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Hello again everyone and thanks very much for joining us.

The constant viewer knows that at the end of each year we like to spend 1/2 hour with our United States.

Senators are two US senators.

Once again this year.

Mr Cotton Senator Cotton is unable to join us, but we are grateful that the Honorable John Bozeman can do so from direct from Washington DC.

Senator thanks very much for coming aboard.

Thank you for having me Steve as always and as an avid viewer, this is something that I just kind of set my Clock.

By this time of the year, it's good to be with you.

Well, thanks very much for making yourself available again.

Senator, it has been quite a tumultuous year.

Could you sum it up now that we have an election in the rearview mirror?

Now it would take awhile to sum up.

We've since we last visited in person there we've had all kinds of things happen.

We've had an impeachment.

We've had the virus, then strike in the midst of that, and then all of the different things that have a curd.

There's been some bright spots in the sense of the vaccination that's unfolding right now, but it's been.

It's been a tumultuous year.

Well and we should point out for the benefit of the audience that owing to your schedule and hours, we are preparing this broadcast, taping this broadcast on December the 15th.

So we're going to be a bit thematic, but as you just notice as we speak practically the very first immunizations of COVID-19 are being administered.

R. From your perspective, is the US is the is the National Health Establishment.

Prepared to move on this in an organized fashion that the clinicians say has to be accomplished.

Yes, Sir, I believe we are.

We are working so hard.

First of all, we can be so proud of the country the getting this done in in a speed that nobody imagined.

I was talking to.

Senator Doctor Brosseau today and he equated this to the discovery of penicillin.

This is really a huge deal.

It's a different vaccination vaccination protocol than what we've had in the past with a 95% efficacy are in that range.

65% is considered great, so this is something that is.

Path to normalcy.

But I know that that everybody is going to be working and and money is not going to be a factor.

It's just the organization factor.

But I know all of us are going to be doing whatever we take at every level of government and just volunteering or whatever to make this available.

I'm told that by the end of April early May that every American that wants to take the vaccination will have that opportunity by then.

Well, as as being someone in a position of responsibility.

Are would you?

Are you prepared to urge every arkansan every American to take advantage of that immunization?

That vaccine, what I am very much you know, encouraging I would.

I would take my vaccination with you or whoever on on television, on the other hand, I want to be sure and keep my place in line as we go forward.

But no, this is something that I'm so looking forward to taking the vaccination and also having my family.

Take the vaccination to protect us.

We were talking earlier, I know so many people that have been very, very ill and several in the past 3 four weeks they've actually succumbed to the disease, so this is a serious thing.

It's the path to normalcy, and so I will do everything I can do and certainly would encourage those to to take the vaccine that looking back over the past year, Senator view the United States with a comparatively small about 5% of the.

Five 6% of the world's population has an outsized percentage of the world's cases, both in diagnosed cases and in fatalities.

Looking back on the federal government's handling of this situation, how would you?

How would you rate it?

Well, I think we're going to have a big look back.

There's all kinds of factors that came in play.

Nobody really understood the dependency that we had on overseas providers.

People like China and India for the personal protective equipment that we needed.

We didn't understand that.

Most of our medicines were being made overseas either the medicine itself or the precursor to the medicine that we needed.

Same was true of the actual as we got into testing.

So many of the the paraphernalia that we needed also was being made overseas, so as a result of that we need to have a very serious look back so that that we won't get ourselves in the same position.

Supply, change.

The list just goes on and on, and I don't think it's a matter of if we have another problem.

It's went with the global is the global situation that we have now travel being so easy, people coming and going.

Well, this is something that that really is is something that a challenge that we're going to have to deal with.

I think in the future, well, we are now past the challenge of the November election.

Are you satisfied?

Today, December the 15th, that Joseph R Biden is the next president?

United States.

Well, the Electoral College is met and they cast their votes.

And so Joe Biden is now the president elect.

I think the president had every right to pursue whatever he wanted to pursue, recounts.

The court structure is one of the foundations of our country.

You go to the courts when you're upset.

But all of that stuff has been done at this point.

The Electoral College has declared him the winner, and so yes, he is the winner and will be sworn in fairly shortly and in your own mind senator, when was the election over?

When were you satisfied?

Well, the the I was satisfied.

I think this is really important Steve.

