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I connected with my friend, Pavel, in Ukraine, and we had an emotional conversation during my latest podcast about what’s happening in Ukraine and how Americans can pray for them and provide practical help.

Cindy and I appreciated the opportunity to meet with some of the Pages at the Oklahoma State Capitol recently.

I have been invited to speak at CPAC for several years, this year they asked me to talk about Big Tech censorship of conservative voices and what we need to do immediately address it. I also was asked to preach the Sunday morning service before we started the day – It was an honor to challenge so many great Americans in their faith and our conservative principles. 

It was a great honor to present Sgt. Carl Fastiggi with his purple heart this week. His family is amazing, and he is a true hero. Thank you for letting me be a part of your day, Sgt. Fastiggi and meet your lovely wife, Angela, and daughters, Jolene and Abigail.

To attend President Biden’s State of the Union address, I made sure I showed my support for the people of Ukraine and that we stand with them and against Russia.

It was great to see Oklahomans in DC again. Recently, some of our Oklahoma credit union representatives stopped in to share how they serve their members.

The Oklahoma Bankers Association stopped by to talk through the unique challenges that Oklahoma banks and their customers face in this challenging economy.

I had an opportunity to update our Oklahoma state legislators and talk about how we can work together to get things done for Oklahomans. Both Capitols have important work to do for our state.  

Dear Oklahoma friends and neighbors:

Even though it’s snowing today in parts of Oklahoma, we are heading into spring and hopefully a little more time outdoors with our families and friends. I hope you’ll join me in taking a minute to be grateful for the peace we are blessed with because our law enforcement and military keep watch and stand ready for us here in the US and around the world. People in Kyiv and throughout Ukraine long for the peace we have, even as Russia continues to wage war on them. The Ukrainian people—and many in Russia—continue to show their resolve against Putin and his supporters. 

I recorded an emotional episode of my podcast last week with my friend Pavel, who is still in Ukraine. Pavel asked for prayers for him and his nation and he specifically asked that the anger does not transform into hate. Please join me in continuing to stand with the free people of Ukraine and helping them during this time as they face down a ruthless leader of Russia. 

CLICK HERE to listen to or watch our conversation.

I also spoke to President Zelenskyy on Saturday. He asked for the US to stop buying Russian products, such as oil and gas but to also stop selling US products to Russian consumers. There are still several companies that need to step up and cut off sales to Russia. President Zelenskyy also asked for the world to provide help, equipment, and supplies to Ukraine so they can continue to defend their country. The people of Ukraine are fighting tenaciously against Russia. If the world doesn't stand with Ukraine, Putin will continue to move across Europe until Russia is stopped. 

The number one request of President Zelenskyy was aircraft, so they could defend their ground troops and push back on the Russian Air Force that is bombing their neighborhoods, hospitals, and citizens. We have provided anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons to the Ukrainians already (and they are very grateful), I believe we should also send them fighter aircraft that their pilots know how to fly to defend their own country. 

CLICK HERE to watch a press conference I held on Thursday to push the Biden Administration to send more assistance to the people of Ukraine. 

Getting the US off Russian oil

I continue to stand firmly against any US purchase of Russian oil or natural gas. Biden continues to call on us to “buy American” and to be sure we pursue things that are “made in America,” but apparently that does not apply to US oil and gas. Biden is beholden to the climate-change progressives. As we’re talking about blocking Russian oil, Biden is negotiating to buy oil from Venezuela or Iran instead of increasing production in the United States. 

Oklahomans have told me repeatedly they want to see us get back to energy independence, “regular” gas prices, and banning Russian oil. 

Oklahomans know well that we have the energy we need in the US and from our strategic allies to remain energy independent if Biden and his Administration will just get out of the way. The more President Biden and his Administration slow permitting, stop lease sales on federal lands, increase the cost of pipelines through regulations and block access to oil and gas fields in the United States, the more dependent we are on other nations instead of providing our own energy and high paying energy jobs in America. We produce energy cleaner than anyone in the world. Since we all know the world needs energy, why not produce it right here? 

AAA reported just this week the highest gas price recorded in our nation—ever. 

Gas prices were already soaring before the Russians invaded Ukraine last month—because of Biden’s climate-change agenda and crusade against the fossil fuels we need now and will need for many years to come. 

