Photo Gallery

These are two of the Oklahoma survivors of the July 1967 fire aboard the USS Forrestal off the Coast of Vietnam, Clarence “Skip” Briley & James “Jim” Lockett who I had the privilege to meet. Thank you for continuing to tell the story of the 134 Sailors we lost and the 161 who were injured on the USS Forrestal. 

I met with border law enforcement at the southern border recently and American citizens who live along the border. They do not believe their stories are heard or matter. Biden’s wide open border is bringing drugs and crime to Oklahoma, and our law enforcement are frustrated with the lack of support.

Met with the Oklahoma leaders of Christians United for Israel about antisemitism and the US relationship with Israel.

The Oklahoma Future Farmers of America officers represented our state well in Washington, DC. We talked about agriculture, the economy and the future of our state. They are the leaders in blue corduroy.

I was joined by Senator Daines from Montana and Dr. Christina Francis, a pro-life OBGYN, to discuss the medical misinformation after the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs. Subscribe to the Breakdown podcast to be the smartest kid at the water cooler each month.

 

Dear Oklahoma friends and neighbors:

(This is about a 10-minute read from beginning to end!)

I know it’s still hot out there, but fall is coming with cooler temperatures and football. It’s also time for the kids to head back to school and the state and county fairs to start up. Go out and enjoy time together, but keep looking for a shady spot to park.

As our Oklahoma families head back to school, we’re all paying higher prices this year than we did last year for the same things. In fact, according to the US Joint Economic Committee, Oklahoma families are paying on average $7,198 more this year for the same things they bought last year. The price of gasoline and diesel are still way up, and groceries and utilities are making it really tough for families and individuals trying to make ends meet. That is what high inflation does to all of us. 

The Democrats’ So-called “Inflation Reduction Act”

DC Democrats passed on a party-line vote a three-quarters-of-a-trillion-dollar bill with new taxes on businesses and families and progressive Green New Deal promises. The 750+ page bill was finalized Saturday afternoon, and we voted on it all night Saturday evening into Sunday afternoon (more than 24 hours straight). I strongly opposed the bill. 

Just like the reconciliation bill Democrats passed on a party-line vote last year that caused the nine percent inflation and wrecked our economy, this latest bill will drive up the cost of energy, reduce cancer drug innovation, and make our economy even worse. It includes provisions that will decrease health care access for seniors, levy punishing taxes on small businesses, place tremendous climate-change burdens on ag and energy producers, and increase taxes on Oklahomans. But it does give Elon Musk billions in new tax credits for his electric vehicles and gives union bosses billions of dollars in subsidies that only union members can get.

In the name of “inflation reduction,” the bill will also greatly expand the audit capability of the IRS by hiring more auditors than employees at the Pentagon, the State Department, the FBI, and the Border Patrol…combined. If that sounds like you are likely to have an IRS audit soon, you’re probably right. In fact, for the next 10 yeas, anytime you get an IRS audit, you should remember the “Inflation Reduction” Act. 

During the debate, we voted more than 24 hours straight on countless amendments, including an amendment I offered regarding Title 42 authority for law enforcement at the southern border, which will keep in place the last policy still in place to turn around even 30 percent of the people illegally crossing the border. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Democrats rejected my amendment in support of opening up the southern border even more. I also brought an amendment to fix the huge tax increase in the bill on some of our independent oil and gas companies that will drive up our cost of fuel and reduce hiring at many of our companies. Once again, Democrats passed their tax increase. 

CLICK HERE to read more about my amendment on Title 42.

CLICK HERE to read more about my energy amendment.

CLICK HERE to watch my speech on the Senate floor with details on why I oppose this bill.

CLICK HERE to read my full statement on Democrats’ tax and spending bill.

The PACT Act

This week, the Senate passed a bill called the PACT Act to give access to care to veterans who are victims of toxic burn pits or Agent Orange. I completely support helping veterans get care for their service-connected injuries, diseases, and illnesses, but the PACT Act also dramatically increases the VA backlog because Democrats refused to allow more veteran healthcare choices. The PACT Act also used a budget gimmick to slip in $400 billion in new debt spending not even related to veterans. 

