WASHINGTON NEWS IN BRIEF

Cotton near top in 10-mile race

62-minute finish puts senator in Washington run’s top 2.5%

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Dardanelle, finished in the top 2.5 percent of runners in one of the first major Washington races of the year.

Cotton finished 444th out of 17,935 runners participating in the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run in Washington, D.C., on April 3.

An accident involving a vehicle and a pedestrian shortly before the race caused it to be rerouted, and the race totaled 9.39 miles instead of 10 miles. Unofficial race results show Cotton finished the course in 1 hour and 2 minutes.

Cotton is an avid runner and often participated in Arkansas races as part of his Senate campaign.

ON THE HILL

The House and Senate resumed last week after a two-week break.

On Tuesday, Sen. John Boozman met with Goodwill Industries of Arkansas CEO Brian Itzkowitz and with South on Main owners Matthew and Amy Bell. Thursday, Boozman met with Arkansas Assistant Principal of the Year Robert Lindley from Har-Ber High School and with Lauren Marquette of Springdale who was in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the Susan J. Komen Foundation.

Boozman has joined the Whistleblower Protection Caucus, a group of senators committed to raising awareness of the need to protect individuals who call attention to fraud, waste and misconduct.

Boozman is scheduled to hold a Facebook question-and-answer session at https://www.facebook.com/JohnBoozman on Monday at 12:30 p.m. CDT.

Boozman and U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, a Rogers Republican, were scheduled to attend Robin . Bowen's inauguration as the 12th president of Arkansas Tech University in Russellville on Friday. On Saturday, Boozman will be in the 53rd a nnual Folk Festival-Main Street Parade in Mountain View and at the Junior Rodeo, also in Mountain View.

On Saturday, Womack will speak at the National Guard Association of Arkansas 62nd General Conference and Exhibition in Springdale.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, a Republican from Hot Springs, met Tuesday with Heather Buchanan and LeAnna Buchanan of Scranton; Wednesday he met with members of the Arkansas Governor's Developmental Disabilities Council and Jerry Masters of Dover with the Arkansas Pork Producers.

On Thursday, Westerman toured the National Archives with students from the Christian Ministries Academy and met with Lauren Marquette of Springdale.

Cotton met Tuesday with Arkansas Securities Commissioner Edmond Waters and National Dental Students Lobby Day representatives James Raines of Camden and Tristan Hudson of Fayetteville.

U.S. Rep. French Hill, a Republican from Little Rock, met with Matthew Smith and Tommy Luckett, both of Little Rock, on Tuesday, with Arkansas Bar Association representatives Wednesday and with former U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Thursday.

FELLOWSHIP

University of Arkansas at Fort Smith student Andrew Haught will serve as the 2015 John Paul Hammerschmidt Fellow in Womack's office on Capitol Hill.

The fellowship was established in 2013 in conjunction with the university and is named for former Arkansas Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt, who passed away on April 1. It is geared toward college students with an interest in public service. Haught will work in Womack's office conducting legislative research, attending hearings, and monitoring activity on the House floor, as well as assisting with constituent communication.

CLINTONS

Hillary Clinton is scheduled to visit New Hampshire on Monday and Tuesday and has already hired 19 staff members there, the Boston Globe reported last week. Bloomberg reports that Clinton will bring on Gary Gensler, the former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as her campaign's chief financial officer.

Tuesday morning Bill Clinton is scheduled to give a lecture titled "Purpose" at Georgetown University in Washington about the people, events, lessons and principles that have shaped his career. Clinton graduated from Georgetown's School of Foreign Service in 1968.

It is the third in a four-part lecture series by Clinton.

HUCKABEE

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was scheduled to join other potential Republican presidential candidates at New Hampshire GOP's Leadership Summit in Nashua on Saturday.

A Tennessee trip is planned for later in the year. Huckabee announced via Twitter on Friday he will participate in LifeWay's The Main Event Conference for Men June 19 and 20 in Nashville. LifeWay is part of the Southern Baptist Convention.

EDUCATION GRANT

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last week announced that it has awarded a $3.2 million grant to Families and Children Together Inc. to provide comprehensive early-childhood and preschool services to children and families in Calhoun, Columbia, Dallas, Ouachita and Union Counties.

Planning to visit the nation's capital? Know something happening in Washington, D.C.? Contact us at (202) 662-7690 or [email protected].

SundayMonday on 04/19/2015

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