fish farmers, but unnecessary regulation currently prevents them from taking additional steps to protect their ponds. Our bill would once again give fish farmers the ability to adequately defend their fish populations from the birds that are eating into their bottom line,\" said Cotton.\n\n\"As we continue our fight to ensure healthy fisheries throughout Michigan and across the country, I appreciate Senator Cotton introducing the Cormorant Relief Act in the U.S. Senate. Inaction threatens our fish populations, and in turn, the livelihood of recreational and commercial fishing industries, which are critical to our economy. While FWS continues it's work on a way forward to protect our fisheries from the devastating effects of cormorant overpopulation, this bill would provide much needed relief to states in the meantime,\" said Bergman.\n\n\"For years I have heard from fisheries, area resorts, charter boat captains and tribal leaders in my district about the problems they have personally faced because of the mismanagement of cormorant populations,\" said Peterson. \"This bill seeks to eliminate red tape and gives our fish farmers the right to defend their ponds, and our natural resources, because unchecked these birds will continue to decimate fisheries.\"\n\nBackground", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-schumer-gallagher-gallego-urge-dod-to-name-chinese-defense-companies-in-us", "Cotton, Schumer, Gallagher, Gallego Urge DOD to Name Chinese Defense Companies in U.S.", "2019-09-12", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202)224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York) along with Congressmen Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) and Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper urging him to use all available statutory authorities to combat the Chinese Communist Party's espionage against the U.S. defense-industrial base.\n\nThe letter specifically requests that the Department of Defense publish a list of companies operating in the United States that are owned or controlled by the Chinese military. This list was required by law in Section 1237 of the fiscal year 1999 National Defense Authorization Act. The provision states that: \"Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall make a determination of those persons operating directly or indirectly in the United States or any of its territories and possessions that are Communist Chinese military companies.\" It was amended in 2001 to require the Secretary of Defense to notify Congress, the Director of Central Intelligence, the Attorney General, and the Secretaries of State, Treasury, Commerce, and Energy, of any determinations under this provision on an annual basis.\n\nThe letter asks Secretary Esper to respond to the following questions:\n\nWhen was this list of Communist Chinese military companies operating in the United States last updated by the Department of Defense?\n\nAs part of your commitment to achieving the goals set out in the 2018 National Defense Strategy, will you commit to updating and publicly releasing this list as soon as possible?", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-meadows-introduce-bill-to-stop-judicial-injunction-abuse", "Cotton, Meadows Introduce Bill to Stop Judicial Injunction Abuse", "2019-09-11", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Congressman Mark Meadows (R-North Carolina) today introduced the Nationwide Injunction Abuse Prevention Act, a bill to put an end to nationwide injunctions and prevent lawful policy changes from being blocked based on the activist agendas of individual, unaccountable district court judges.\n\nThe bill follows a decision earlier this week by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that reinstated a nationwide ban on enforcement of the Trump administration's new asylum rules, defying a ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that the district court's nationwide injunction was overly broad. It should not require an often-lengthy appeals process to correct unlawful injunctions that should never have been issued in the first place. This legislation would restore the appropriate role of district court judges by prohibiting them from issuing nationwide injunctions broader than the parties to the case or the geographic boundaries of the federal district in which the judge presides. With the new change, lawful administration policy changes would no longer hinge on the opinion of one unelected judge.\n\n\"Policy decisions ought to be made by elected representatives accountable to the American people, not activist judges with lifetime appointments. In the past few years, we've seen an explosion of activist forum shopping and nationwide injunctions to thwart the administration's priorities and grind government to a halt. This bill will restore respect for the system of government outlined in the Constitution by limiting the use of nationwide injunctions by district court judges,\" said Cotton.\n\n\"Our laws need to be vigorously vetted through the courts, but it makes zero sense for the legality of a nationwide law to rest entirely on the opinion of one judge, or one district court,\" Rep. Meadows said. \"A district court in California should not be given sweeping authority to issue a ruling-let alone on dubious legal reasoning-striking down policy from a duly elected President. Current law inadvertently empowers detrimental judicial activism, and it needs to change. This is a common-sense reform that returns our system of checks and balances where it was intended to be. I want to thank Senator Cotton for joining me in the effort,\" said Meadows.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-congratulates-lockheed-martin-on-new-production-facility-in-camden-arkansas", "Cotton Congratulates Lockheed Martin on New Production Facility in Camden, Arkansas", "2019-09-10", "2019", "2019-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement congratulating Lockheed Martin for breaking ground on a new long-range fires production facility in Camden, Arkansas. This project represents a $146 million capital investment and will bring more than 300 new jobs to Camden over the next six years. This facility will produce new, top-of-the-line equipment that will help keep America's soldiers safe. A member of Senator Cotton's staff was on-hand for today's groundbreaking ceremony.\n\n\"Lockheed Martin's additional investment is a testament to south Arkansas's workforce, which has produced world-class munitions at the Camden facility for decades. Every Arkansan can be proud of the increased role our state will play in forging our nation's arsenal.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:37:07Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-applauds-announcement-of-peter-berkowitz-as-new-head-of-policy-planning", "Cotton Applauds Announcement of Peter Berkowitz as New Head of Policy Planning", "2019-08-27", "2019", "2019-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement on the announcement that Peter Berkowitz has been chosen to lead the State Department's Office of Policy Planning:\n\n\"Peter Berkowitz is an outstanding choice to be the Director of Policy Planning. I've known Peter for decades as a teacher, advisor, and friend. He will bring rich international experience, deep historical knowledge, and strategic wisdom to the job. I applaud President Trump and Secretary Pompeo for the inspired selection. The Office of Policy Planning has a storied history to which, I have no doubt, Peter Berkowitz will add another distinguished chapter.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:35:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-and-inhofe-statement-on-iran-and-146s-responsibility-for-houthi-destabilization-of-yemen", "Cotton and Inhofe Statement on Iran\u0092s Responsibility for Houthi Destabilization of Yemen", "2019-08-26", "2019", "2019-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) released the following statement on Iran's responsibility for the Houthis' outlaw actions:\n\n\"Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court in D.C. reaffirmed what many nations of the world have long recognized: that Iran bears responsibility for Houthi brutality against civilians in Yemen and their efforts to destabilize the region. The Houthis' torture and murder of an American civilian in their custody, and the Iranian regime's support for terrorism and torture, are reprehensible behaviors consistent with outlaws from the civilized world.\"\n\nBackground: In June, Senators Cotton and Inhofe joined Senators Blackburn, Braun, Cornyn, Cruz, and Rubio to introduce S. Con. Res. 21. For the full bill text, click here.\n\nCongressman Will Hurd (R-Texas) introduced the resolution in the House of Representatives.