CLICK HERE to hear directly from me on the reasons I fought to fix the PACT Act. I stand for top-quality veteran health care for all who have served.

CLICK HERE to watch my interview on Newsmax discussing the PACT Act. 

Biden’s Chaos at the Southern Border Continues

Oklahomans have told me they don’t hear much about the southern border anymore on the national news, so it must be better. I’m sorry to tell you, it’s worse. The national media has just stopped covering it. I’ll let you guess why. 

After a delegation of Senators joined me to tour the southern border in the Rio Grande Valley area in July, I met with our Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) when I got back home. OBN spoke to me about the rise of illegal drugs flooding into Oklahoma from Mexico over the past two years since enforcement at the border dropped significantly. At the border, law enforcement told me the 4,500 to 8,000 people per day coming across our southern border make it impossible to stop everyone, many of whom are smuggling drugs, women and children, or weapons.

Crime continues to grow in the US as young men and women work off their debt to the Mexican cartels who trafficked them across the border. In past years, people who illegally crossed the border were mainly from Mexico—not anymore. So far this year people have crossed the border illegally from more than 150 countries, mostly from nations other than Mexico. Individuals who are caught by federal law enforcement at the border have a US criminal background check run on them, but no one is checked for criminal background history from the country they come from.

I spoke directly to families who live along our southern border to hear their stories of fear, dead bodies on their ranches, and stolen property, week after week. The Biden Administration protects people crossing illegally but ignores American citizens who just want to be safe on their own land. I asked President Biden directly from the Senate floor is he talking to these American families who are being hurt by his wide open southern border? But just like the families directly affected, I have heard no answer from this White House.

CLICK HERE to watch several videos from my tour of the southern border.

CLICK HERE to watch my speech on the Senate floor after I returned from the border. 

CLICK HERE to watch my remarks at a press conference following the border tour.

CLICK HERE to read my recent column about how Biden’s wide open southern border is affecting Oklahomans.

To address some of the chaos at the border, I continue to point out what tools the border law enforcement needs to track and intercept illegal border crossers and deterrents for criminal behavior. I spoke directly to national security personnel about the specific threats we face at the border at a hearing in the Senate Homeland Security Committee about our need to increase counter-drone technology. 

CLICK HERE to watch my Q&A with national security personnel on how to address the threats we face along the southern border.

I introduced a bill to increase criminal penalties on “spotters” along our border. The cartels destroy our border surveillance equipment and act as a “spotter” to help criminals evade capture when they smuggle people and drugs across our border.

CLICK HERE to read more about my bill to help deter “spotters” along our southern border.

Working to Protect Life after the Dobbs Decision

After the Dobbs decision to return the power about whether to allow abortions back to the states, we’ve seen states like Oklahoma that have blocked all abortions to protect life while other states sadly have not. Although elected officials in our states are back to making decisions about how best to protect our smallest Americans, there is still work to do at the federal level to be sure that process isn’t undermined and that our moms and babies have access to support and resources when they need them.

To keep supporting pregnant moms, I introduced a bill to ensure dads fully step up and provide for their kids. My bill helps support states to provide moms additional access to child support throughout their children’s lives, not just after they are born. I have fought to protect life at every stage, make adoption more affordable, expand the child tax credit to the unborn, provide food assistance and healthcare to needy families, fund maternal and infant health programs, and incentivize giving so that local nonprofits can more easily assist those in need. The federal government, state governments, and nonprofit communities need to work together to be sure no mom or child is left alone. 

CLICK HERE to read more about my bill to help pregnant moms access child support.

I recorded the latest episode of my podcast to dispel some of the worst misinformation being circulated on the news and on social media from panicking progressives who want to scare women into thinking they no longer have access to health care, which is simply not true.

CLICK HERE to listen to the latest episode of my podcast (40 minutes).

I objected on the Senate floor to a bill proposed by the Democrats to promote traveling across state lines to obtain an abortion—from a state that protects life to a state that neglects it—and create workarounds for state laws to shield the abortion industry and abortionists from laws that protect life. Currently, no state has banned interstate travel for adult women seeking to obtain an abortion.