CLICK HERE to watch my speech on the Senate floor on why I support stopping oil and natural gas purchases from Russia.

CLICK HERE to watch more about when I went to bat for American energy producers against federal regulators on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which the Biden Administration is using to stall—and even stop—American energy production and American energy independence at the same moment Russia is using its energy production as a weapon.

CLICK HERE to watch my press conference remarks about my support for getting off Russian oil.

CLICK HERE to read my letter to President Biden outlining 10 steps he and Congress can take to regain America’s energy dominance.

CLICK HERE to read my letter that outlines 12 specific actions the President can take to lower skyrocketing energy prices and help our European allies be less dependent on Putin’s regime for their energy supply.

A Big NO on a Giant Omnibus Spending Bill

While the world was distracted by news of Ukraine, the House approved a 2,700-plus-page bill that costs more the $1.5 trillion and was released with less than 12 hours for House members to read it. Then, the Senate approved it less than 24 hours later (over my strong opposition!). Absolutely no one read all of the bill before it passed in either chamber. In the Senate, only three of the 12 bills inside the omnibus bill even made it through committee in the Senate. This enormous $1.5 trillion bill had absolutely no transparency and no real debate. 

With American families facing record-high inflation and the highest-ever gas price this past week, taxpayers should not be forced to foot the bill for another trillion-plus-dollar spending bill full of earmarks, mandates, and overspending. Among the $10 billion in pork that other Members of Congress got in this bill that all of us have to pay for are $4.2 million for improvements to a US Sheep Experiment in Idaho, a $424,000 sidewalk on a country club road in Colorado, a $500,000 ski jump in Vermont, and $500,000 for derelict lobster pots. This is embarrassing for our nation.

CLICK HERE to read my statement of opposition on the omnibus bill.

UPDATE: Vaccine Mandate

I am still very much in the fight against Biden’s vaccine mandates. Oklahomans still face difficult decisions and potential punishment at work if they don’t want to get the COVID-19 vaccine. I have worked on several areas where we’ve had success recently as well.

We successfully voted in the Senate to overturn the vaccine mandate from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on health care employees and to end the “national emergency” of COVID-19 after two years.

I also made sure that ending the national emergency didn't give the Biden Administration a loop hole to let even more unlawful border crossing migrants into the country. 

CLICK HERE to watch my remarks on the Senate floor about this.

I sent a letter to Leaders Schumer and McConnell that I would not support any additional funding considered to be “COVID relief.” The letter demanded a roll call vote on an amendment to the omnibus spending bill (which we got) to defund the enforcement of what’s left of the federal vaccine mandates on government contractors, members of the military, federal employees, and medical care providers while we are in the conversation about funding the federal government.

CLICK HERE to read more about the letter.

In February, I sent a letter to Defense Secretary Austin demanding to know why, despite 19,979 known requests for religious accommodations from the COVID-19 vaccine, the Defense Department had granted nearly zero religious accommodations among the service branches. When I didn’t hear back from him, I got the acting DOD Inspector General to open an investigation. 

The DOD Inspector General will conduct an audit of DOD’s COVID-19 vaccine exemption process based on my request. I will stay on top of this for our service members and their families because military careers are at stake. 

CLICK HERE to read more about the letter and the IG’s quick response of an audit.

We also rejected calls for a “no-fly list,” which are used to keep domestic and foreign terrorists out of our airplanes, to also now include people who violate the airlines’ mask mandates. No one should ever get violent or frighten people on an airplane, and those who do should be held accountable by law enforcement. 

Legally, any airline can ban a customer for life for unruly behavior on a flight. But the federal government should not ban someone from flying for life from any US airline and label them as a terrorist because they failed to comply with a mask mandate. I am also fighting to get rid of the nonsensical mask mandates on commercial aircraft including holding votes on the floor of the Senate and sending letters to the Administration to make our case for common sense. 

CLICK HERE to read our letter rejecting calls for a “no-fly” list to include violators of the mask mandate.

Standing Up Against Big Tech

I once again joined the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) recently in a panel discussion about the censorship we continue to see from Big Tech companies who arbitrarily apply their subjective rules, which stifle opinions different than the Silicon Valley crowd. 

