Contact: Caroline Rabbitt (202) 224-2353 Thank you very much. Thank you for the warm welcome, and Andrew, thank you for the kind introduction. Also, I want to thank the Center for Strategic and International Studies for hosting us. Before I get to the topic at hand-the Russia threat in Europe-I also want to express briefly what I know is everyone's best wishes for a speedy recovery to my friend, John McCain. I was as startled as any of you to learn about his hasty surgery over the weekend, but... Read More

Contact: Caroline Rabbitt (202) 224-2353 We lost another great American this month with the passing of Arthur J. Jackson. He received the Medal of Honor in 1945 for his service in the Pacific theater of World War Two. His name may not be as familiar as it once was-in retirement, he lived a quiet life. But I didn't want to let his death pass without paying tribute to him, his family, and the extraordinary acts of courage with which he defended our country. Though, to be sure, "extraordinary"... Read More

Contact: Caroline Rabbitt (202) 224-2353 I attended the signing ceremony at the White House last week for the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act. It was a happy occasion, but I received some sad news. A son of Arkansas who served in uniform passed away earlier this year at the far-too-young age of 31. His name was Joe Dale Burgess. And though he was not widely known, he was especially well loved by all who did know him. So today I want to recognize him briefly for his service.... Read More

Contact: Caroline Rabbitt (202) 224-2353 Last year, a woman named Carol Denise Richardson was released from federal prison after President Obama granted her clemency. She'd been serving a life sentence for possessing and intending to distribute 50 or more grams of cocaine-on top of having an already lengthy criminal record. But she hadn't done anything specifically violent, so theoretically we should've been able to release her early and see good results-at least according to the advocates of... Read More

Contact: Caroline Rabbitt (202) 224-2353 Mr. President, I want to add to the voice of so many Senators today who have expressed their prayers and concerns for the five Americans who were wounded today in the terrible shooting in Alexandria, Virginia. Steve Scalise, a friend of mine from the House of Representatives, someone who took a bet on me early in my first campaign as a neighboring state and aspiring young candidate, with whom I served with for two... Read More

Contact: Caroline Rabbitt (202) 224-2353 Today, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) spoke on the Senate floor in favor of the Countering Iran's Destabilizing Activities Act. Click here to watch the speech in full. I speak in favor of this Iran sanctions bill. I'm an original co-sponsor of the bill, so it should come as no surprise that I support it. My only concern is we didn't pass it sooner. And as I stand here today, I can't help but feel that this moment highlights the folly of... Read More

I want to add my support this morning for Courtney Elwood as the next general counsel of the CIA-not that she really needs it. In her many years of public service and private practice, Courtney's earned the esteem of her colleagues across both parties and two administrations. David Kris, an Obama appointee, calls her "a first-class lawyer." Ben Powell, a Bush appointee, calls her "one of the finest lawyers of her generation." Caroline Krass, another Obama appointee, calls her "an excellent... Read More

The attacks in London last weekend exposed in a matter of minutes just how vulnerable our free societies truly are. All it takes is a van or a knife and an unsuspecting bystander to turn a fun night out on the town into a horrific nightmare. Course, we shouldn't need any reminders, but let me give one yet again: We are at war with Islamic extremists. We have been for years, and, I'm sorry to say, there's no end in sight. It's easy to forget this as we go about our daily lives, but our enemies... Read More

Thank you, Glenn, for the kind introduction. Thank you all for the warm welcome.  It's a real pleasure to join you today, particularly as you honor Bob Litt with the Intelligence Under Law Award.  Bob has dedicated much of his life to intelligence and the law, first at the Department of Justice and most recently at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.  I got to know Bob during my first couple years on the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he helped me get up to... Read More

In September, we'll mark the 60th anniversary of the Little Rock Nine-the nine African-American students who enrolled in the then-all-white Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Ask anybody who lived through the crisis, and they'll tell you they remember it vividly. They may not have been there in person. But they remember the photos-those searing images of an angry mob, the stoic students, and the bayoneted troops, all gathered at a high school-of all places. Perhaps the most searing image... Read More