CLICK HERE to watch my remarks on the Senate floor to stand against this bill.

In a new low, even for the most pro-abortion President in US history, Biden is pushing in a new court brief that he only wants pregnant minors who illegally cross our southern border to be placed in states where they can get an abortion. His priority seems to be increasing abortions in America, rather than stopping illegal immigration or protecting the lives of children. These unaccompanied kids should be safely and quickly reunited with family in their home country, not shipped to states where they can obtain an abortion, which is potentially a violation of the Hyde amendment that prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion.

I introduced a bill to prohibit the Biden Administration and any future Administration from declaring a federal emergency to expand abortion services after reports surfaced that the Biden Administration may declare a public-health emergency to protect access to abortion services nationwide.

CLICK HERE to read more on my bill to prevent the Biden Administration from undermining the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs.

Standing Up for Parents & Kids

Oklahoma parents and parents everywhere should be able to directly engage in their kids’ education. The ongoing attempts by the Department of Justice and the Department of Education to try to intimidate parents who are passionate about what’s going on at their kids schools is absurd. I am standing up to both Departments to protect parents and their kids.

I recently sent a letter to the National Education Association (NEA), one of the largest national teachers’ labor unions, demanding answers on their plan to spend $140,000 to create an “enemies list” in an attempt to undermine parents and teachers, push CRT, and encourage revisionist biology in schools. At this year’s NEA conference, they adopted an agenda item to establish their “enemies list,” which they say is to identify groups “actively working to diminish a student’s right to honesty in education, freedom of sexual and gender identity, and teacher autonomy.” It is actually a list to intimidate parents and local leaders away from the school and a child’ education. 

CLICK HERE to read more about my letter.

UPDATE: Tulsa VA Hospital

After Senator Inhofe and I worked hard to ensure the new VA hospital in Tulsa was fully funded, I’m glad to report that construction design is underway, which is great news for veterans in northeast Oklahoma. We broke ground on this great new facility late last year, and we need to be sure construction can keep moving, even as the Biden 9.1 percent inflation might set it back. I introduced a bill to make sure we can move already available funds within the VA to keep this important project for our veterans on track in spite of rising costs from inflation. The bill doesn’t spend new money it reallocates available funding in the VA. The rest of the project is funded partially through the VA, the State of Oklahoma, the City of Tulsa, and a nonprofit team made up of OSU Medical and the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation.

My bill is moving quickly through the Senate, and I look forward to it passing soon.

CLICK HERE to learn more about this important project for our veterans.