I pointed out examples of social media platforms and Big Tech giants like Twitter that suspend accounts like Donald Trump and pro-life assistance ads while allowing authoritarian dictators, the Chinese Communist Party, and the Kremlin to remain on and spread their propaganda. It’s not right, and it needs to stop now. Facebook does not allow “illegal activity” on its pages, unless it is assistance for illegally crossing our southern border, which they do allow. Apple has a standard on their page that they can block something if it is “just plain creepy.” How is that for subjective? 

CLICK HERE to watch my remarks at CPAC. 

UPDATE: Protecting Life

It’s not just the Biden Administration that’s obsessed with increasing abortion anymore; now Senate Democrats want to increase abortion in America too.

In one of the most tone-deaf moves I’ve seen from Democrats this year, after Putin invaded Ukraine, the Democrat leadership of the Senate’s first vote was the “Women’s Health Protection Act,” which is a bill to allow unlimited abortions in the US—any time, up until the moment of birth.

After the invasion of Ukraine, Senate Democrats thought the first priority should be to vote to increase abortion in America. 

I called them out on the Senate floor and made sure no one lost sight of the fact that while Americans’ paychecks are buying less and less, Ukraine is under full attack by Putin, and gas prices are through the roof, the US Senate leadership wanted to vote to increase abortions.

CLICK HERE to watch my passionate speech on the Senate floor.

Meanwhile, Democrats continue to push for more abortions in the mail as well. I joined more than 100 Republican Members of Congress to demand the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) immediately restore more stringent oversight of chemical abortion pills, including the in-person dispensing requirement the FDA suspended in December, which increases the availability of and access to mail-order abortions. 

I also opposed the nomination of Dr. Robert Califf to serve as the Commissioner of the FDA—he previously held the position under President Obama. Dr. Califf wants to make dangerous, chemical abortion easier to access, not save the lives of moms and babies. He’s not who we need in charge of medication and health safety.

CLICK HERE to read my letter.

CLICK HERE for more information on why I opposed Dr. Califf’s nomination.

