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UPDATE: VP Pence's Arkansas Visit Has Been Canceled

Vice President Mike Pence is visiting Little Rock.

UPDATE: Pence's visit to Arkansas has been canceled according to state GOP officials.

From earlier:

Vice President Mike Pence will be in Little Rock on Friday, on the heels of whatever happens in the U.S. House of Representatives to efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

See how Arkansas's Congressional delegation is assessing Speaker Paul Ryan's healthcare plan here.

It will be Pence's first trip to Arkansas. Then-candidate Donald Trump visited the state several times during the Republican primary.

The former Indiana governor and talk radio host, will give remarks beginning at 2:30pm. Guests are asked to park at Horace Mann Magnet Middle School in central Little Rock in order to be shuttled to the event site, Little Rock Tours and Travel. Doors open at 12:00pm.

Update: The Democratic Party of Arkansas is weighing in on the Vice President's trip which includes a "listening session" on healthcare as House Republicans brace for Trump's now-or-never vote. The statement from DPA Chair Vincent Insalaco's statement notes that proposed changes in the U.S. House could jeopardize insurance coverage for hundreds of thousands of Arkansans.

"On the day that the U.S. House of Representatives may be voting to take away health insurance from over 300,000 Arkansans, thousands of President Trump's own supporters are wondering if they will continue to have coverage. In Vice President Pence's home state of Indiana, thousands are pleading with him to not allow this legislation to pass.

When President Trump and Vice President Pence were campaigning, they promised people they would be able to keep their health insurance, that they would have a plan to defeat ISIS in 30 days, and that Mexico would be paying for a wall. Of course, we know now that they are keeping none of these promises, and indeed the Trump administration is facing the potential of investigation for serious crimes committed against our nation fewer than 100 days into his presidency.

It is the most vulnerable among us who will pay the steepest price of this administration's irresponsible policies. Here in Arkansas, 300,000 of our neighbors face the imminent threat of losing healthcare coverage. We hope Governor Hutchinson will remind Vice President Pence of this fact during his visit to our state."

Jacob Kauffman is a former news anchor and reporter for KUAR.
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