On spending bill, Westerman only no vote of state delegation
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman was the only member of the Arkansas congressional delegation to vote against the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill that passed the House on Wednesday.
U.S. Reps. Steve Womack, Rick Crawford and French Hill all supported the legislation, which will keep the government funded through September.
Womack, who serves on the House appropriations committee, called the spending package a “reasonable, though not perfect, compromise.”
The Republican from Rogers said he was pleased that the new budget increases spending on the National Institutes of Health as well as defense spending.
“The process has begun to rebuild our military that has taken a disproportionate share of the cuts over the last several years,” he said.
Passage of the omnibus spending bill is a win for President Donald Trump, Womack said.
“I thought it was important that we give the president a victory on this appropriations front, and we have given him that victory,” Womack said.
Hill, a Republican from Little Rock, said he voted for the bill “because it is all spending that has previously been approved by House committee, it does not exceed the spending that we had in the budget and that it contained President Trump’s priorities of increased defense spending and … border security.”
Crawford said the spending package was a step forward after a series of stopgap continuing resolutions, known as CRs.
“We’ve got to break the cycle of CRs and quit continuing to reflect President [Barack] Obama and Sen. [Harry] Reid’s spending priorities,” the Republican from Jonesboro said.
Like Womack, he stressed that the budget increases defense spending and raises funding for border security.
“Border security will tighten up,” he added.
Westerman, the one “no” vote from Arkansas, was not available for comment after the vote. His spokesman, Ryan Saylor, said the Hot Springs Republican opposed the bill, in part, because he was concerned about the way the budgeting process had been handled.
“The government was not meant to run on omnibus bills and continuing resolutions, and that’s how it’s been run for much of the last decade,” Saylor said. “All of this is being done without any open and transparent debate.”
Westerman was also opposed to some of the individual spending items, including funding for Planned Parenthood, Saylor said.