About 35% if we look at the polls.

Probably looking at the polls and seeing how they were in the past with the past election.

Let's say 3540 maybe 45% of the population felt like the stuff went on that they were not pleased with that.

Perhaps the election was tampered with in a way great enough.

To make it such that it influenced the outcome of the election, and I think that all of the things that we did all of the recounts all of the governors looking into this and that, the courts getting involved.

I think it's really important that we that we we went through that in the sense to make sure that we do have confidence in our election election election system.

I believe that there was.

Things that are curd and we're going to be following up on that.

It not to the extent that it encouraged that it made a difference with the outcome.

So you are confident then that as of I would say mid morning on November the 4th, the election was over and that it was conducted with.

That its results could be trusted.

Well, no, because we really didn't.

With all of the absentee ballot absentee balances.

Stuff that came in for days after well, but you're correct.

And I apologize for that.

But let's give it a week then but but but but you know the process.

I think the important thing is the process played itself out, but we're at the point now where we're going to have a new president elect.

And now we need to get behind that and find areas of agreement that we can agree on and try and move the country forward.

In a in a very difficult situation that we find ourselves in, we're not only battling the virus, we have a new tremendous armament in the sense of the vaccine.

To fight that on the other hand, we've got a very difficult economy.

We've got people that are really suffering right now.

Unemployment high.

Some jobs not coming back.

So that's going to take everybody working together.

Aniso pleased where we're in the midst now and.

Trying to get another covered package together when you look at the the past.

When we came and got the initial package together, over 3 trillion dollars total between the little packages in the big package.

But we didn't have a dissenting vote in the Senate, so we're quite capable of coming together, and we need to do that with these big things and working our problems out the.

Reservations, put it mildly that.

The objections that Mr.

Trump lodged to the election process in those five states.

Among others, but certainly the swing states did that do in your estimation did that do damage to public confidence in Democratic institutions?

Well, I think the damage was already there, Steve.

I live with this every day.

I've been here for four years.

I have colleagues.

I have people that that, you know, still talk about the Russian collusion, how the Russians collusion swung, the election, the past.

All of that is bogus.

It's being proved bogus, and so we're going to have the Electoral College coming up.

If you remember, four years ago several Democrats talked about Russian collusion.

As they were going through the process in the house, they couldn't get a center to go along with them, so that's as far as it went.

But this is not a new thing.

And so I I I in response to your question I do.

I am concerned about loss of faith in the institutions.

But this is hardly the first shot.

Well in terms of the collusion, I think that the conclusion was that there was not collusion.

Senator between the incumbent president or his campaign and the Russians.

But still a great deal of a measurable profound intent by say, the Russians to influence American elections.

Maybe intent.

But there was, there is nothing.

The intent was there.

The intent.

I'm sure it was there this year between the Russians and the Chinese and everybody else, but the idea that that something was done by the Russians that made it such that we had an illegitimate president and President Trump is ridiculous.

And that was spread is still spread in some circles as we listen to some of the pundits I steer still hear people talk about President Bush in Florida.

How you know he didn't win the election there that it was the Supreme Court.

The reality is.

All of the recounts that went on in Florida all proved that he was actually had the votes, and you know, so this is not a new thing, but it is something that that we as a nation Democrats and Republicans need to work on because the American public does not trust any of us.

And that's not a good situation.

The one more one more question on the Electoral College, Sir.

When the Congress meets on the 6th I think.

Yes, right?

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah, you have a colleague in Alabama.

Mr Brooks who says he's going to object.

He'll need a senator.

Do you think you'll get one?

I don't think that challenge the yeah.

Yes Sir, I don't think so.

Again.

As I mentioned earlier, you know, in 2016, seventeen 2017 right after the 2016 election, several Democrats objected, but they could not find the senator to go along.

I've not heard anybody.

Now that that is going to make that move, and if they did, we would have a discussion.

We have a vote and then it would be over and we would move on about the future or one more, I guess.

Other than that's about the future, the temperature anyway of your party, the Republican Party will Mr.

Trump after January.

Will he continue to be the dominant force?

The dominant voice in the GOP?

But I think that remains to be seen at the will just have to wait and see.

I'm sure he's going to get with his business ventures and things like that, so again, we'll have to wait and see I was really pleased with the great gains that Republicans made.