Keeping You in the Loop

• Standing Up for Religious Liberty – I am standing with Coach Kennedy who was wrongly fired in 2015 for silently taking a knee in prayer after the high school football games that he coached in Washington state. I helped write the brief to the US Supreme Court to argue that if Coach Kennedy took a knee during the National Anthem, his school would have praised him, but instead he took a knee in prayer, so they fired him. Schools cannot pick and choose which type of free speech they like or don't like. I look forward to the Supreme Court affirming Coach Kennedy’s right to live out his faith. CLICK HERE to read more about my support for Coach Kennedy.
• Opposing Biden’s Anti-energy Nominees – I raised opposition to three Biden nominees who are openly pushing their anti-traditional energy agenda but, they hope to oversee oil, gas, and mineral development in the US. This Administration is intentionally finding ways—and appointing nominees—to make the price of energy more expensive and push their radical climate-change agenda. Federal regulators whose jobs are to permit and process oil and gas leases should not essentially say they won’t grant any leases. CLICK HERE to read more about the nominees and why I oppose them.
• Opening a New Flight Center at OSU – We need more pilots in America, and Oklahoma State University stepped up to help meet the need by opening of its new state-of-the-art, 11,500 square-foot Ray and Linda Booker OSU Flight Center. This new facility will be twice the size of the previous, outdated facility and will be located near Stillwater Regional Airport. This great learning facility for new and up-and-coming pilots includes flight instructor workstations, a student lounge, locker room, and flight simulation rooms. Congratulations, Cowboys! We’re looking forward to you helping train the next generation of pilots.
• Working to Restart the Remain in Mexico Policy for Migrants – Senator Grassley from Iowa and I sent a letter DHS Secretary Mayorkas to outline our demands on the re-implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program, or “Remain in Mexico” policy. I have repeatedly asked for information and raised significant questions about the program, specifically the number of enrollees. I traveled to the border in January specifically to see the progress that has been made to re-start the court-mandated policy. I saw the massive complex they had in place to conduct MPP hearings: six court rooms, 120 meeting spaces, and ancillary space. When I visited, that region of the border had encountered almost 50,000 illegal aliens, but DHS had only processed three of them in the MPP program. You and your family are paying millions for a space that the Administration isn’t even using to enforce the MPP program, it is all for show. This has to stop. CLICK HERE to read more about what we’re doing to stop the waste and enforce the law.
• Fighting for Helpful Postal Reform, Not a Bloated Bill – I couldn't be more grateful to the thousands of Postal employees who work long hours in tough conditions to keep America connected through America’s real logistics hub, the Post Office. Major reform of the Postal Service is long overdue, but it has to be right. The bloated bill that came through the Senate this week bypassed all committee debate and blocked any amendments on the Senate floor. The bill uses a Washington budget maneuver to add Postal Service retirees into Medicare with no way of paying for the additional benefits, while Medicare is already heading toward insolvency. I don’t think bailing out the Post Office by using Medicare funds is in the best interest of Oklahoma taxpayers, Medicare beneficiaries, or the Postal Service. CLICK HERE to read more about the bloated Postal Service bill and why I opposed it.
• Lowering Prescription Drug Prices – Oklahoma senior adults continue to catch me and ask why nothing’s being done about prescription drug prices. I am glad to update you that we recently celebrated a huge win that I’ve worked on for years. Medicare announced a proposal for sweeping changes to Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans for seniors. Part of this proposal from CMS mimics plans for lowering out-of-pocket drug costs for beneficiaries. I’ll stay on this to make sure the proposal becomes reality, but let me assure you that any movement by CMS on this is huge. CLICK HERE to read more about the proposal.
• Getting the IRS to Help Taxpayers File Their Taxes – Oklahomans are hearing that this could be one of the most difficult tax-filing seasons we’ve seen with all the extra handouts last year from the Biden Administration, the backlog of tax returns already piled up at the IRS from previous tax years, and understaffed offices for months because of COVID restrictions at IRS offices around the country. I met with IRS senior leadership personally in my office and held a hearing on the huge IRS backlog. I also sent a letter to IRS and Treasury to push them to provide taxpayers with targeted, temporary relief and as much information as possible for taxpayers. CLICK HERE to learn more.
• Exposing the Threats We Face from China – In a recent episode of my podcast, I spoke to former Deputy National Security Advisor under President Trump and expert on China, Matt Pottinger, about what we actually face when we talk about the threat from China. He was able to provide in-depth details on why we must quit our mineral dependence on China and stand up for other nations in Asia who are under near-constant threat from the Chinese Communist Party’s agenda. CLICK HERE to listen to the podcast. You can subscribe to my podcast on SoundCloud, iTunes, and Spotify.
• Calling to Finish the Full “Durham Report” Investigation – I sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland to make sure the Department of Justice (DOJ) will protect the prosecutorial independence of Special Counsel John Durham and his staff who produced “The Durham Report,” while also ensuring he is provided all resources necessary to fully, thoroughly, and completely pursue the investigation for which he was appointed. CLICK HERE to read my letter to make sure we see this through.
• Standing Up for Women and Girls Against Democrats’ Progressive Push - I recently had to ask the Archivist of the US, David Ferriero to continue to respect the rule of law and not unilaterally ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution, amid ridiculous calls to ignore the clear text of the law, guidance from both the court and the Department of Justice. Activists wanted the Archivist to unilaterally certify the ERA through some legal gymnastics that would ignore the law. This push by the left to ratify the amendment, even though it was not ratified by enough states was an attempt to pursue “gender equality,” but it would actually end up forcing abortion on every state, hurting women and girls through areas like women’s sports and multiple other issues. CLICK HERE to read more about my request.
• Praising the Legacy and Work of Retiring Senator Inhofe – Senator Inhofe recently announced his retirement effective January 3, 2023. Cindy and I are incredibly grateful for his service and the friendship we share with him and his wife, Kay. The Senate is losing a warrior for our military and for infrastructure. His seniority and dedication to the task has been an asset to our state. His leadership will be missed, and I wish him the best in this next chapter.

In God We Trust,

James Lankford
United States Senator for Oklahoma

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If you would like more information on these topics or any other legislation currently before the US Senate, please do not hesitate to call my DC office at (202) 224-5754. My Oklahoma City office can be reached at (405) 231-4941 and my Tulsa office at (918) 581-7651. You can also follow me on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram for updates on my work in Congress.
     
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