U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., emphasized a need for realignment of the nation’s priorities on Friday, saying the focus needs to be on solving the current supply chain crisis, the labor shortage and rising inflation.
By addressing these issues head-on, a better economy awaits, Boozman said in an interview with The Sentinel-Record prior to addressing the Catfish Farmers of Arkansas convention at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Hot Springs Hotel & Spa.
“The things that I hear about as I go around are inflation and the significant increase in prices,” he said. “And that’s connected to lack of labor and the supply chain — things not being able to get there in a timely fashion, like parts for this and that. And all that’s connected.
“So I think that, I guess, one of my frustrations is, that’s what we should be concentrating on in the Senate and in Congress versus all this other crazy stuff … ,” he said.
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All of the other current issues, he said, can be addressed if the country “can get the supply chain and labor figured out,” which will lower the prices of commodities.
“That’s the thing that we need to be focusing on right now as a country,” he said. “We’re starting to do that.”
COVID-19 has played a major impact in that, Boozman said. “COVID was kind of settling down, now we’ve had this new omicron variant, which is so infectious. The good news is it doesn’t seem to be as lethal as the other variant. But it’s very, very troublesome and in some places, some individuals, certainly makes a big deal.
“So need to work on getting the virus under control and then also labor and supply chain. Those are really the things that are going to be the key as we go forward. The economy, if we can do that, really is poised to take off.”
Boozman said so many businesses have been hurt as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are many businesses that have done well. Supporting the “small business,” he said, is crucial as it is the “backbone of the economy.”
Asked if there was anything President Joe Biden’s administration could have done differently or better regarding its reaction to the recent omicron variant surge in cases, he cited better use of testing opportunities.
“I think the area that I would fault them on is, they passed a $1.9 trillion bill earlier in the year and $50 billion in there was for testing,” he said. “The epidemiologists were afraid that this would happen, you know, with this surge as it mutates. I don’t think we’ve done a very good job at all of getting the testing. The messages that we got from the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has been very mixed, somewhat confusing at times.”
Boozman said he was “very much opposed” to mandates and that the administration made it confusing for businesses.
“When you talk about, ‘How do you get business working again?’ Well, you don’t,” he said. “You don’t send out these mandates where you lose a significant amount of your workforce when you’re already down to begin with. And then again, I think a clear overreach of authority, so that’s where I would say that, you know, I would really fault. Should’ve done, could’ve done much better.”
On Thursday, Boozman released a statement regarding the announcement that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer planned to retire, encouraging Biden to refrain from selecting a judicial activist who legislates from the bench. He noted his administration and the nominee should expect a “full, vigorous vetting.”
“I think the most important quality that I’ll be looking for, and I know many of my colleagues on the Republican side, is somebody that will take and look at the law, and then interpret that based on what the people that wrote the laws and the constitution intended, as opposed to what you would like it to be,” he said Friday.
“In other words, the Supreme Court is an umpire, they should be calling balls and strikes, and not trying to create additional rules,” he said.
Boozman wished Justice Breyer well and thanked him for his service to the country. His criteria, he said, remain the same as it always has in regard to the criteria for nominees.
“As was the case with the last three justices I helped confirm under President Trump, any nominee should be widely respected and well-qualified with a demonstrated commitment to upholding the Constitution and following the intent of Congress,” he said in his statement.
Speaking to Catfish Farmers of Arkansas, Boozman described President Biden’s and congressional Democrats’ tax and spending policies as “reckless” and said the country’s agricultural producers should have had the opportunity to be more involved.
He also noted Biden’s agenda neglected the nation’s agriculture workforce while placing the major focus on the civilian climate corps, debt relief, organics and tree equity, and urban agriculture.