Keeping You in the Loop

• Honoring Our First Responders – I want to thank our brave and resilient first responders who have fought raging wildfires in Northwest Oklahoma during the oppressive summer heat. I met with leaders in the Seminole and Muskogee areas a few weeks ago where individuals, communities, and nonprofits have joined together with state emergency management to clean up after recent storms. Thank you for how you exhibit the Oklahoma Standard, how you run toward the danger and protect people, their homes, and their property. We stand with you.
• Pushing Back on Chinese Aggression and Influence – Biden’s China policy is all bark, no bite. We need a comprehensive strategy, economically and militarily, to counter China, support Taiwan, and ensure the US remains the world leader. I voted no on the so called “CHIPS and Science bill” that attempts to counter China by trying to run our economy like communist China runs theirs. The bill also ignores critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, and many other national security priorities. CLICK HERE to read more on why I voted against this misguided bill. I also introduced a bill to prevent any administration from sending our emergency petroleum reserves to adversaries like China after the Biden Administration allowed just that in a recent sale from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. CLICK HERE to read more about my bill to prevent that from happening again.
• Standing Up for Military Spouses – I introduced legislation to give federal agencies the authority to hire military spouses, who already want to serve their country, to fully remote positions. With a fully remote position, the military spouse can maintain a federal career if transferred anywhere, if their service member spouse serves our nation in Altus, Enid, Oklahoma City, Lawton, McAlester, or any of the other great installations around the country, where some federal agencies don’t have local offices. This is something our military community is asking for, and I’m glad my bill advanced through the Homeland Security Committee this week. I look forward to finalizing the bill before the full Senate soon. CLICK HERE to read more.
• Standing Against Biden’s Progressive Climate-change Agenda – I am continuing to address the burdensome permitting process for new oil and gas drilling under the Biden Administration. Biden is restricting domestic energy supply in part through the ridiculous permitting process, and it needs to be addressed. CLICK HERE to read more about my Q&A with energy industry leaders on how to address it. I introduced a bill to stop the use of the flawed social cost of carbon metric for federal emissions rules. The Supreme Court recently held that the EPA isn’t allowed to “cap” gas emissions because Congress didn’t give them the authority. The social cost of carbon is another area outside their authority, and they need to stop using it. CLICK HERE to read more about my bill.
• Honoring Our Fallen and Injured Sailors – I introduced a resolution along with Senator Inhofe to remember the anniversary of an accidental fire on the USS Forrestal (a US Navy carrier stationed off the coast of Vietnam) on July 29, 1967, that killed 134 service members and injured 161 Sailors, including at least three Oklahomans. I met two Oklahomans who were on the ship who come to DC each year to honor their fellow sailors. It was a real honor to shake their hands and say thank you. CLICK HERE to read more about the story of this tragedy and some of its survivors.
• Bringing Oklahoma Ag Producers’ Concerns to DC – I brought the Oklahoma agricultural community’s concerns about President Biden’s refusal to negotiate free trade agreements (FTAs) to Washington, DC, in a Senate Finance Committee hearing to consider a nomination for the Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). Oklahoma agriculture producers want to see FTAs that are long term and that reduce dependence on nations like China, but the Biden Administration continues to insist that they don’t plan to negotiate any trade agreements. American weakness and isolation is unacceptable. CLICK HERE to watch my Q&A.
• Increasing School Safety – I joined Senator Cruz to introduce the Protect Our Children’s Schools Act to enhance school safety and prevent school-based violence, which would allow schools to use unspent previously appropriated federal COVID-19 education-related funding to improve school security. There’s no reason we can’t make this common-sense change—without adding to the debt and deficit—so our schools have the option to use the money for their unique safety needs. CLICK HERE to read more about my bill to give schools flexibility to keep students, faculty, and administrator’s safe.
• Fixing Issues with Federal Disaster Assistance Application – I introduced a solution for federal disaster-related agencies to establish a universal application across federal agencies for disaster survivors who are seeking federal assistance to recover from hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and more. Right now, Oklahomans who need federal aid to recover from a disaster must fill out separate and detailed applications depending on which agency they need help from—a process that can take weeks or even months. My bill would streamline the process to reduce the burden on disaster survivors. CLICK HERE to read more about the bill.
• PASSED: Anti-human trafficking bill – My bill, with Senator Joni Ernst, to ensure the US government is not paying for or participating in human trafficking of vulnerable third-country workers through our contracts overseas passed the Senate last month. It terminates government contracts found to be involved in human trafficking or have participated in trafficking and prevent them from trafficking people with US taxpayer dollars ever again. This must stop immediately, and now we’re one step closer to saving lives. CLICK HERE to read more about why we need this bill to get signed into law.
• Stopping Crimes from Contraband Cellphones in Jails - Cellphones are being slipped into jails and prisons, but federal policy prevents local law enforcement from jamming the cell signal. That needs to stop. After years of work and conversations with law enforcement, the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Justice, and Oklahoma prison leadership, I introduced a bill to allow states to jam illegal cell phones in their prisons to prevent prisoners from contacting their victims or coordinating even more crime while they are incarcerated. This bill simply allows state and federal prisons to use cell phone jammers to ensure they have the tools they need to combat illegal activity in a prison. CLICK HERE to read more about my bill.
• Addressing COVID-19 Unemployment Fraud – I introduced a bill to recover funds from unchecked unemployment fraud and help states recover fraudulent payments. Fraudulent unemployment claims are just theft from Oklahoma taxpayers. We must crack down on fraudsters and ensure the federal government and states can recoup the fraudulently used funds to provide needed updates to our unemployment systems. CLICK HERE to read more about my bill to help address fraud with COVID-19 unemployment funds.

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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