1st Congressional District candidates (left to right) Republican U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, Democrat Rodney Govens and Libertarian Steve Parsons. (Courtesy photos)
Three candidates vying for Arkansas’ 1st Congressional District seat disagreed on how to address issues related to immigration and agriculture during a debate hosted by Arkansas PBS Tuesday.
Democrat Rodney Govens and Libertarian Steve Parsons are challenging Republican incumbent Rep. Rick Crawford to represent the 1st District, which covers the eastern half of the state. Crawford was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010, and he’s seeking his 8th term in office.
While discussing funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and immigration during Tuesday’s debate, Crawford pushed back on a moderator’s comment about former President Donald Trump’s erroneous claims that FEMA is running out of money because the funds are being spent on immigrants.
The congressman argued FEMA has in fact spent money providing housing and services to immigrants and said that’s a problem “because FEMA should reserve that money to protect American citizens because that’s what it’s for.”
“Protecting immigrants that have crossed the border illegally, I think, is a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars as it applies to taking away from FEMA to house illegals when now we see in North Carolina there’s [a] housing crisis that Mother Nature wrought on places like North Carolina, East Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and we have another one on the way,” Crawford said.
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Hurricane Helene caused widespread destruction across the southeast part of the country last month, and Florida is bracing for Hurricane Milton to make landfall Wednesday.
Govens agreed with the moderator that the claims about FEMA and immigrants are false and stressed the importance of helping everyone during a disaster.
“When there is a force majeure event, when there is a hurricane, when there is a tornado, when there is flooding going on in the community, I have never ever seen or known a National Guardsman to ask, ‘are you an American citizen before I pull you out of this boat and provide you with food and water that you might need,’” Govens said.
Trump’s claims that the Biden administration is using FEMA funding to house undocumented migrants is false; however, Trump attempted something similar when his administration in 2019 discussed shuffling $271 million in its Homeland Security budget so it could cover the cost of detaining and transporting more undocumented migrants, according to ABC News.
FEMA has also issued a fact sheet to dispel hurricane-related rumors.
Crawford maintained that the U.S. has a responsibility to care for American citizens, while Govens said it’s important to provide FEMA, which is “woefully underfunded,” with the necessary resources to care for Americans and anyone else that needs help.
FEMA does a terrible job and it should be eliminated, Parsons argued. The federal agency is “highly political,” and it subsidizes people to rebuild in high-risk areas, he said.
“It distorts decisions about where people live and what they do,” Parsons said. “FEMA money disproportionately goes to coastal areas that have high-wealth areas and it is reinforcing the decisions by people to remain in high-risk areas and rebuild in those high-risk areas.”
Regarding immigration specifically, Parsons said the two major parties have failed at addressing immigration and just blame each other for issues. Parsons said he’d like to streamline the legal immigration process and eliminate “red tape” on things like temporary worker programs. Additionally, he suggested eliminating tariffs so other countries can retain their jobs and their citizens don’t have to seek employment in the U.S.
Crawford touted his work as co-chair of a task force looking into the H-2A visa program for non-immigrant workers, and said his solutions for border security include implementing the Remain in Mexico policy, Title 42 authority and building a border wall.
While building a wall is an answer, it’s not the answer, Govens said. The Democrat shared his experience visiting border patrol agents in Arizona, who said they needed more technology and resources, which informed Govens’ recommendation to bring back drone programs to help monitor activity along the border.
Farm Bill
Agriculture is a big part of the 1st district where Arkansans are being impacted by the lack of a new federal farm bill, which would set food and farm policy for the next five years. Congress will have to address the issue when they return to Washington in November before benefits run out at the end of the year.
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Crawford noted the House Agriculture Committee did produce a bill, but the Senate hasn’t acted. To address challenges facing farmers, Crawford said tackling consolidation would be a positive step because fewer choices on input has increased costs for farmers while fewer choices on output have reduced prices.
Govens said it’s important to partner with independent farmers instead of big corporations, and to use subsidies. Parsons, on the other hand, argued that the need for subsidies is gone. Helpful solutions include ending trade wars with China and Cuba, cutting tariffs and reducing regulations, he said.
While Arkansas produces and exports many crops, the state has the nation’s highest rate of food insecurity, according to a recent USDA study.
The private sector is doing its part to address the state’s food deserts, Crawford said, through companies like Dollar General expanding into areas others aren’t. Officials need to think about how to encourage private sector involvement, and look at other initiatives like tax incentives and economic opportunity zones, he said.
While Crawford praised the work of the Northeast Arkansas Food Bank, Govens noted smaller food banks don’t see the same amount of support and food banks shouldn’t be used as an excuse. Rural Arkansans deserve access to the same healthy, nutritional food found in metro areas, and to that end, Govens suggested developing programs to support small businesses, especially grocery stores in rural areas, similar to how rice farmers are subsidized.
Parsons said the federal government doesn’t have much of a role in addressing food insecurity, which should be tackled at the state and local levels. However, at the macro level, Parsons said eliminating trade wars and cutting regulations, which hold up food prices generically, could help address Arkansas food deserts.
The full debate and a press conference with the three candidates can be streamed here in its entirety. Arkansas PBS will also stream the remaining congressional debates this week.
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