Virginia school issues interviews
47 Clinton project transcripts include ex-secretary of state
WASHINGTON — The University of Virginia’s Miller Center released 47 interviews from the Clinton Presidential History Project at the conclusion of a symposium marking the 10th anniversary of the Clinton Presidential Center earlier this month.
Interviewees include former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; David Kusnet, chief speechwriter; other staff members; and congressmen. A second batch of interviews is scheduled to be released Monday.
The Clinton Project is a joint effort by the Miller Center and the University of Arkansas Center for Oral and Visual History, with the support of the Clinton Foundation.
Transcripts of the interviews are online at http://millercenter.org/president/clinton/oralhistory
SUPERINTENDENT AT THE WHITE HOUSE
Arkadelphia Pub li c Schools Superintendent Donnie Whitten joined educators from across the country at the White House on Wednesday for “ConnectED to the Future,” a day-long event about increasing and improving the use of technology in education.
The 100 superintendents who attended were recognized for increasing access to digital learning in their districts.
They heard from President Barack Obama in the morning and spoke about several education issues with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in the afternoon.
“I was certainly proud to represent our state and district at the ConnectED Summit,” Whitten said. “With the current focus on connectivity in Arkansas, the state is positioned to move forward with connecting our students and teachers to the rest of the world.”
SENATE HISTORY
U.S. Sens.-elect U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton of Dardanelle and U.S. Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., were both freshmen House members when elected to the Senate earlier this month and join only 17 other freshmen House members elected to the Senate in the last century, according to a University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs political analysis.
Cotton, a Republican, is not the lone Arkansan on the list. Democrat J. William Fulbright was elected to the Senate in 1944 after serving one House term.
PRESIDENTIAL RUMBLINGS
On Friday, some of Hillary Clinton’s strongest supporters met in New York City for a day-long strategy session to plan for a presidential campaign, though the former secretary of state has yet to announce whether she will run, the Associated Press reported.
Also Friday, Correct the Record, a Democratic group, released a four-minute video of supporters talking about Clinton and urging her to run. It is available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nezan76vwhc
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is among several potential Republican presidential candidates scheduled to speak at the first Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines on Jan. 24, the Des Moines Register reported. Joining Huckabee are U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.
NEW MEMBERS
U.S. Rep.-elect French Hill was approved Thursday by the House Republican Steering Committee to serve on the Financial Services Committee. Hill is a banker in Little Rock and previously worked for the U.S. Senate’s Banking Committee and as deputy assistant treasury secretary.
U.S. Rep.-elect Bruce Westerman, a Hot Springs Republican, announced staff for his new office Friday.
Kenneth Ryan James of Little Rock will be Westerman’s chief of staff. He previously worked on Capitol Hill as a senior adviser and communications director for U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin and as communications director for then-U.S. Rep. John Boozman.
Jason D. McGehee of Little Rock will be Westerman’s district director, a position he currently holds on Griffin’s staff. Megan P. Dornan of Washington, D.C., will be his administrative director and executive assistant. She has previously worked for members from Colorado, Florida, Michigan and Texas.
IRAQI RICE BUYING
In a letter Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford of Jonesboro and U.S. Sen. John Boozman of Rogers urged Secretary of State John Kerry to protect American rice producers against unfair business practices in Iraq.
Early this month, the Iraqi Grain Board paid $1.4 million more to buy rice from Brazil and Uruguay rather than accept a lower bid from the U.S., according to the letter.
OFFICE CLOSED
U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin has closed his Washington office as part of preparations to leave Congress. Griffin said in a news release that constituents can still contact him through his district offices in Little Rock and Conway until his term ends in January.
The Little Rock office is located at 1501 N. University Ave., Suite 150, and its phone number is (501) 324-5941. The Conway office is located at 1105 Deer St., Suite 12; the phone number is (501) 358-3481.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Cotton joined U.S. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., as members of the U.S. congressional delegation to the Halifax International Security Forum this weekend in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
ON THE HILL
U.S. House and Senate members left the Capitol on Thursday. They are to return Dec. 1.
Earlier in the week, Boozman sat down with the two Senate pages from Arkansas, Cogan Wade of Little Rock and Anthony Bennett of Ashdown.
He also met with Mena High School seniors Morgan Ashley and Brooklyn Tackett, Arkansas’ delegates to the 2014 Jobs for America’s Graduates National Student Leadership Academy, before they toured the Capitol. The students were accompanied by Lynn Ashley and Mena High School teacher Karen Purvis.