Cotton, Westerman support Trump

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-District 4, and U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., affirmed their support for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump Monday after a community event in which they discussed their desires to transfer power away from the federal government.

“I don’t condone everything he says or everything he does, but when you look at the policy positions, I think it is a pretty big discrepancy between he and Hillary,” Westerman said. “I’m still supporting Trump.”

“Donald Trump has said a lot of

things that I don’t support and proposed some ideas I don’t support, but Hillary Clinton has done a lot of things she ought not to have done,” Cotton said. “I believe our country is going to be safer and stronger and more prosperous with a Republican in the White House and Republicans in charge of Congress.”

Westerman attempted to clarify confusion about Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and his support of Trump.

“He’s got probably one of the worst jobs in the world because he gets blamed for everything,” Westerman said.

Westerman said reports of Ryan not supporting Trump for president were misconstrued. He was part of the conference call in which the reports began.

“He said, ‘I can’t condone the things Trump says,’” Westerman said. “I don’t either, but he also said, repeatedly, ‘I am not withdrawing my support.’”

Westerman said House Majority Leader U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., affirmed their support for Trump, as well.

“Then what happens? Instead of Donald Trump’s campaign calling Paul Ryan, they start sending out tweets and the whole thing escalated into a story that never was a story,” Westerman said. “I talked to Paul after that and he said, ‘That’s the way it is.’

“He said you can’t roll it back in after stuff like that happens, but I can tell you, I was on the call. I heard what was said and they repeated, ‘We are not withdrawing support from Trump,’ but that’s not what is getting reported in the media.”

Westerman hosted “Coffee with your Congressman” Monday at The Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce with Cotton in attendance. The congressmen were introduced by Jim Fram, CEO of the chamber and Hot Springs Metro Partnership.

Much of the discussion centered on frustration about the federal government.

“It is reasonable for all of you to be tired and indignant of what’s happened in Washington for too long, but I still have great faith in this country and our future, not because of what happens in Washington, D.C., but because of all of you,” Cotton said. “The greatness of this country lies in the American people, not in our leaders in Washington, D.C.”

One audience member asked if the candidates would support shutting down federal agencies if Trump is elected and pursues his campaign promises.

“The one that’s the most egregious one to me, that I think does the least good, that what few beneficial services it provides could be absorbed by another department like the Department of Commerce would be the Department of Labor,” Westerman said. “I think the states and the Department of Commerce could easily handle what the Department of Labor has messed up.”

Cotton said while he does support reigning in the federal government, many of the departments are responsible for crucial functions. He used the U.S. Department of Energy’s authority over the country’s nuclear weapons as an example.

“I think we would all agree that’s pretty essential,” Cotton said. “Some people say, ‘You have these nuclear weapons; you never use them.’ I would say, actually, we use nuclear weapons every single day to stop a major war against the United States.”

Cotton offered two examples of government overreach. Almost 10,000 soldiers of the California National Guard have been ordered to repay enlistment bonuses almost a decade after they re-enlisted.

“My staff is looking into it today and if it takes a change of law next month, then we will change the law,” Cotton said. “That may be one of the few times when you get Congress to move fast.”

Cotton also took sole responsibility for halting a measure that would have shut down sheltered workshops, such as Abilities Unlimited, allowed to pay less than minimum wage. The measure would have closed 67 such workshops in Arkansas. The congressmen said feedback from Arkansans is essential to performing their duties.

“I can tell you there is not a single week that goes by for me in which I do not introduce a piece of legislation or co-sponsor a bill or write a letter or make a phone call because of something I have heard from an Arkansan.”

They also praised the Electoral College. Westerman said the 4th Congressional District is likely to expand as many people move to urban areas to pursue more job opportunities.

“We have got to put economic policies in place that allow small town communities to compete fairly with urban areas,” Westerman said.

Westerman discussed the Republican party’s “A Better Way” plan with details about addressing poverty, the economy, interpretation of the Constitution, health care, national security and tax reform.

“These are things that put our country back on the right track and it’s what I’m excited about,” Westerman said. “It’s why I ran for office, along with serving in Congress, to provide a better way, not really for me, but for my kids and grandkids and for our future.

“Believe me, I’ve only been there one term, but it’s pretty easy to see where the problems are. It’s pretty easy to see where the fixes need to be made.”

Cotton said he strongly believes in the Republicans’ approach to wait until after the general election on Nov. 8 to address any nominations for the Supreme Court.

“I thought it would be disrespectful of our powers as the legislature to be a check and balance on the president to go forward with that nomination,” Cotton said. “The American people are going to be able to speak in 15 days. They are going to get their say on that matter.”

An audience member said he believed Congress should have impeached President Barack Obama. Westerman said the House probably could have amassed enough votes to impeach the president, but not in the Senate. Neither said what the charge would have been for impeachment.

“I think he would have loved nothing more than to have the House start impeachment proceedings against him knowing he would never be impeached,” Westerman said. “You’ve got to have strategy with these things as you are doing them and that would have been a dead-end strategy to do that.”