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:35:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-honors-arkansas-law-enforcement-prosecutors", "Cotton Honors Arkansas Law Enforcement, Prosecutors", "2019-08-23", "2019", "2019-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nLittle Rock, AR - Yesterday, Senator Tom Cotton participated in a ceremony with U.S. Attorney Cody Hiland of the Eastern District of Arkansas to thank state, local, and federal law enforcement officers and prosecutors for their work in reducing violent crime. The officers and prosecutors collaborate on all levels through the U.S. Department of Justice's Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program, which aims to reduce crime through collaborations that identify and target the most serious offenders in each district for prosecution.\n\nThe honorees included:\n\nIan Ward, ATF Task Force Officer and Little Rock Police Officer;\n\nMichael Gibbons, ATF Task Force Officer and North Little Rock Police Detective;\n\nPete Lochner, ATF Task Force Officer and Jonesboro Police Officer;\n\nAmanda Fields, Deputy Prosecutor, 6th Judicial District of Arkansas; and\n\nBenecia Moore, Assistant United States Attorney and PSN Coordinator", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:35:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-sale-of-f-16s-to-taiwan", "Cotton Statement on Sale of F-16s to Taiwan", "2019-08-21", "2019", "2019-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement after the Trump Administration formally notified Congress of its intent to proceed with a sale of 66 F-16s to Taiwan:\n\n\"Today the United States upheld its commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act. Taiwan is a vital democratic partner and these arms sales are critical in their defense against Chinese Communist Party aggression. I applaud the administration for reestablishing regular arms sales to Taiwan after decades of delays from previous administrations. In the coming months, the Congress will work with our Taiwanese partners and the Department of Defense to ensure that we transfer mobile and survivable systems that will effectively deter the People's Liberation Army.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:35:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/08/13/cotton-van-hollen-applaud-implementation-of-provision-prohibiting-us-government-from-purchasing-huawei-equipment", "Cotton, Van Hollen Applaud Implementation of Provision Prohibiting U.S. Government From Purchasing Huawei Equipment", "2019-08-13", "2019", "2019-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) released the following statement on the implementation of their 2019 NDAA provision prohibiting the U.S. government from purchasing equipment from Huawei:\n\n\"Huawei can always be used as a Trojan horse for the Chinese Communist Party, so it's vital we keep its equipment away from our government networks. Today, the administration implemented our provision prohibiting the U.S. government from purchasing equipment from Huawei. This action will make us safer from cyberattacks and espionage while drawing a bright line between legitimate companies and those than can be used by foreign intelligence actors like Huawei.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:35:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-applauds-changes-to-and-145public-charge-and-146-immigration-rule", "Cotton Applauds Changes to \u0091Public Charge\u0092 Immigration Rule", "2019-08-12", "2019", "2019-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement on the Trump administration's changes to the \u2018public charge' rule on immigration:\n\n\"Immigration ought to benefit, not burden, America. The administration\u2018s modernization of the \u2018public charge' rule will help accomplish this reasonable goal so that immigrants don't become burdens on the community, take benefits from struggling Americans, or harm our generous system of assistance for refugees and asylees. This reform is a promising step toward a sensible, skills-based immigration system that admits immigrants who are prepared to seize opportunity, not handouts.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:35:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/08/08/cotton-writes-usda-in-support-of-arkansas-and-146s-application-for-feral-swine-eradication-and-control-pilot-program", "Cotton Writes USDA in Support of Arkansas\u0092s Application for Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program", "2019-08-08", "2019", "2019-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today sent a letter to USDA-NRCS State Conservationist Michael Sullivan in support of Arkansas's application for the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program. This pilot program would allow feral swine eradication activities from 2019 through 2023. There are four project areas in Arkansas that have been deemed eligible for potential funding. The letter reads in part:\n\n\"I fully support the selection and approval of our Arkansas pilot projects. These efforts will be essential to protect the environment of our state, mitigate the very serious economic impact of this problem, and enhance the sustainability of our agricultural industry.\"\n\nThe full text of the letter can be found here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:35:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/08/07/senators-cotton-hawley-and-rubio-demand-answers-on-google-and-146s-relationship-with-huawei", "Senators Cotton, Hawley, and Rubio Demand Answers on Google\u0092s Relationship with Huawei", "2019-08-07", "2019", "2019-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Today Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), and Marco Rubio (R-Florida) sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai demanding answers about the company's relationship with China's Huawei. The letter follows reporting that Google and Huawei collaborated on a Huawei-branded smart speaker.\n\nThe Senators expressed concern that smart speakers double as listening devices, writing, \"These devices can enable untrustworthy companies to listen in on Americans' conversations. Your attempts three weeks ago to downplay your involvement in China, plus new revelations about your close relationship with Huawei, raise serious questions. . . [I]t is hard to interpret your decision to help Huawei place listening devices into millions of American homes as anything other than putting profits before country.\"\n\nThe Senators asked Pichai to answer the following questions by August 30:\n\nWhy did you partner with Huawei to develop listening devices for use in the United States?\n\nWhy did you continue that partnership even after the Department of Justice released an indictment charging that Huawei, as the Washington Post put it, \"is determined to succeed by using theft and duplicity\"?\n\nWhat did you learn about national security vulnerabilities with listening devices while working with Huawei, and what steps, if any, did you take to eliminate national security risks from these devices?\n\nWhat consideration, if any, did you give to the national security risk posed by Huawei before agreeing to work with them on this sensitive project?\n\nThe reports about this project state that you \"suspended\" the project because Huawei was placed on a trade blacklist. Do you plan to resume helping Huawei install listening devices into American homes if the blacklist is lifted?\n\nFull text of the letter can be found here or below:\n\nAugust 7, 2019\n\nMr. Sundar Pichai\n\nChief Executive Officer\n\nGoogle LLC\n\n1600 Amphitheatre Parkway\n\nMountain View, CA 94043\n\nDear Mr. Pichai:\n\nThree weeks ago, a representative from your company denied, under oath, that Google has been conducting any substantial business in China. Yet recent reports revealed that, until the President placed Huawei on a trade blacklist because of that company's problematic association with the Chinese Communist Party, you were working closely with Huawei to develop \"smart speakers\" for use in the United States, revealing that you and Huawei \"were even closer than previously understood.\" These devices can enable untrustworthy companies to listen in on Americans' conversations. Your attempts three weeks ago to downplay your involvement in China, plus new revelations about your close relationship with Huawei, raise serious questions.\n\nWhat due diligence did Google perform before agreeing to help Huawei put a listening device into millions of American living rooms? As we have discovered, Huawei poses serious concerns about national security. The oppressive Chinese Communist Party exercises enormous influence over the company. Huawei has even admitted that it hosts a branch of the party within the company itself. To what extent did you consider the national security implications of helping Huawei? And why did your partnership continue for months after the federal government unsealed an indictment that, in the words of the Washington Post, showed that Huawei \"is determined to succeed by using theft and duplicity\"?