They were predicted to lose many seats in the House of Representatives wound up gaining a bunch.

The closeness of the house.

Right now it goes back to, I believe, the year 2000.

And it's the closest the Democrats have been in regarding their when they had the majority.

It's the closest since 1942.

So we picked up seats there.

I believe that we hold the Senate and then also we picked up a number of state legislature.

So I think the Republican Party did very well and we'll have to wait and see who steps forward to fill shoes.

And there's definitely short shoes to be filled.

So let me before we go into.

The next Congress or let's look back on this, the one that's coming to a close now.

You had a pretty successful year in terms of veterans legislation.

We did Steven and that's so important.

And again, it was Democrats working with Republicans working together.

The Veterans Affairs Committee is very bipartisan.

You know when you talk about veterans you're not talking about Democrat Veterans and Republican veterans, you're talking about veterans, so we were able to pass working with our colleagues, we worked with Senator Warner on one bill that had to do with veterans suicide.

That, I think is really going to make a real difference.

It puts metrics in place.

It allows for grants to people in the community that are doing a really good job in suicide prevention.

We work with Senator Tester on a very sweeping women's bill.

That makes it such that that it just ensures and goes forward with the idea that women veterans are going to get the quality of care that they need.

We're working hard to do that now.

This gives them more resources.

the VA system was set up for males because it was such a male dominated entity.

Now we have so many women serving so many women veterans they have different needs and we're going to make sure that we meet those.

Now on to January, Sir.

What kind of Senate will President Biden encounter?

He's obviously his party controls over.

He's got some problems in his own caucus in the House, but what's what's the Senate prepared to do?

Well, I think the Senate is prepared again to tackle covette and tackle the economy, and that's something that we just have to do, and I hope that we do that.

As we've done up to now, in a very bipartisan way, so we'll have to wait and see what the House proposes.

And what President elect Biden puts in place and then go from there.

But but I hope that we focus on covid focus on getting the vaccine out and focus on the economy.

So many people are hurting.

And I think we have a great opportunity to be of tremendous help via election.

Being in the rearview Mirror Now, even as we take this broadcast on the 15th, I believe the House and Senate leadership are scheduled to meet or their meeting is imminent.

Anyway, with the election in the rearview mirror.

Can we move on an aid package?

Will we have one?

By the time this program goes on the air, I believe so.

The we got caught up.

As I said earlier, the previous aid packages that we've done, we worked together.

It was such that the Republicans and Democrats came together.

Not a dissenting vote in the Senate as we pass these major packages really, in a matter of weeks.

I was on the school board.

You know, when you were going to build a building or do this or that you met.

For a long time when I was part of my brothers Eyes Clinic, did the same thing.

You met and determined you know what the demographics were, the cost, and we did all this in three or four weeks and really came up with the package that I think was very successful considering.

So yes, we can come together.

We can.

We got caught up in the election politics which this year was on steroids.

Speaker policy was not.

Crazy about giving the president another win.

And so as a result it was pushed till after the election, but it's time to it's time to help those that are unemployed.

It's time to give additional funding to educators.

Are schools things like that or hospitals?

And then our small businesses that are that are suffering so much.

One of the snags with state and local governments.

Or are you in Co op incorporating that into the aid package that you're discussing that you envision?

There's two snags that are going on aid to local States and government and then also.

You know another situation, and so we're trying to trade off those two.

Such that we can come up with a compromise, but you would see an aid package evolving for state and local governments.

We'll have to wait and see.

These these it's difficult because your viewers are going to hear this later.

But right now.

Something that we are very concerned about that so important is liability.

Protection.

Liability protection is something that Republicans and be pushing.

This is important for our businesses.

It's also very important for our schools and universities, so we would like to do liability protection.

They would like to do state and local governments.

To the point that a lot of these state and local governments have gotten themselves in trouble prior to the covid package, we're talking about massive amounts of money.

So right now I think there's an agreement to set this aside, right, right?

During the circumstances before the first of the year, get through the first of the year, helping those that we all agree on and then moving forward looking at that after the first of the year.

So what about it?

Infrastructure, Sir.

I mean, it's it seems to be the one of the standing.

I guess you could say it's a standing joke in in Washington is that it's always infrastructure week, but but a bill somehow never emerges.