Over the weekend, I heard a story I wanted to share with everyone here today. The story goes there were three candles burning on a porch right across the street from the Cornwell Funeral Home in Dardanelle, Arkansas-my hometown, just a couple of blocks away from my home. A family had lit them in memory of the three people who were brutally murdered last week in Chickalah-just a few miles outside Dardanelle. One of those slain was Lieutenant Kevin Mainhart, of the Yell County Sheriff's... Read More

Thank you very much. It's an honor to mark this special occasion with all of you: Chancellor Steinmetz, Lieutenant Colonel Wolfe, Mrs. Wolfe, Dr. Coleman, Admiral Johnson, Major General Berry, Mrs. Berry, Colonel Stefancic, airmen, and-most especially-the cadets and your families. It's also a pleasure to be here with you, and I do really mean that: most Army guys have to make Air Force jokes behind your back, but I get to do it right in front of you. Now, some of you might say that's just... Read More

I'm speaking tomorrow at an Air Force ROTC commissioning ceremony at the University of Arkansas. As I've been preparing my remarks, I've been thinking a lot about the airmen who left more than contrails behind them-the men and women who served with such distinction that we still remember them to this day-those great Americans, the heroes of the sky. And the first name that came to mind, the name that resounded louder than almost any other was the great Leo Thorsness. So you can imagine how... Read More

I'm going to be voting no on this 1700-page bill. I am not blind to some of the good parts of this bill. It includes last year's Intelligence Authorization Act, which includes some parts of the bill that I wrote that would counteract Russian activities in the United States and Europe-provisions that were blocked by the Obama Administration, since they refused to ever get tough on Russia. It increases defense spending, although not to an adequate degree given the threats we face. For the first... Read More

I want to take this opportunity to highlight what I consider an unsung achievement of this administration and this Congress: the slow-but-steady rollback of the last administration's midnight regulations. The numbers are impressive. Using the Congressional Review Act, we've repealed 13 regulations so far, which adds up to a $3.6 billion reduction in regulatory costs. To put it in more human terms, we've saved the American people 4.2 million hours of paperwork-which I can tell you is... Read More

I come to the floor today to honor the memory of former Congressman Jay Dickey, who passed on April 20. When Jay Dickey roamed the halls of Congress, you knew there might be mischief afoot-and what merry mischief it was. Jay was opinionated, colorful, zany. And now that he's passed, the warm laughter of memories once again echoes in these cold, marble halls, as we reflect on his life. He died last Thursday after a battle with Parkinson's-a battle he fought, like every other, with determination... Read More

This week, the Senate will fulfill one of our most important responsibilities: advice and consent for a nominee to the Supreme Court. The stakes don't get much higher than a lifetime appointment to the court of final appeal-especially as the Court has presumed over the last two generations to take more and more political and moral questions out of the hands of the people. President Trump has nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch, a distinguished jurist who understands the critical, but limited, role of... Read More

When his nomination comes to the floor next week, I will vote to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. This is my first time voting on a Supreme Court nominee, and I don't take the decision lightly. It's a lifetime appointment after all, and the Court's rulings have shaped our country's history-for good and for ill-and will continue to shape our future. But after reading Judge Gorsuch's writings, meeting with him in person, and listening to his testimony, I can say with confidence that it's... Read More

I returned last week from the Middle East, where several colleagues and I spent the weekend meeting with leaders and security officials in Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel. As usual, the men and women who assisted us were consummate professionals-whether it was the U.S. Marines or the embassy personnel or our own military escorts and congressional staff. They all did a superb job. And I want to extend them all my deepest thanks. I'd like to say a few words about what we learned while we were there.... Read More

I recently read a story in the Wall Street Journal that I thought was so alarming it demanded action. Here's the headline: "Marathon Pharmaceuticals to Charge $89,000 for Muscular Dystrophy Drug After 70-Fold Increase." Yes, that's $89,000 a year, and yes, that is a 70-fold increase-"70-fold" as in 7,000 percent. Now, for those of you who haven't read the article, here's the story. There's a rare disease called Duchenne muscular dystrophy. It affects about 12,000 young men in the United... Read More