Washington news in brief
Womack lists job open for veteran
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., has a job open for a veteran who has a service-related disability, and he’s inviting people to apply for it.
The successful applicant will work out of Womack’s Rogers district office.
The Wounded Warrior Fellowship Program, launched in 2008, has given scores of veterans the opportunity to work for members of the House of Representatives.
Many participants have gotten federal jobs once the 2-year fellowship is completed.
“Our veterans put our country before themselves at a time when we needed them most. The least we can do is give back by offering meaningful employment when they return,” Womack said in a news release.
Additional information about the Wounded Warrior program is available at: cao. house.gov/wounded-warrior.
Group seeks more Alzheimer’s funds
Ten Arkansans visited Capitol Hill earlier this month to urge lawmakers to increase funding for Alzheimer’s disease research.
Representatives of the state chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association met with all six members of the Arkansas delegation, said Susan Neyman, the chapter’s executive director.
President Donald Trump’s budget blueprint envisions sharp cuts in funding for the National Institutes of Health, which pays for much of the nation’s Alzheimer’s research.
The activists are seeking a $414 million increase for National Institutes of Health Alzheimer’s research, which would raise the overall figure to about $1.3 billion, Neyman said.
Roughly 5.5 million Americans, including 60,000 Arkansans, have Alzheimer’s, Neyman said.
Those numbers are expected to rise as the nation’s population ages, putting more pressure on the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid programs, she added.
“Alzheimer’s is the most expensive disease in our country, and it certainly has a big impact on our budget,” she said. “We’re spending way more for money on care for people with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis than we spend on research.”
A dozen truckers meet with Trump
Hot Springs native David Green visited the White House last month, joining other members of the trucking industry.
Green is a driver for Omaha-based Werner Enterprises and logged 2 million miles without a single accident, the company said.
He was one of a dozen truckers who met President Donald Trump.
The list of truckers included a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employee, John Lex of Monroe, Ga. Lex has driven for WalMart for more than 13 years.
The dozen professional drivers, combined, have logged more than 29.4 million miles on the road without an accident and have 319 years of driving experience, American Trucking Associations reported.
Hill asks students to join art contest
U.S. Rep. French Hill is inviting high school students in his central Arkansas district to enter the Congressional Art Competition.
The deadline is May 1. Hundreds of pieces of art, one from each House district, are selected. The winning works are displayed at the U.S. Capitol for a year.
Students can submit prints, paintings, drawings, computer-generated art and collages. Mixed media works can also be entered.
“Artwork entered in the contest may be up to 28 inches by 28 inches, may be up to four inches in depth, and not weigh more than 15 pounds,” Hill announced in a news release. “If your artwork is selected as the winning piece, it must arrive framed and must still measure no larger than the above maximum dimensions.”
Additional information is available by contacting Chloe Maxwell at chloe.maxwell@mail.house.gov or at (501) 324-5941; or at hill.house.gov/ services/art-competition.
Crawford spends time in his district
U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford toured an alternative school, the STRIVE Institute of Technology, in Marianna on Monday with its founder, former state Sen. Jack Crumbly. Crumbly taught for decades in the Delta and is a former Earle School District superintendent. STRIVE stands for Special Training Remediate Instruction and Vocational Education.
On Tuesday, Crawford met with his row crop advisory board.
The Jonesboro Republican serves on the House Agriculture Committee and represents the nation’s top rice-producing congressional district.
On Wednesday, Crawford participated in “Elected Officials Day” in conjunction with Pinkston Middle School in Mountain Home.
On Facebook, Crawford bragged about his daughter’s four hens: Ruby, Beyonce, Blanche and Donna. The congressman gave his daughter four chicks for her ninth birthday and built a chicken coop to keep them in. They’re now laying eggs, he said.