\n\nWe wish we were shocked, but your record around China reveals a string of acts that appear designed to gain favor with the Communist Chinese Party, often at the expense of Americans.\n\nYou have accelerated work in China that provides \"a direct benefit to the Chinese military\" even as you refuse to work with the U.S. military.\n\nUntil 2010, you operated a search engine in China, Google.cn, that censored results for political purposes. You were happy to censor; you stopped that project only after you were targeted in a hacking attack.\n\nAs recently as this year, you were developing a new search engine for China, Project Dragonfly, that was even worse than Google.cn. Unlike the first censorship engine, your new engine would have been even more clandestine about what it censored. Like the Huawei project, you worked on that project secretly. And it appears you scuttled the project only because you faced an internal backlash among members of your own company.\n\nLast month, during democratic protests by citizens of Hong Kong, your company \"mis\"translated the phrase \"I am sad to see Hong Kong become part of China,\" to, \"I am happy to see Hong Kong become part of China.\" That mistranslation parroted the Chinese Communist Party line.\n\nYou opened an artificial intelligence center in Beijing and are trying to entrench your relationship with companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party at a time when that regime is using artificial intelligence to oppress racial and religious minorities.\n\nGiven this background, it is hard to interpret your decision to help Huawei place listening devices into millions of American homes as anything other than putting profits before country.\n\nThis pattern demands an explanation. Kindly respond to this letter with answers to the following questions by August 30.\n\nWhy did you partner with Huawei to develop listening devices for use in the United States?\n\nWhy did you continue that partnership even after the Department of Justice released an indictment charging that Huawei, as the Washington Post put it, \"is determined to succeed by using theft and duplicity\"?\n\nWhat did you learn about national security vulnerabilities with listening devices while working with Huawei, and what steps, if any, did you take to eliminate national security risks from these devices?\n\nWhat consideration, if any, did you give to the national security risk posed by Huawei before agreeing to work with them on this sensitive project?\n\nThe reports about this project state that you \"suspended\" the project because Huawei was placed on a trade blacklist. Do you plan to resume helping Huawei install listening devices into American homes if the blacklist is lifted?\n\nThank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your response.\n\nSincerely,", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:35:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-warns-chinese-communists-against-intervening-in-hong-kong-protests", "Cotton Warns Chinese Communists Against Intervening in Hong Kong Protests", "2019-08-06", "2019", "2019-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement on the Chinese Communist Party's threats of force against protestors in Hong Kong:\n\n\"Three decades after the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the Chinese Communist Party appears poised for a violent crack-down on civilian protestors in Hong Kong. I hope this does not happen. But should Beijing impose martial law in Hong Kong or otherwise violate the 1984 Joint Declaration, the United States will be compelled to reassess our relationship with China in fundamental ways. Our government should be prepared to:\n\nHalt trade negotiations with Beijing\n\nSanction senior Chinese Communist Party officials\n\nRevoke the U.S. visas of Party leaders and their families\n\nCurtail student visas for Chinese nationals\n\nDemand the expulsion of Chinese officials from leadership positions in international organizations\n\nRevise the Hong Kong Policy Act\n\nThe Tiananmen Square Massacre highlighted the Chinese Communist Party's brutality and treachery, which they have employed for thirty years to steal our jobs and threaten our security. If Beijing cracks down on Hong Kong, the United States ought not make the same mistake again.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:35:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-pen-letter-pledging-to-back-britain-after-brexit", "Cotton, Colleagues Pen Letter Pledging to Back Britain After Brexit", "2019-08-03", "2019", "2019-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and 44 of his Senate colleagues have sent a letter to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledging unwavering support for the United Kingdom as it exits the European Union in the coming months. The letter calls for a new bilateral trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom. It also reiterates the importance of U.S.-UK cooperation within the NATO security alliance and the \u201cFive Eyes\u201d intelligence partnership. The full text of the letter is below and can be found here.\n\nThe letter was also signed by Senators Barrasso (WY), Blackburn (TN), Boozman (AR), Braun (IN), Burr (NC), Capito (WV), Cassidy (LA), Collins (ME), Cornyn (TX), Cramer (ND), Crapo (ID), Cruz (TX), Daines (MT), Enzi (WY), Ernst (IA), Fischer (NE), Graham (SC), Grassley (IA), Hawley (MO), Hoeven (ND), Hyde-Smith (MS), Inhofe (OK), Isakson (GA), Johnson (WI), Kennedy (LA), Lankford (OK), Lee (UT), McSally (AZ), Murkowski (AK), Perdue (GA), Portman (OH), Risch (ID), Roberts (KS), Rounds (SD), Rubio (FL), Sasse (NE), Scott (FL), Scott (SC), Sullivan (AK), Thune (SD), Tillis (NC), Toomey (PA), Wicker (MS), and Young (IN).\n\nThe Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson MP\n\nPrime Minister\n\n10 Downing Street\n\nLondon SW1A 2AA\n\nDear Mr. Prime Minister,\n\nWe write to congratulate you on your election as prime minister. We also want to assure you and the British people of our continued, unwavering support for the special relationship between our two countries as Britain leaves the European Union.\n\nIn 2016, the British people voted to leave the European Union. While we don\u2019t necessarily agree among ourselves about that decision, we recognize and respect your nation\u2019s sovereign right to determine its future. It is for your government to decide the terms of a Brexit deal with the EU. In your victory speech last month, you pledged \u201cto get Brexit done on October the 31st,\u201d a date just around the corner. We wouldn\u2019t presume to recommend the right policy, but we will support whatever course Britain takes.\n\nFirst, if Britain leaves the EU with no deal, we will work with our administration, your government, and our friends in the EU to minimize disruptions in critical matters such as international air travel, financial transactions, and the shipment of medicine, food, and other vital supplies.\n\nSecond, irrespective of how Brexit occurs, we recommit to the NATO security alliance and the \u201cFive Eyes\u201d intelligence partnership. We also will advocate for a new bilateral trade agreement, as early as your Brexit terms would allow, that reflects the centuries of open commerce between our nations.\n\nFinally, we pledge our friendship in the future to the United Kingdom. Our soldiers have fought together from the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of Afghanistan. Together, we have toppled tyrants and liberated the oppressed. The shared story of our special relationship is a great one indeed, and we look forward to adding more chapters still.\n\nCongratulations again to you. Your great predecessor once averred that the British people had the heart of a lion, and he \u201chad the luck to be called upon to give the roar\u201d during their finest hour. Best wishes in the days ahead for every success in giving the roar for what we\u2019re confident will be another very fine hour in the long history of your lion-hearted people.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:35:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-formal-end-of-the-inf-treaty", "Cotton Statement on Formal End of the INF Treaty", "2019-08-02", "2019", "2019-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today issued the following statement after the United States formally withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty:\n\n\"The United States has freed itself from a restrictive treaty that Russia hasn't obeyed for years and China never signed. Our years of naive compliance with the INF Treaty allowed our adversaries to surge ahead in developing their missile forces. Now that America is on equal footing with the rest of the world, we must regain the strategic advantage by building a new generation of ground-launched missiles. Congress can take decisive action to fund, develop, and deploy these systems. Giving our troops these weapons will make America and our allies safe in a way no scrap of paper ever could.