Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) today released the following statement after the Trump administration announced that asylum seekers at the Southern border will return to Mexico while their cases are decided: "Today's agreement is a positive step towards fixing our nation's broken asylum system. I applaud the Mexican government for their cooperation in addressing issues posed by mass Central American migration. Now it's imperative that Congress pass legislation to close asylum... Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353 Washington, D.C. — Last night, the Senate passed the Full Military Honors Act of 2018, a bill introduced by Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) that would allow all Medal of Honor recipients and former prisoners of war to receive a full military honors burial ceremony with an escort, regardless of rank. Currently, full military honors with an escort are reserved for senior officers,... Read More

Washington, D.C. - Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement on the First Step Act: "While the bill has marginally improved from earlier versions, I'm disappointed my amendments to exclude child molesters from early release and to protect victims' rights were not adopted. I also remain concerned that reducing sentences for drug traffickers and violent felons is a threat to public safety."   Read More

Washington, D.C. - Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) today announced that they will support and sponsor Senator Ted Cruz's amendment to the First Step Act to exclude additional violent felons from early release and Senator James Lankford's amendment to remove the discriminatory language in the bill that prohibits faith-based groups from receiving funding: "We believe these are commonsense improvements to a bad bill and urge all of our colleagues to allow these... Read More

Washington, D.C. -Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and introduced a Senate resolution encouraging the United States to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The full text of the resolution may be read here. "Israel's northern border is threatened by Iranian forces and their proxies in Lebanon and Syria, including Hezbollah's 150,000 rockets, armed drones, newly discovered terror tunnels, and more. Meanwhile, with the Ayatollahs' help, Bashar al Assad's... Read More

Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) today announced support from law enforcement and victims' rights groups for the Cotton-Kennedy amendments to the First Step Act. Click here to read a letter from the National Association of Police Organizations. "I'm pleased that major law enforcement groups support our amendments to exclude violent felons and sex offenders from early release, notify victims before criminals are released, and to measure whether the... Read More

Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement today after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Army proposed a new definition of the waters of the U.S. rule that clarifies federal authority under the Clean Water Act. "Everyone wants clean water, but the 2015 ‘waters of the U.S.' rule was a vast and vague expansion of federal regulation, especially in Arkansas. The new definition announced today still protects our waterways... Read More

Washington, D.C. -Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement on the plan to bring the First Step Act to the Senate floor: "For months I've said the First Step Act allows violent felons and sex offenders to be released early. I'm pleased the drafters have finally acknowledged that reality and made changes to address some of the specific issues I pointed out. Unfortunately, the bill still has major problems and allows early release for many categories of serious,... Read More

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) today introduced legislation that would halt the predatory practice of mailing high-interest loans to consumers in the form of "live" checks. When consumers receive these loan checks, many unknowingly believe they have received money from their bank or financial institution, not realizing that the check is often a high-interest loan.The Unsolicited Loan Act of 2018 would prohibit this practice... Read More

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and John Boozman (R-Arkansas) supported Senate passage of H.R. 3398, the REAL ID Act Modification for Freely Associated States Act. The legislation amends the REAL ID Act of 2005 to allow citizens of the Marshall Islands and other Pacific Freely Associated States who legally live in the U.S. to obtain a driver's license or personal identification card. Due to the omission of the Freely Associated States in the 2005 REAL ID Act, Marshallese... Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353   Washington, D.C. — Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and John Boozman (R-AR), along with Congressman Bruce Westerman (AR-04), announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation will award the Arkansas Department of Transportation a $20 million BUILD grant to construct the Hot Springs bypass extension. The extension would run from the interchange... Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353     WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Boozman (R-AR), and Roy Blunt (R-MO), along with U.S. Representatives Billy Long (MO-07) and Steve Womack (AR-03), announced that $25 million in funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has been awarded to complete work on a critical segment of Interstate 49 that will connect Arkansas and... Read More

Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement after NATO declared Russia in material breach of the INF Treaty: "President Reagan deserves high praise for negotiating the INF Treaty more than 30 years ago, but the world is a different place today. Moscow has deployed intermediate-range weapons that can strike at the heart of Europe-in violation of their treaty commitments-while Beijing stockpiles missiles in an attempt to limit American action in the... Read More

Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) today introduced The National POW/MIA Flag Act, which would require the POW/MIA Flag to be displayed whenever the American flag is displayed on prominent federal properties, including 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... Read More

Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) today introduced the Stopping Russian Nuclear Aggression Act to limit Russia's nuclear buildup. "Vladimir Putin has spent a decade cheating on existing treaties like the INF, building up his nuclear arsenal, and rewriting the rulebook on the nuclear triad by introducing new ways of launching a nuclear attack. Russia's heavy advantage in tactical nuclear weapons-which are not bound by the existing START... Read More

  Contact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353   Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) today released the following statement after news reports that New Zealand rejected a proposal to use Huawei gear in its planned 5G mobile network:   “I commend New Zealand for joining their Australian neighbors in blocking Huawei from their 5G network. Thanks to U.S. leadership, the world is beginning to understand the risk that... Read More

Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement on Thanksgiving: "Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours. Wherever you are, I hope you're surrounded by family and friends. Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude, for our families, for our many blessings as a nation, and for our troops who are far from home this day. We all have much and many to be thankful for. Read More

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) issued the following statement after fellow Senators released the text of the First Step Act: "Unfortunately, the new text of this legislation reveals that what started as a prison-reform effort has transformed into sentencing reductions and early-release for dangerous, repeat felons, and I therefore cannot support this bill." Read More

Contact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353     Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced a resolution to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, and the upcoming centenaries of the return of the Unknown Soldier and the creation of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The text may be found here.   “Ever since the end of World War I, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has venerated those service members who... Read More

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced a resolution to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, and the upcoming centenaries of the return of the Unknown Soldier and the creation of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The text may be found here. "Ever since the end of World War I, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has venerated those service members who anonymously sacrificed themselves for the freedom of other Americans," Senator Cotton said. "Now, one... Read More