House Armed Services chair urges defense industry at Arkansas summit to rebuild stockpile

Listen to an audio version of this story produced by reporter Antoinette Grajeda. Broadcasters: Here is a downloadable version with a host intro script.

The U.S. House Armed Services Committee chairman called on the defense industry to help rebuild the country’s military stockpile Wednesday at a summit of aerospace and defense firms that’s drawn protests over Arkansas’ role in supplying deadly weapons to overseas conflicts.

Alabama Republican Rep. Mike Rogers joined Arkansas Republican Rep. Steve Womack for a discussion on the nation’s defense program during the 2026 Mid-America Aerospace and Defense Summit in Bentonville Wednesday morning. 

The United States’ defense industry and spending shrank in the decades following the end of the Cold War, Rogers said. But that could change if Congress approves the Trump administration’s request for a $1.5 trillion Defense Department budget, a $445 billion increase over its current funding level.  

“So we’re out now trying to make sure that industry knows there’s opportunity for them to grow and be a part of this buildup that we hope will get us back to a point of peace through strength, where we don’t have to worry about a conflict with China because our capabilities will be such that they don’t want to mess with this country or our allies,” Rogers told reporters.

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Increased defense spending could benefit Arkansas, where aerospace and defense is the state’s leading export by revenue with more than 150 industrial facilities and operations around the state, according to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. Aircraft and aircraft parts were Arkansas’ largest category of export in 2024 with more than $950 million in goods exported. 

South Arkansas is a hub for defense contracting with Lockheed Martin, L3Harris and Raytheon facilities all located in the Camden area. 

“Camden, Arkansas is a critical player in our munitions production, and there’s some really neat things going on down there to grow their capabilities,” Rogers said. 

The summit occurs as the Pentagon has been pushing the defense industry to replenish military stockpiles depleted by the war in Iran.

Womack, who represents Arkansas’ 3rd Congressional District, said it will likely take some time for lawmakers to approve a budget. A former House Budget Committee chairman, Womack said Congress should approve a continuing resolution when it returns to work next week that would fund the government into early December. Lawmakers could then work on approving a dozen appropriations bills after the midterm elections. 

A longtime critic of Congress’ budgeting process, Womack this month called the national debt surpassing $40 trillion a national security threat. Womack also agreed with Rogers’ “peace through strength” philosophy, and said squaring the two is problematic. 

“That means if this country wants to be safe, wants to be secure, and if we’re going to meet like a 5% (gross domestic product) to the national security apparatus, then we’re going to have to find the savings or find the resources with which to be able to make that happen without complicating an already difficult deficit and debt situation,” Womack said. 

Participants who attended the summit’s opening reception Tuesday night were greeted by more than three dozen protesters who expressed their displeasure with the state’s connection to the defense industry by holding signs, chanting and waving a Palestinian flag.

The event was organized by Friends of Palestine NWA, a community group founded after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023 who have hosted events to raise awareness about the overseas conflict.

Larry Meyer held a sign that read “Stop Profiting from Genocide” while sitting quitely on a stool with a cane leaning against his leg. Meyer said he wore his black Vietnam Veteran ballcap to signal to veterans there are other veterans who also disapprove of Arkansas’ ties to the defense industry.

“You’ve been in the military, you know what it’s about,” Meyer said. “You don’t want that for your neighbor. You don’t want it in your neighborhood.”

One business Meyer said he doesn’t want in his community is Swarm Aero, a California-based company that manufactures large unmanned drones. Despite pushback from local residents, Swarm Aero opened a facility in south Fayetteville earlier this year, and announced it secured more than $10 million in contracts with the Air Force Research Laboratory this month. 

Tammra Fields with Indivisible NWA, another local advocacy group that supports Arkansans participating in democracy together, said she hoped summit attendees and elected leaders like Womack would take a moment to listen to their concerns.

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Fields said she realistically didn’t expect any major changes, but she hoped they could plant the seed that “human life is worth more than money.”

“You can’t put a price on it and right now that’s what they’re doing is putting a price on human life,” Fields said. 

Meyer said Arkansas doesn’t need to be courting the military or building bombs and drones. The long-term solution will require a change in administration, someone who listens to the people, said Meyer, who noted the Iran War is unpopular and elected officials, like Womack and Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, aren’t listening. 

Only 31% of Americans support the Iran war, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Monday. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Because he’s felt unheard, Meyer, who considers himself an independent, said he’s started to support Hallie Shoffner, a Democrat challenging Cotton. Libertarian Jeff Wadlin is also running for the seat.

“I’ve asked her about these things and she really believes in peace and believes in the American people and not in the American dollar,” he said.

Ultimately, Meyer said protestors like himself and his wife are fighting for their family’s future.

“We’ve been married for 57 years, so we’re going to do this together,” he said. “We want our grandbabies — not so much babies anymore — but we want them to have a better world.”