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:35:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/08/01/cotton-accepting-service-academy-applications", "Cotton Accepting Service Academy Applications", "2019-08-01", "2019", "2019-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Earlier today, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) announced that he is accepting applications for Service Academy nominations. In order to be considered for a nomination, materials must be submitted by Friday, November 1, 2019.\n\n\"Students who attend U.S. service academies and go on to serve their country in uniform are the pride of Arkansas, and I encourage each young Arkansan with a sincere interest to apply,\" Cotton said.\n\nInterested students can find the application, along with information on eligibility and other requirements, here. Please contact Nicole Millar (501) 223-9081 for any additional questions.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:35:44Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-restoration-of-federal-death-penalty", "Cotton Statement on Restoration of Federal Death Penalty", "2019-07-25", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 After Attorney General William Barr directed the Justice Department earlier today to resume executions in the federal system, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) issued the following statement:\n\n\u201cMost Americans have always recognized that the death penalty is a just response to the most heinous crimes. I commend the president and Attorney General Barr for resuming executions to carry out sentences imposed on five brutal murderers by juries of their peers. After many years of unnecessary delay, justice will soon be done for these criminals\u2019 many victims, including the Mueller family of Tilly, Arkansas.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-introduce-legislation-posthumously-promoting-doolittle-raider-lt-col-dick-cole-to-colonel", "Cotton, Colleagues Introduce Legislation Posthumously Promoting Doolittle Raider Lt. Col. Dick Cole to Colonel", "2019-07-24", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced legislation that calls for the posthumous promotion of Dayton, Ohio native Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col.) Richard E. Cole. This bipartisan legislation also recognizes the accomplishments, sacrifices, and legacy of Lt. Col. Cole, the last of the living Doolittle Raiders until he passed away earlier this year at the age 103. The Doolittle Raiders consisted of 80 U.S. military volunteers, commanded by Lt. Col. James Doolittle, who led the first strike on mainland Japan in World War II. The attack bolstered morale back home and changed the tide of the war in the Pacific. Lt. Col. Cole served valiantly as Lt. Col. James Doolittle's co-pilot and together they led the Squadron of 16 Army Air Force bombers from the U.S.S. Hornet to Tokyo.\n\n\"The Doolittle Raiders volunteered for an uncertain and hazardous mission to strike back against the enemy after Pearl Harbor. Their daring raid rallied our nation for a prolonged war and showed the world that America couldn't be cowed even by a devastating attack. The raiders knew their mission could be a one-way trip. They chose to go anyway, and so are worthy of our honor and gratitude,\" said Cotton.\n\n\"Dick Cole was a son of Dayton, Ohio and an American hero,\" said Portman. \"During a dark time in our history, he and the Doolittle Raiders launched an audacious attack that succeeded against all odds and provided a spark to the morale of the American people that carried us through to eventual victory in the Pacific. The Doolittle Raid had a strategic effect on World War II, and flying in the lead plane as the co-pilot to Jimmy Doolittle, Dick Cole was a key factor to the mission's success. Dick went on to live a rich and full life and was a beloved hero to all airmen. I am proud to help lead this effort to provide Dick with the recognition he so deeply deserves.\"\n\n\"The Doolittle Raiders came from a generation that spoke proudly of service to their country. They rarely drew attention or talked much about their own courage. They sought no recognition but oh, how they earned it. It was an honor to help award the Congressional Gold Medal to the Doolittle Raiders in Washington four years ago -a long time coming, and so deserved. And now that these men are no longer with us, it's all the more important that we continue to tell their story,\" said Brown.\n\n\"For Texans and so many other Americans, Dick symbolized one of the most remarkable groups from the greatest generation - the Doolittle Raiders,\" said Cornyn. \"Although America has lost another hero, our country will never forget him. Today we remember the final Doolittle Raider for his incredible courage and sacrifice, and a life well lived.\"\n\n\"The Doolittle Raid stands as a testament of American grit, determination, and bravery,\" said Cruz. \"These American airmen served our country with excellence, and we owe them a debt we can never repay. Lt. Col. Richard Cole is one of these exemplary men. After his service, Dick eventually moved to Military City, USA and raised a family. Men and women like Dick embody true American greatness. I am proud to join my colleagues in honoring the life and legacy of Dick Cole.\"\n\n\"I commend Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown and their Senate colleagues who introduced the legislation honoring the memory and service of the late Lt. Col. Richard Cole, the last living member of the famed Doolittle Raiders. As Gen. Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot, Lt. Col. Cole was a true American hero who richly deserves this honor,\" said Jim Roberts, President of the American Veterans Center, the organization officially designated by the Doolittle Raiders to preserve their legacy.\n\n\"Richard Cole was an icon to a great many of us. While well aware of the importance of the Doolittle Raid in history, he never made it about himself. He was a humble hero, whose legacy deserves to be remembered,\" said Tim Holbert, Senior Vice President and Executive Director of the American Veterans Center.\n\n\"I was honored to serve the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders as their manager for nearly twenty-five years. Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole, President of the Doolittle Raiders Association became not only my best friend, but a partner with me running all Raider affairs. I am proud and honored to be called his friend and serve the Doolittle Raiders,\" said Thomas G. Casey, President, Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Association.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-reform-of-eb-5-investor-visa-program", "Cotton Statement on Reform of EB-5 Investor Visa Program", "2019-07-24", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement on the Trump administration's changes to the EB-5 investor visa program:\n\n\"The Trump Administration's reforms to the EB-5 investor visa program will ensure that wealthy foreigners who come to America actually invest in America's success. I applaud the administration for taking bold action so that our immigration laws better serve America's interests.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-applauds-confirmation-of-mark-esper-for-secretary-of-defense", "Cotton Applauds Confirmation of Mark Esper for Secretary of Defense", "2019-07-23", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement applauding the confirmation of Mark Esper as the Secretary of Defense:\n\n\"Mark Esper once risked his life on the battlefield as a member of the famed 101st Airborne Division, earning the Bronze Star. He went on to a successful career in and out of government, where he shaped American defense policy with remarkable skill and effectiveness. Mark has devoted his life to public service. I have no doubt he'll serve with honor again as Secretary of Defense.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/members-of-arkansas-congressional-delegation-announce-105-million-grant-for-infrastructure-upgrades-in-southeast-arkansas", "Members of Arkansas Congressional Delegation Announce $10.5 Million Grant for Infrastructure Upgrades in Southeast Arkansas", "2019-07-23", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - U.S. Arkansas Senators Tom Cotton and John Boozman, along with U.S. Arkansas Representatives Rick Crawford and Bruce Westerman, announced that the Southeast Arkansas and Northeast Louisiana Multimodal Freight Corridor project has been awarded $10.5 million in funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).\n\nThe funds were awarded to the Southeast Arkansas Economic Development District on a competitive basis from DOT's Improvement Project Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program.\n\nThe funds will be used to modernize and improve rail safety infrastructure along the freight corridor-which runs from McGehee, AR to Tallulah, LA-while also improving the regional connectivity of three inland waterway ports. This grant will provide the necessary funds to improve the connectivity and efficiency of their rail systems and inland waterways.