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Joined a great group of pastors and local leaders in Antlers for breakfast and coffee at Sacred Grounds for conversation and ways each person can stand up for their faith, their family, and our freedom.

Heard directly from the Ritter Family who own and operate Ritter’s Express Pharmacy in Atoka about how the VA’s changes to service members’ prescription access has hurt local veterans in Southeast Oklahoma.

Toured the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant and heard from the great folks who work and innovate for our warfighters.

Talked through some of the factors affecting our economy, including truck driver shortages and manufacturing challenges, with the next generation of truck drivers and linemen at Central Tech in Drumright.

Got to bring in the game ball and flip the coin at the Guthrie-Bishop McGuinness varsity football game this month. If you’ve not seen Guthrie’s stadium, known as “the Rock,” you should head out to a game there this season.

Gore Nitrogen has an expansive facility in Seiling, where they provide nitrogen for exploring for US energy. These are some of the energy families in our state whose jobs are directly affected by Biden’s energy policies, but Gore Nitrogen is staying strong with their quality service and great people.

Toured the Tyson’s chicken facility in Broken Bow to meet some of the great folks who keep us well fed. Many people there have worked for years, including one worker who just retired after almost four decades.

Met with students and faculty at Watonga High School to talk about our remarkable Constitution, our unique Republic, and our moral responsibility to each other. They had great questions about the direction of our nation and how they could be involved.

Atoka is well led and primed for real economic development and tourism. Keep an eye on these folks; they’re making great things happen in southeast Oklahoma!

Visited students at Rattan High School to hear their questions, encourage them to stay engaged with their families and be positive about our nation’s future.

Dear Oklahoma friends and neighbors:

(This is about an eight-minute read.)

Fall is a time for family and pumpkin-spice everything. I hope you are enjoying our beautiful state and many of the fun activities available for families. Everywhere I have traveled lately, from Broken Bow to Woodward, all the conversation has been about rain. 

In the past few weeks, I have met with Oklahomans in Atoka, Antlers, Ardmore, Blanchard, Broken Bow, Canton, Chandler, Chickasha, Collinsville, Drumright, El Reno, Fairview, Guthrie, Hochatown, Langston, Lawton, McAlester, Newcastle, Oklahoma City, Rattan, Seiling, Stroud, Tulsa, Watonga, and Woodward to hear what is happening in their families, the exciting things they’re working on, and their concerns for the economy, worker and trucking shortages, prescription drug price issues, energy prices, and more.

I also visited Ft Sill and Tinker this week, meeting with Army and Air Force leadership on future missions and the specific needs of the installations. Our team continues to work on protecting the future of the military installations in Oklahoma and their vital role in national security.

The Senate does not return to Washington, DC, this fall to resume voting until November 14, so stay tuned for more updates from the nation's capital when we resume legislative session.

Oklahoma’s Energy Is More Than Just Energy

When I visited the HF Sinclair Refinery in Tulsa a few days ago, I was reminded again of how many things in life are made from oil, besides gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Refineries in our state keep the price of gas and diesel lower than many other parts of the country, but they also produce the feedstock for roofing materials, road pavement, syringes, carpet, wax, plastic everything, pharmaceuticals, lotions, tires, paint, ink, and football helmets. Even electricity-generating wind towers use an enormous amount of lubricants made from oil to keep turning. Social media makes it sound like our nation is about to get rid of all oil and gas, but even President Biden’s own Energy Information Administration anticipates our need for oil and gas will increase through at least 2050.

CLICK HERE to read my opinion piece in the Washington Examiner about going from energy independent to now dependent on OPEC+ again because of the policies of the Biden Administration.

UPDATE: Prescription Drug Access for Service Members 

I continue to hear directly from Oklahoma pharmacy patients and their pharmacists about a prescription drug access issue shoved on our service members by the Biden Administration through the Defense Health Agency, starting this past Monday. Many small-town and family-owned pharmacy patients who use TRICARE were told late last month that they would need to pick another pharmacy because about 15,000 pharmacies were cut out of the Express Scrips network, which is how service members are reimbursed for their prescriptions.

I visited Hite Drug in Chandler and heard first-hand about the real problems that were imposed on older veterans when they have to drive 20+ miles to get to a new pharmacy. I also spoke to the pharmacist at Ritter’s Express Pharmacy in Atoka, who said they’re experiencing the same issues. I have sent letters and spoken directly with the Defense Health Agency about stopping the exclusion of rural pharmacies for veterans, and I am pushing them to allow veterans to once again go to the pharmacy of their choice, nearest to their home. I also have an amendment to our annual National Defense Authorization Act to force Biden’s Defense Health Agency to reverse this decision for our service members and veterans.

CLICK HERE to read my first letter to the Defense Health Agency about stopping this change.

CLICK HERE to read my follow-up letter this week after talking to the Director.

Cell Phone Jamming in Prisons

I want to stop criminals from committing more crimes using cell phones while they’re incarcerated. Plain and simple. I don’t know many folks who have an issue with preventing child molesters and others from contacting their victims on social media using a “contraband cell phone” or preventing drug dealers from running drug rings or calling in ”hits” while in prison. Contraband cell phones are a hot item inside a prison, and it’s almost impossible to keep them out. The only real solution is to jam the signals so the cell phone becomes worthless. 

