Taxarkana Gazette - Cotton Tours Domtar Paper Mill

News Article

By: Jim Williamson

U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., pledged Tuesday to be a voice in Washington to give companies and people a fair shake.

After a tour of the Domtar paper mill in Ashdown, Ark., Cotton discussed the federal government and "out-of-control spending."

"We're trying to reduce federal spending so we can all have the opportunity to live in an economy that has upward mobility, where incomes are rising, where you are not struggling to make a mortgage payment or car payment, not struggling to pay your utility bills or put food on your table or buy clothes for your kids for back to school," Cotton said.

"Right now, because of the size of the debt--almost $17 trillion--our economy has been struggling for a long time. Middle-income wages have stagnated for over a decade. That means as the cost of living continues to rise, the squeeze on middle-income people gets tighter and tighter," he said.

"That's why we're trying to reduce the reckless, runaway spending in Washington, D.C., to get our budget back to balance, so the federal government will live like Domtar and households--on a balanced budget," Cotton said.

"The face of change in Washington grinds slowly. We have to work to persuade the public to the rightness of our views and work to influence, through elections, the people we send to Washington," he said.

"That's the No. 1 way we can change Washington, is change the way you send people there," Cotton said.

He described President Calvin Coolidge, who served from 1923 to 1929, as an unheralded president and quoted his philosophy, saying, "It's as important to kill bad bills as it is to pass good bills. A lot of bad bills are out there, and I'm trying to be your voice and kill the bad bills."

Cotton represents the 4th Congressional District of Arkansas in the House of Representatives and is serving his first term.

He was born in Yell County and graduated from Dardanelle High School, Harvard University and Harvard Law School.

Cotton served with the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq, where he led an infantry platoon in combat patrols. He also served as a platoon leader with the Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery.

He then served in Afghanistan as the operations officer for a Provincial Reconstruction Team.

He also worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Co.

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