\n\n\"Arkansas's economy depends on safe, reliable infrastructure to move products to market. Updating the Southeast Arkansas and Northeast Louisiana Multimodal Freight Corridor will provide the region with the improved rail-safety and port-connectivity necessary to sustain long-term economic growth. I'm grateful to Secretary Chao and the U.S. Department of Transportation for their commitment to improving infrastructure in Arkansas,\" said Cotton.\n\n\"This is exciting news for the region. The economic benefits of increased rail and river traffic are vital to the long-term growth in Southeast Arkansas. The Southeast Arkansas and Northeast Louisiana Multimodal Freight Corridor is the type of project that could serve as a national model for how smart infrastructure investments can spur results and drive lasting benefits for economies in rural America,\" said Boozman.\n\n\"This grant will move more commodities, bring Southeast Arkansas into the global marketplace, and ignite the Delta's economy. This is all welcome news for Arkansas's 1st district and I look forward to years of economic development,\" said Crawford.\n\n\"As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I'm thrilled to see so many resources allocated to improving rail and waterway infrastructure. In a rural state, modern, safe and efficient railways and ports are crucial parts of driving economic growth. The devastating flooding we experienced this year showed how essential it is to upgrade Arkansas's infrastructure, and this grant is a huge step in the right direction,\" said Westerman.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-van-hollen-statement-on-huawei-and-146s-reported-involvement-in-north-korea-and-146s-wireless-network", "Cotton, Van Hollen Statement on Huawei\u0092s Reported Involvement in North Korea\u0092s Wireless Network", "2019-07-22", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) issued the following statement on reports that Huawei secretly helped North Korea build and maintain their wireless network, in violation of U.S. law. The Senators have introduced legislation that would reinforce the Executive Order to curb the growing national security threat posed by Huawei's efforts to dominate the 5G market, as well as a bill to direct the President to impose denial orders banning the export of U.S. parts and components to Chinese telecommunications companies that are in violation of U.S. export control or sanctions laws. Unless we act, companies that can be commandeered by the Chinese government will be at the center of our next-generation wireless systems and have access to Americans' private data, ultimately threatening our national security.\n\n\"At every turn, we learn more and more about what a malign actor Huawei is. This new revelation underscores its ties to North Korea and its serial violations of U.S. law. That's why we must pass our legislation to tackle the growing national security threat posed by Huawei's efforts to dominate the 5G market. We must also move forward with the National Defense Authorization Act, which contains provisions to better enforce sanctions on Pyongyang by making it clear that any company that does business with North Korea - like Huawei reportedly did - will face American sanctions.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-the-nomination-of-eugene-scalia-to-be-secretary-of-labor", "Cotton Statement on the Nomination of Eugene Scalia to be Secretary of Labor", "2019-07-19", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement on the nomination of Eugene Scalia to be Secretary of Labor:\n\n\"Gene Scalia is an outstanding lawyer who has vigorously defended the Constitution over a long career in government and private practice. I'm confident he'll be a champion for working Americans against red tape and burdensome regulation as Labor Secretary.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/07/18/cotton-statement-on-the-death-of-stone-county-sheriff-and-146s-deputy-sgt-mike-stephen", "Cotton Statement on the Death of Stone County Sheriff\u0092s Deputy Sgt. Mike Stephen", "2019-07-18", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement on the death of Stone County Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. Mike Stephen, who was killed in the line of duty today:\n\n\"Today, the State of Arkansas mourns the loss of a brave law-enforcement officer killed in the line of duty. Mike Stephen protected the people of Stone County, standing as part of the thin blue line separating our communities from crime and chaos. I encourage all Arkansans to pray for and comfort his family, friends, and neighbors during this moment of loss.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-speaks-about-recovering-the-american-dream-at-subcommittee-hearing", "Cotton Speaks About Recovering the American Dream at Subcommittee Hearing", "2019-07-17", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202)224-2353\n\nThis hearing will come to order. Welcome to the Economic Policy Subcommittee hearing on this important topic of: \"Economic Mobility: Is the American Dream in Crisis?\" I'd like to thank the Senator Cortez Masto and the witnesses for being here, and also our Banking Committee staff for their help putting this together.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-the-us-halting-f-35-sales-to-turkey", "Cotton Statement on the U.S. Halting F-35 Sales to Turkey", "2019-07-17", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement on the president's announcement for the United States to cease F-35 sales to Turkey:\n\n\"Halting F-35 sales to Turkey is a painful but necessary decision by the president. America simply cannot send its most advanced military technology to countries where adversaries like Russia will have access to it.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-van-hollen-colleagues-introduce-the-defending-america-and-146s-5g-future-act", "Cotton, Van Hollen, Colleagues Introduce the Defending America\u0092s 5G Future Act", "2019-07-16", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), along with Senators Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Mark Warner (D-Virginia), Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) today introduced legislation to reinforce the Trump administration's efforts to prevent the Chinese-owned telecom company Huawei from threatening America's national security. The Defending America's 5G Future Act would codify President Trump's recent Executive Order and would prohibit the removal of Huawei from the Commerce Department Entity List without an act of Congress. It also would empower Congress to disallow waivers that any administration might grant to U.S. companies engaged in commerce with Huawei. Representatives Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin), Jimmy Panetta (D-California), Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming), and Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) have introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.\n\n\"Huawei isn't a normal business partner for American companies, it's a front for the Chinese Communist Party. Our bill reinforces the president's decision to place Huawei on a technology blacklist. American companies shouldn't be in the business of selling our enemies the tools they'll use to spy on Americans,\" said Cotton.\n\n\"The best way to address the national security threat we face from China's telecommunications companies is to draw a clear line in the sand and stop retreating every time Beijing pushes back. By prohibiting American companies from doing business with Huawei, we finally sent an unequivocal message that we take this threat seriously and President Trump shouldn't be able to trade away those legitimate security concerns,\" said Van Hollen. \"This legislation will make sure he doesn't by codifying the President's original executive order on Huawei and prohibiting the Administration from relieving penalties on Huawei without the approval of Congress.\"\n\n\"This bill codifies Huawei's addition to the Commerce Department's banned Entity List, and thus protects one of the Trump Administration's most important moves in America's long-term strategic competition with the totalitarian Chinese government and Communist Party,\" said Rubio. \"Huawei, a malign Chinese state-directed telecommunications company that seeks to dominate the future of 5G networks, is an instrument of national power used by the regime in Beijing to undermine U.S. companies and other international competitors, engage in espionage on foreign countries, and steal intellectual property and trade secrets.