Ironically, federal law only allows what’s called “jamming” technology for cell phones in federal prisons. That is absurd. I pushed to create a large pilot program for state and county prisons and jails to discover how to best stop illegal cell phone usage. Now, I have a bill to allow state prisons to employ this technology nationwide, if they choose to.

Last week, I toured the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, which was selected for the federal pilot program to test cell phone jamming technology to be sure it works as intended and doesn’t inadvertently block the signals of folks who live or drive around the prisons. I am tired of hearing about victims of crime being contacted by criminals serving their time, or gang leaders coordinating their drug trafficking while they are incarcerated. We are going to give law enforcement the tools they need to put a stop to contraband cell phone usage.

CLICK HERE to read more about my bill to allow cell phone jamming technology in state prisons.

UPDATE: Crisis at the Southern Border 

A record 227,000 people crossed our southern border in September with 20 suspected terrorists arrested, according to a report posted late last Friday night by the Department of Homeland Security. That’s about the same as the combined populations of Norman and Edmond. In the past 12 months, a record number of more than 2.5 million people have been “encountered” at our southern border by federal law enforcement. Countless thousands of others “got away.” The border is clearly wide open, and people around the world know it. This is a national security crisis of the Biden Administration’s own making.

Several months ago, I asked the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office to study the chaos at the southern border and determine any legal backlogs in the process. A few weeks ago, they painfully released their report, which revealed that the asylum process is now backlogged up to 10+ years for someone to see a judge about their asylum claim, well longer than just a few months ago. This is a bad situation getting worse. 

This is unacceptable and needs to be addressed immediately. The report clearly identifies the problems in the process and gives Congress the information needed for solutions. I’m not letting this failure to secure our border go. Oklahomans I talk to all over the state remain concerned about the massive inflow of illegal drugs and the national security issues our open border presents for every state.

CLICK HERE to read more about the report on the broken asylum process for illegal border crossers.

CLICK HERE to read my follow up letter calling on DHS to provide the actual timeframe of how long illegal border crossers are remaining in the US until they have an asylum hearing.

Keeping You in the Loop

• Inflation Keeps Inflating - September inflation rose again for food, gas, and housing. Home mortgage rates have more than doubled in the past year and now exceed 7 percent for the first time in 20 years. Overall prices are up at least 13.5 percent across the nation since January 2021. We need to increase domestic energy production to lower prices for transportation and manufacturing, then stop increased federal spending to get inflation under control. I’m continuing to push for both, as I have for years.
• Seeking Pain Relief Alternatives to Opioids – The opioid epidemic in our nation claimed thousands of lives last year. We continue to take steps to prevent the misuse of opioids in our nation. However, that process has also left those in chronic pain with very few if any options to treat their pain, partially because the FDA has not prioritized new non-addictive pain medication treatments. I sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration on the FDA’s lack of communication and clarity regarding its guidance for the development of new non-addictive pain medicines. We deserve an update on this, and I’m calling for one. CLICK HERE to read more about my letter.
• Truck Drivers Needed, Just About Everywhere! – I’ve recently visited several truck driving schools in our state who desperately need drivers to fill vacancies in companies all over Oklahoma. These are good-paying jobs. Many companies offer new employees the opportunity to essentially attend driving school to receive their commercial drivers license (CDL) for little or no money out of pocket.
• Holding the IRS Accountable – The Democrats gave the IRS billions in their so-called “Inflation Reduction Act,” but there is little to no accountability for those dollars to help provide timely and better services to taxpayers, help with answering the phones, etc. I’m calling for full accountability of the money sent to IRS since Oklahomans call my office regularly saying they can’t get through to ask a simple question or get their tax return. This is unacceptable. CLICK HERE to read more about my demands for oversight of the IRS.
• Celebrating the 600th Loves located in Perry – Congratulations to Oklahoma City-based Love’s Travel Stops on opening their 600th location in Perry last week! The new location off I-35 adds 60 truck parking spaces and 70 jobs to Noble County. We have many great Oklahoma companies providing food, fuel, and services to all of us as we travel our great state and the nation. 
• Protecting Life at the VA – The VA is essential to protect the lives of our veterans, but the Biden Administration is now using federal dollars to provide abortions through the VA. I am well aware that President Biden supports abortion, but this is not a policy disagreement, the President is ignoring the federal law that prohibits the use of federal tax dollars to take the life of children through an abortion. I was joined by 12 Senators and 26 members of the House of Representatives in a public comment letter expressing strong opposition to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) interim final rule that illegally allows abortions to be offered by the VA. CLICK HERE to read more about my work to protect life and prevent taxpayers from being forced to pay for abortions.
• Honoring the Life and Legacy of Rep. Bill Brewster – I was honored to preach the message at the funeral of one of southeast Oklahoma’s “favorite sons,” Rep. Bill Brewster. Bill was a friend and role model to many around our state, in how to lead with wisdom, patience, and perseverance. I was blessed to know Bill for many years. Even after he left the US House of Representatives, he continued to serve our state and to support the next generation of Oklahoma students and leaders. Cindy and I continue to pray the Lord’s comfort and guiding hand for the Brewster family and friends as they grieve.

In God We Trust,

James Lankford
United States Senator for Oklahoma

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