J. Hill

by Steve Brawner October 16, 2026 12:58 am 189 views

U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Little Rock, and his Democratic opponent, Chris Jones, both don’t support President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, but they disagreed about many other issues in a spirited but civil Arkansas TV debate Thursday (Oct. 15).

The debate, along with Arkansas TV’s six others, can be viewed at the station’s website, www.arkansastv.gov, and on its YouTube channel.

Hill said tariffs should be targeted in order to open closed markets for American products. He said he took a large group of small businesses to the U.S. Commerce Department last March to discuss the policies’ negative impact in Arkansas.

“Let me say that I don’t support an ‘all-of-the-above’ tariff policy, which is what the president has done,” Hill said. “I think it’s counterproductive.”

Jones said though tariffs have their place, he does not support Trump’s “willy-nilly, in-the-middle-of-the-night tariffs on everywhere from Canada to Burkina Faso to any other random country.”

The two candidates had differing views about the Iran war. Jones called it a “war of choice that we did not have to be in” and said Hill had voted for it numerous times. Hill said Iran for 50 years has been a strategic enemy of the United States, Israel, the Gulf States and Europe, and he supports eliminating its nuclear weapons program.

Neither supported Trump’s recently announced deal to purchase diesel fuel from Russia. Hill suggested waiving the diesel fuel tax instead.

Jones said he was deeply saddened by what he said was Congress’ failure to fulfill its constitutional check-and-balance relationship with the executive branch.

“Our founders weren’t perfect, but they got something right,” he said. “They knew that we could have an out-of-control administration — a ‘mad king,’ if you would. But they put Congress in place to have a check on that. And it disappoints me to the highest level that this Congress has been feckless. They have refused to hold the administration accountable.”

Hill said Congress had fulfilled its responsibilities by rejecting most of Trump’s spending cuts for fiscal year 2026 and fiscal year 2027. The judicial branch had also struck down some of Trump’s measures.

“I believe that the Congress is doing its job in an effective way,” he said. “I think the judicial branch is doing its job in an effective way. And President Trump, like his predecessors, all are also trying to drive the executive branch in the way they would like to see it managed.”

Jones said he had many concerns about the pace and scale of the development of artificial intelligence. He said the federal government could utilize existing frameworks such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows civilian nuclear power without nuclear weapons. The goal should be to provide safeguards and create broad-based growth while not allowing the value to go to the top income earners.

“You all send me to Congress, and there are four essential questions that I would ask about artificial intelligence and anything else,” Jones said. “No. 1, who pays the cost? No. 2, who reaps the benefit? No. 3, who gains more power as a result of it? And No. 4, who is at the table when those decisions were made?”

Hill said the United States should work with allies to get artificial intelligence right. A human should be in the loop, including in frontier models by the government and the private sector. A state/federal/private partnership providing guardrails is essential, he said.

Hill said the $40 trillion national debt had increased in recent years largely because of the War on Terror, the pandemic, and the global financial crisis. He said Congress had been confronted with major issues and had voted to save the country. Meanwhile, he said he had voted consistently to reform growing mandatory spending programs that also cause the federal budget deficit.

“The biggest portion of this debt is a bipartisan challenge, and if we want to get it under control, it will take bipartisan votes,” Hill said.

Jones said Hill’s votes had added to the national debt.

Asked about the Social Security Trust Fund’s impending insolvency in 2032, Jones said Republicans will cut Social Security. Hill said Republicans support a sound Social Security system and that Republicans had repealed Social Security income taxes for many beneficiaries. He said current elected officials should follow the example of Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democratic House Speaker Tip O’Neill in appointing a bipartisan commission followed by an up or down vote.

The two also discussed financial challenges facing Arkansas hospitals. Hill said Congress long ago created the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reimbursements that are too low in Arkansas. He said he and Sens. John Boozman, R-Ark., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., had tried to increase the reimbursement rates.

Jones said Hill voted for healthcare cuts in order to fund tax cuts for billionaires in the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Hill said Congress did not cut rural hospital funding and added $50 billion for rural healthcare transformation.

Jones said Hill had done big banks’ bidding when he helped push through a resolution nullifying a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau $5 cap on check overdraft fees. Hill said the bureau’s rule would have removed overdraft protection for customers like those he served in Ashley and Chicot Counties before he was elected to Congress.

Hill expressed confidence that a peaceful transfer of power from this Congress to the next will occur. Jones agreed that the transfer will be peaceful, although he is concerned about the gamesmanship he said is being played with ballot boxes.