\"\n\n\"President Trump's executive order and the Department of Commerce's Entity List designation reflect the reality that companies like Huawei represent a threat to the security of U.S. and allied communications networks. It shouldn't be used as a bargaining chip in a larger trade negotiation. This bipartisan bill will make sure that Congress has a chance to weigh in if the President attempts to make concessions on our national security,\" said Warner.\n\n\"Huawei poses an alarming and unacceptable threat to our nation's critical telecommunications networks. Our bipartisan bill is a no-brainer. Preventing Huawei from doing business in the United States protects our national security. We must act swiftly to make sure this dangerous company does not cause us harm,\" said Blumenthal.\n\n\"We must make a concerted effort to confront the threat China poses to U.S. national security, intellectual property, and technology,\" said Romney. \"Our bill will prohibit U.S.-based companies from doing business with Huawei until they no longer pose a national security threat.\"\n\n\"Huawei is an appendage of the Chinese Communist Party and should be treated as such,\" said Rep. Gallagher. \"The President's actions to protect America's telecommunications supply chain and restrict the sale of American technology to Huawei were critical steps to protect the future of 5G. It is time we codify these decisions into law and ensure American innovation does not fuel Huawei's CCP-directed campaign to dominate the global telecommunications market.\"\n\n\"Huawei is a threat to our international communications and, thus, our national security. This bipartisan legislation prevents compromises of our communications and stops foreign adversaries from benefiting from our ingenuity. It is time for Congress to come together and reassert its authority to protect American business and consumers and the safety of our constituents,\" said Rep. Panetta.\n\n\"Huawei is a serious threat to American prosperity and security, and the United States must remain vigilant against this Chinese state-directed company and its efforts to gain access to American data, defense supply chain, and other crucial information. The Defending America's 5G Future Act codifies the President's wise decision to blacklist Huawei, and sends a clear message that Huawei continues to be a vehicle the Chinese Communist Party is using to gain commercial and security advantages and threaten the United States,\" said Rep. Cheney.\n\n\"The threat from Huawei to U.S. and allied information networks is real. We cannot allow safeguards and restrictions placed on them to backslide without Congress having a say in the matter. I'm proud to work across the aisle to ensure that American and allied communications are protected against this problematic company for the foreseeable future,\" said Rep. Gallego.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-young-toomey-introduce-bill-to-prevent-government-bailouts-protect-taxpayers", "Cotton, Young, Toomey Introduce Bill to Prevent Government Bailouts, Protect Taxpayers", "2019-07-16", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Todd Young (R-Indiana), and Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania) yesterday introduced the Government Bailout Prevention Act to ensure that federal dollars cannot be used to help insolvent state, territory, or local governments pay off their obligations. Under this bill, no arm of the federal government, including the Federal Reserve System and the U.S. Treasury Department, can pay or guarantee state and local obligations if that state or local government entity has filed bankruptcy, has defaulted on its debts, or is at risk of bankruptcy or default.\n\n\"The reckless, debt-fueled spending of a few state and local governments can't go on forever, so it won't,\" said Cotton. \"Our bill would ensure American taxpayers aren't stuck with the tab for the spending binges of a few irresponsible politicians.\"\n\n\"Unfortunately, a number of state and local governments continue to spend more money than they bring in and are racking up dangerous levels of debt,\" said Young. \"It is unfair for Hoosiers to be expected to pay taxes to bail out this fiscal irresponsibility. These governments need to be on notice that they can't continue down their fiscally risky path and expect federal taxpayers to pick up the check.\"\n\n\"The taxpayer should not bail out failing industries, businesses, or banks,\" said Toomey. \"The same applies to state and local governments that overspend and mismanage their budgets into bankruptcy. Now some in Washington are pushing for the Federal Reserve and other federal agencies to spend billions to clean up these mistakes -- which is unfair. This legislation protects American taxpayers by ensuring their dollars aren't used to bail out state and local governments.\"\n\nFor the full bill text, click here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-seeking-fall-interns-for-arkansas-state-offices", "Cotton Seeking Fall Interns for Arkansas State Offices", "2019-07-09", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today announced he is seeking fall interns in his state offices in Little Rock and Springdale. Internships will be offered in two sessions: August 26 - October 18 and October 21-December 13.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/07/08/cotton-statement-on-iran-and-146s-new-breach-of-nuclear-deal-restrictions", "Cotton Statement on Iran\u0092s New Breach of Nuclear Deal Restrictions", "2019-07-08", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement on Iran's announcement that it has breached uranium limits set in place to keep it from acquiring nuclear weapons capabilities:\n\n\"Iran is playing a dangerous game of nuclear brinksmanship, but the United States and our European allies shouldn't give in to its threats. Nuclear enrichment is the path to ruin for Iran's ayatollahs.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/07/03/cotton-seeking-fall-interns-for-washington-dc-office", "Cotton Seeking Fall Interns for Washington, D.C. Office", "2019-07-03", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) announced today he is seeking paid fall interns in his Washington, D.C. office. Interns will have the opportunity to experience the daily operations of Senator Cotton's office and witness the legislative process firsthand. Depending on their university's requirements, students may be able to receive academic credit for their service. Internships are open to both undergraduate and graduate students. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Part-time and full-time internships are available. Internship duration will vary based on availability of applicant and internship program space.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-cotton-cruz-rubio-urge-president-trump-to-increase-pressure-on-iran-and-039s-nuclear-program", "Senators Cotton, Cruz, Rubio Urge President Trump to Increase Pressure on Iran's Nuclear Program", "2019-07-03", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida) sent a letter to President Trump after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran is in violation of restrictions on stockpiling enriched uranium specified in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).\n\nThe letter calls on the president to counter Iran's violation by increasing pressure on Iran's nuclear program, specifically by ending civil-nuclear waivers issued by the State Department and invoking the snapback mechanism in United Nations Security Council resolution 2231, which would respectively restore the U.S. and international prohibitions on Iranian nuclear work.\n\n\"First, your administration has continued to issue civil-nuclear waivers allowing Iran to build up its nuclear program as part of an effort to \"maintain the nuclear status quo with Iran until a better deal can be negotiated,\" including at their Fordow centrifuge facility, a military bunker which they dug into the side of a mountain so they could build nuclear weapons there,\" the senators wrote. \"The Iranians have now changed the nuclear status quo and are trying to create a new normal of minor violations that will enable their creep toward a nuclear weapon. We urge you to end these waivers. Second, your administration has refrained from invoking the snapback mechanism in United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 2231, which if invoked would restore international restrictions against Iranian uranium enrichment, plutonium-related heavy water work, and ballistic missile development. Paragraph 10 of UNSCR 2231 defines the United States as a participant for the purpose of invoking the mechanism. We urge you to do so.\"\n\nRead the full letter here below:\n\nJuly 2, 2019\n\nThe Honorable Donald J. Trump\n\nPresident of the United States\n\nThe White House\n\n1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW\n\nWashington, DC 20500\n\nDear President Trump,\n\nWe write to urge you to increase pressure on Iran's nuclear program, in the aftermath of Iran publicly violating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by stockpiling more than 300kg of low-enriched uranium and threatening further violations within weeks. Regime officials have signaled they intend to creep towards a nuclear weapon, while demanding concessions and promising to \"reverse\" their violations if their demands are met. We urge you to reject their nuclear blackmail.