Can something change in January or in the coming year?

No, I think so.

We we.

I'm on the environment Public Works Committee that's that is our jurisdiction.

We passed the bill unanimously.

Democrats and Republicans working together that was delayed.

We had a continuing resolution to the end of this this next year, and so that's something we're going to be working very very hard now.

We do do infrastructure 40% on average of the state's budget.

The infrastructure dollars they spend comes from the federal government.

This is the Big 5 year package that we do that that is expired.

This is the one that we were able to pass out of committee and then we got caught up in the election politics and and it was put aside.

But we will be working on that very very hard.

It's so important for Arkansas so important for the country.

But if you don't do it in a timely fashion then they quit letting.

Contracts, and that's a difficult situation.

So yeah, we'll get it done.

Alright, Mr Mr Biden says that he wants to move in a big way on the environment.

Not necessarily the green new deal.

As matter of fact, he says he hasn't signed onto the Green New Deal, but certainly clean energy and some other aspects.

Ann wants to rejoin the Paris Accords.

What kind of what is your thinking on that?

Well, we'll have to see what he what he comes out with, but the green New Deal the some of the things that they've come out with so far would massively increase electricity bills massively increased gasoline prices, and then two as you do those things.

Energy cost go up such that it makes it really difficult for manufacturers particular heavy manufacturing manufacturers to compete overseas.

So we need to use their heads.

Certainly the environment is so important we can be proud of the progress that we've made.

In the last several years, the United States is actually being a leader in that regard.

We can continue to do that, but we have to use the science, but we also have to use common sense, and some of the some of the stuff that they've come out with so far is not used common sense, so I hope that President Biden will come out with some things that you know that we can get behind and actually get done.

I'm very active in the Agriculture Committee.

It's really exciting.

The technology that's coming about there.

We have the sensors available that can tell you if you're putting the right amount of pesticide on the right amount of water.

All of those kind of things.

All of that will help in making sure that we're not excessively using things.

The other thing it does too, is it make sure that you're using enough so it helps production, so there's a lot of exciting things on the horizon using technology that I think will make a real difference regarding the environment.

Yeah, Mr.

Biden says that he wants to rollback some of the rollbacks on EPA.

Is that doable?

It depends on what he's rolling back.

Well, he's talking about himself against yeah, water quality.

Water standards, pesticides.

Well, well, we'll have to wait and see what he comes out with and and and then you know he's going to need cooperation from both sides.

And so if he overreaches, which they have in the House so far, I think you'll have a difficult time.

Couple of your colleagues are on the ballot.

In Georgia in January, their fate to be decided, should they prevail?

I believe you can be chair of the Egg Committee.

In my correct there, you're correct, and that's something that would be a great honor.

And certainly it's it's, you know, something where I think we could make a difference.

Working with fellow Arkansans, working with fellow Americans, and really make a difference in regarding agriculture.

It's a difficult situation for our for our farmers right now in our ranchers.

Commodity prices are very low trade policy really affected them.

We've kind of gotten that sorted out.

They regarding trade policy.

We need to look for new markets, but constantly.

But this is 25% of Arkansas's economy their GDP.

But if you get outside Steven, you know there's so very well being in Arkansan.

You get outside of any community of any size, and it's probably 85 or 90%.

It's all about rural America, so I'm very excited about being a part of that and going to be working very, very hard in that direction.

Can can Mr.

Biden can the can the trade situation, particularly with China, be cooled even further?

I think so, not just on the AG side center, not just on the AG side but on the phone number.

Yeah yes no, I believe so.

The president to his credit got really tough with China.

An tough to the point that he really did impact their their economy and so they came back and said, you know, we're going to start playing by the rules and really came out with some agreements that we've made regarding things that they're going to be buying that it's not just going to be the one way St of America buying all the Chinese products.

And that's not having you know, not a competitive level playing field, which I'm so I think that we're in a good place right now.

And I believe that President Biden, future President Biden, will.

You know, try and work in that.

In that.

In the same vein, if not, we will pushing to do that.

God I ended there, Senator, because we're simply out of time and we thank you as always for yours.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for having me.

I look forward to being with you in person.

Alright good have a good and safe holiday.

Anne you too.

Thank you very much for joining us and we'll see you next week.

Support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

The Arkansas Times and KUER FM 89.