\n\nTwo years ago, you correctly decided that the JCPOA gave Iran too much while imposing restrictions that were too little, and that the United States would no longer \"continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror, and the very real threat of Iran's nuclear breakout.\" Last year you correctly reimposed economic pressure on the regime to begin reversing the catastrophic effects of the deal and pressure them into negotiating a better one.\n\nWe urge you to respond to Iran's nuclear violations this week by increasing pressure on their nuclear program as well.\n\nFirst, your administration has continued to issue civil-nuclear waivers allowing Iran to build up its nuclear program as part of an effort to \"maintain the nuclear status quo with Iran until a better deal can be negotiated,\" including at their Fordow centrifuge facility, a military bunker which they dug into the side of a mountain so they could build nuclear weapons there. The Iranians have now changed the nuclear status quo and are trying to create a new normal of minor violations that will enable their creep toward a nuclear weapon. We urge you to end these waivers.\n\nSecond, your administration has refrained from invoking the snapback mechanism in United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 2231, which if invoked would restore international restrictions against Iranian uranium enrichment, plutonium-related heavy water work, and ballistic missile development. Paragraph 10 of UNSCR 2231 defines the United States as a participant for the purpose of invoking the mechanism. We urge you to do so.\n\nThe JCPOA was built to enable Iranian cheating. It disempowered the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) inspection and reporting authorities to find violations, incentivized other parties to preserve the deal by ignoring whatever violations were found, and when necessary pressuring the Joint Commission (JC) to issue still-confidential side deals that redefined noncompliance as compliance, allowing Iran to keep more material than specified in the public version of the JCPOA.\n\nAs a result, hundreds of billions of dollars flowed into Iran, allowing the Iranians to boost its military and terrorist activities regionally and globally, even as they maintained nuclear weapons infrastructure, periodically exceeded restrictions on nuclear materials, and inched toward the deal's promise of an unrestricted civilian nuclear program. When Iran's nuclear weapons infrastructure was recently unveiled by Israel in the form of the Nuclear Archive, the IAEA allowed several months to elapse as the Iranian regime scrubbed nuclear weapons-related sites revealed by the Archive, while other parties in the deal downplayed Iran's violation. That's how the deal was always supposed to work, that's how it did work, and that's why it is imperative that the United States now respond forcefully to Iran's systematic violations by ending civil-nuclear waivers and invoking the U.N. snapback.\n\nAs always, we stand ready to provide you and your administration with whatever resources you need to continue rolling back Iran's nuclear and non-nuclear malign activities.\n\nSincerely,\n\nSenator Tom Cotton\n\nSenator Ted Cruz\n\nSenator Marco Rubio", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-applauds-nomination-of-lee-rudofsky-for-district-court-judge-for-eastern-district-of-arkansas", "Cotton Applauds Nomination of Lee Rudofsky for District Court Judge for Eastern District of Arkansas", "2019-07-01", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tom Cotton applauded President Trump's announcement that he has nominated Lee Rudofsky to be District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Senator Cotton recommended Rudofsky to President Trump for this important appointment.\n\n\"Lee Rudofsky is an outstanding choice to serve as district court judge. Lee is an exceptionally qualified attorney and has served honorably as the Solicitor General of Arkansas as well as a Senior Director of Walmart's Global Anti-Corruption Compliance program. Lee understands that the proper role for a judge is to interpret the Constitution and the laws as written, and I look forward to his confirmation,\" said Cotton.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-iran-and-146s-nuclear-escalation", "Cotton Statement on Iran\u0092s Nuclear Escalation", "2019-07-01", "2019", "2019-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement on Iran's announcement that it is violating the limits on its stockpile of low enriched uranium permitted by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action:\n\n\"Iran has abandoned even the pretense that its nuclear program is meant for peace. Iran's ayatollahs are using the threat of nuclear enrichment to extort America into restoring the terrible deal that enriched Iran's military and proxies while imposing zero consequences for their acts of terror. The United States ought to increase the pressure on Iran so it abandons this cynical campaign of extortion and behaves like a normal nation.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:32:25Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-rubio-and-hill-introduce-legislation-to-save-social-security-disability-insurance-from-bankruptcy", "Cotton, Rubio, and Hill Introduce Legislation to Save Social Security Disability Insurance from Bankruptcy", "2019-06-28", "2019", "2019-06", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida) introduced the Return to Work Act of 2019, legislation that will save Social Security Disability Insurance from bankruptcy. This bill would help Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries who can recover return to work, while also preserving the program's long-term sustainability for the permanently disabled. Congressman French Hill (R-Arkansas) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.\n\n\"We shouldn't resign people with treatable conditions to a lifetime of sitting on the sidelines. If they can get back to work, then by all means we should help them,\" said Cotton. \"That's why we've got to fix this program so it takes into account people's different capabilities. This will not only save the program, which is dangerously close to going bankrupt; It will save our aid for the people who need it most.\"\n\n\"Social Security Disability Insurance is supposed to be a safety net for people who need it the most,\" said Rubio. \"However, rampant abuse, lax enforcement and insufficient accountability have enabled this program to grow unchecked, and has actually prevented many people from going back to work. The health of our national economy and strength of our communities depend on able-bodied Americans earning paychecks. This legislation represents a long overdue reform that takes care of working Americans and saves our social safety net for the truly disabled.\"\n\n\"For too long, the success of well-intentioned federal programs has been determined by the growth of their funding and not by real-world outcomes,\" said Hill. \"After more than 60 years of existence, the SSDI program has morphed into a black hole of abuse and unaccountability that hurts disabled Americans and taxpayers. To ensure that SSDI supports those who need it most and promotes work for those willing and able, SSDI reforms are desperately needed. I'm proud to work with Senator Cotton on this commonsense bill to ensure the responsible stewardship of program funds and strengthen a valuable safety net for disabled Americans.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:29:15Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/2019/06/27/cotton-schumer-colleagues-announce-senate-passage-of-fentanyl-sanctions-act", "Cotton, Schumer, Colleagues Announce Senate Passage Of Fentanyl Sanctions Act", "2019-06-27", "2019", "2019-06", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Chuck Schumer (D-New York), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), Gary Peters (D-Michigan), Dianne Feinstein (D-California), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) today announced the passage of the bipartisan Fentanyl Sanctions Act, part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020, which passed the Senate this afternoon by a vote of 86-8.\n\nThe senators' bill would hold China and other countries accountable for their commitments to crack down on producers and traffickers of fentanyl and other deadly synthetic opioids, pushing China's government to honor their commitment to enforce new laws declaring all fentanyl derivatives illegal. Additionally, the legislation would provide the U.S. government with more tools and resources to sanction illicit traffickers from China, Mexico, and other countries-a critical effort, in light of the steep rise in devastating fentanyl overdose deaths.\n\n\"The Chinese government is the world's largest drug dealer,\" said Cotton. \"China has allowed fentanyl and other synthetic opioids to pour into the United States for years, killing tens of thousands of Americans. Our law enforcement and intelligence agencies need additional resources to target the fentanyl producers, traffickers, cartels, and other criminals who are funneling this poison across our borders and into our communities. I'm pleased that this year's NDAA includes our bipartisan amendment to give law enforcement critical tools to stop this scourge and hold China accountable.\"\n\n\"We must hold China, currently the world's largest producer of illicit fentanyl, accountable for its role in the trade of this deadly drug. Our Senate-passed, bipartisan sanctions bill will do just that,\" said Schumer. \"The opioid crisis has claimed tens of thousands of lives and devastated families and communities across the country. In New York state, from November 2017 to 2018, approximately 2,000 people died from an opioid overdose. About 1,500 of those deaths were from synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Our legislation is critical in this fight to save American lives, and I hope to announce soon that this bill will be signed into law.\"\n\nSpecifically, the legislation would:\n\nRequire imposition of sanctions on drug manufacturers in China who knowingly provide synthetic opioids to traffickers, transnational criminal organizations like those in Mexico who mix fentanyl with other drugs and traffic them into the U.S. and financial institutions that assist such entities. Waivers would be provided for countries that take sufficient action to implement and enforce regulations on synthetic opioid production.\n\nAuthorize new funding to law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including the Departments of Treasury, Department of Defense and Department of State, to combat the foreign trafficking of synthetic opioids.\n\nUrge the President to commence diplomatic efforts with U.S. partners to establish multilateral sanctions against foreign synthetic opioid traffickers.\n\nEstablish a Commission on Synthetic Opioid Trafficking to monitor U.S. efforts and report on how to more effectively combat the flow of synthetic opioids from China, Mexico and elsewhere.\n\nFollowing a commitment to the U.S. at the G-20 in December 2018, Chinese regulators announced on April 1, 2019, that a wider range of fentanyl derivatives would be declared controlled substances in China on May 1, 2019. China has struggled to enforce its current drug laws and continues to deny that its illicit fentanyl producers are a major source of the illicit opioids contributing to the U.S. opioid crisis. To ensure accountability, Senators Cotton, Schumer, Brown, Crapo, Menendez, Toomey, Rubio, Shaheen, Cornyn, Markey, Capito, Peters, Feinstein, and Blackburn's sanctions legislation would pressure the Chinese government to move forward with an aggressive plan to enforce its announced new laws and provide the U.S. executive branch with flexible new sanction tools to go after actors, from manufacturers to traffickers, in China and other countries. Read more about the bill here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:29:15Z"], ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-hails-passage-of-the-national-defense-authorization-act", "Cotton Hails Passage of the National Defense Authorization Act", "2019-06-27", "2019", "2019-06", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nWashington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Chairman of the Airland Subcommittee in the Senate Armed Services Committee, released a statement on final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020. Senator Cotton secured dozens of provisions in the annual defense bill to support Arkansas servicemembers and military families. For text of the bill click here.\n\n\"The National Defense Authorization Act passed today strengthens America's warfighters and military families. This bill will make our military a stronger fighting force, while protecting America from fentanyl traffickers, terrorists, and other enemies. I'm pleased that so many Arkansas priorities will now pass into law, including provisions to expand the Arkansas State Veteran's Cemetery and help military spouses transfer occupational licenses when they move across state lines,\" said Cotton.\n\nSenator Cotton's provisions address a range of issues, including cutting the flow of fentanyl from China, expanding Arkansas's State Veterans Cemetery, easing the process of military spouse licensing transfers, supporting U.S. partners in the Indo-Pacific region, improving homeschool inclusion within JROTC programs, and updating burial honors for certain veterans.\n\nCracks Down on Chinese Fentanyl: America is suffering from the worst drug epidemic in our history, which has been fueled by deadly fentanyl from China. The bipartisan Fentanyl Sanctions Act, which Senator Cotton sponsored with Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), imposes new sanctions and penalties on fentanyl traffickers.\n\nAllows Military Spouses to Transfer Occupational Licenses: Many Arkansas military spouses struggle with recertifying their occupational licenses as they move from state to state. The Portable Certification of Spouses amendment will improve the portability of occupational licenses. The bill will also help alleviate the burden military spouses bear when having to re-register a small business in a new state each time a service member changes station.\n\nExpanded Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery: Ensures we keep our promises to Arkansas veterans who choose to be buried alongside their brothers and sisters in arms by transferring approximately 141 acres from the Army National Guard to the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs.\n\nIncludes Homeschool Students in Local JROTC Units: Mandates inclusion of homeschooled students residing in the geographic area served by a JROTC unit. The bill ensures that homeschool students who want to participate in JROTC can.\n\nGrants Full Military Honors Burial Rites: Allows Medal of Honor and Prisoner of War Medal recipients to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery with Full Military Honors, regardless of rank.\n\nIncreases Security in Indo-Pacific Region: Encourages the Department of Defense to establish open-source intelligence fusion centers between the U.S. and the Pacific Island countries. These centers will strengthen our valuable partnership with Pacific Island nations. Arkansas is proud to be home to the largest Marshallese population in the country.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:29:15Z"]], "truncated": false, "filtered_table_rows_count": 198, "expanded_columns": [], "expandable_columns": [], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "units": {}, "query": {"sql": "select url, title, date, year, month, party, chamber, state, member_name, bioguide_id, domain, scraper, source, date_source, text, has_text, collected_at, updated_at from releases where \"chamber\" = :p0 and \"state\" = :p1 and \"year\" = :p2 order by date desc limit 101", "params": {"p0": "Senate", "p1": "AR", "p2": "2019"}}, "facet_results": {"party": {"name": "party", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=AR&year=2019", "results": [{"value": "Republican", "label": "Republican", "count": 198, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=AR&year=2019&party=Republican", "selected": false}], "truncated": false}, "chamber": {"name": "chamber", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=AR&year=2019", "results": [{"value": "Senate", "label": "Senate", "count": 198, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=AR&year=2019", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "state": {"name": "state", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=AR&year=2019", "results": [{"value": "AR", "label": "AR", "count": 198, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&year=2019", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "year": {"name": "year", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=AR&year=2019", "results": [{"value": "2019", "label": "2019", "count": 198, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=AR", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}}, "suggested_facets": [], "next": "2019-06-27,https~3A~2F~2Fwww~2Ecotton~2Esenate~2Egov~2Fnews~2Fpress-releases~2Fcotton-hails-passage-of-the-national-defense-authorization-act", "next_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=AR&year=2019&_next=2019-06-27%2Chttps~3A~2F~2Fwww~2Ecotton~2Esenate~2Egov~2Fnews~2Fpress-releases~2Fcotton-hails-passage-of-the-national-defense-authorization-act&_sort_desc=date", "private": false, "allow_execute_sql": true, "query_ms": 157.02342288568616, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}