|
Dear Oklahoma friends and neighbors:
(This is about an eight-minute read or a 30-second glance at the headlines.)
It’s finally time for Christmas! If you’ve not seen the Christmas video greeting from Cindy and me to you and your family, please CLICK HERE!
I pray you and your family get some much-needed rest and togetherness this season, and I pray we would remember and work to bless our family members, friends, and neighbors who may be struggling during this time of year. In the hustle of the season, remember the joy of Christ’s birth that led to our redemption and salvation.
I offered a brief prayer for Oklahoma and our nation this year through our local newspapers, and I hope you will take a moment to read it and pray through it with me.
CLICK HERE to read my prayer for Oklahoma and our nation.
Congress’s Massive Spending Problem
This week, the Senate finally got around to funding the government. Senator Chuck Schumer decided to push through what’s called an “omnibus” spending bill—this one was more than 4,000 pages and costs almost $2 trillion (with a T)—to fund the government through September 30, 2023. Half of the bill was spending, and half of the bill was new policies that were never debated or even considered on the Senate floor. Not a single Senator read the bill before it passed. I was a strong “No” on this bill for many reasons, starting with no ability to know what was in it, billions of dollars of additional deficit spending, billions of new earmark spending, and much more. While there are some areas of the bill that I would not oppose, this bill had too many problems.
I could not support its final passage. If we had extended the debate into next year, we could have more transparency and greater ability to limit spending. Oklahomans deserve to know how their hard-earned tax dollars are spent before there is a vote to spend them.
CLICK HERE to read more about the spending bill and why I opposed it.
Getting the National Defense Bill to the Finish Line in 2022
This year’s defense bill, officially known as the Fiscal Year 2023 James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act (or the NDAA), which I supported, passed Congress last week and included a number of important provisions to help Oklahoma's military installations, our service members, veterans, and their families. I worked on issues dealing with veteran housing, religious accommodation requests for our nation’s service members who did not want to be forced to get the COVID-19 vaccine, specific upgrades to our military installations, a military pay raise, and more.
I made sure our Tulsa VA medical center got the authorization and funding needed to keep going with construction even with Biden’s high inflation driving up construction costs. The new Tulsa VA will undoubtedly be a great place to take care of our veterans, but it needs to stay on schedule during construction to meet the needs of our veterans.
CLICK HERE to read about all the areas I worked on for Oklahoma’s military installations in the defense bill, including ensuring that we now have full funding for the Tulsa VA.
In the defense bill, I got the COVID-19 vaccine mandate ended for our service members, and now I’m working for reinstatement and back pay for those service members whose military careers were ended because of Biden’s vaccine mandate.
CLICK HERE to read more about my bill to reinstate and back pay service members who were discharged due to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
UPDATE: Illegal Immigration and Title 42
We’ve known for over a year that the Biden Administration would end the pandemic-related Title 42 authority and allow even more people to illegally cross our southern border. The big question was always: would the Administration even try to stop the flow of migrants into our country? The answer is now a clear "No."
The Biden Administration is actually encouraging more illegal immigration by giving every person who comes across the border a work permit, sometimes the same day they cross. That tells people who are thinking about coming illegally that they can come to the US, cross our border, and be rewarded. The Administration has also used Border Patrol funding to create systems to help people enter the country faster, rather than deter people from entering the country. They are literally rewarding illegal activity.
To give a perspective of how bad the illegal activity at the border has become, the peak year of illegal crossing under President Obama was just over 500,000 people in a year. Under President Biden, our nation has seen over 500,000 illegal crossings in just the past two months, with no plan to stop it or deter the massive increase of drugs coming into our country every day.
Yesterday, I asked the Senate to pass my solution, which I actually introduced in April, to keep the temporary Title 42 authority in place until a workable alternative is ready to go—not just something that processes people into the country faster. Unfortunately Democrats blocked my bill on the floor of the Senate.
Time will tell how many more people will get moved into the interior of our country faster because the Democrats control the border enforcement and refuse to stop illegal activity when they see it.
CLICK HERE to watch my demand for the Senate to pass my Title 42 bill to protect American national security.
It is not compassionate to encourage families across the globe to pay the cartels to smuggle them through Mexico. We need border enforcement and a working legal immigration system.
Wrapping up 2022
Each year, my team and I work to bring you a wrap-up of some of what we accomplished for Oklahoma during the last year. Oklahomans tell me often that they hear a lot of noise coming out of Washington, DC, but don’t ever actually see anything good happening. Here are some of the things we accomplished for all Oklahomans in 2022.
CLICK HERE to watch my video wrap-up of some of my and my team’s work in 2022 for us.
My Work to Stand Up for Our Veterans and Service Members in 2022
CLICK HERE to watch the video.
My team and I worked to support hundreds of service members and veterans through our office’s casework process by resolving issues at the Department of Defense, with the individual service branches, and others for our Oklahoma veterans.
Our nation is better because of our Armed Forces and their families. That’s why I’m honored to tell you that my bill to help military spouses start and keep a career with a federal agency passed the Senate this year. My bill gives military spouses the ability to work in fully remote positions for the federal government so they can keep their job, even if they get moved around because of their spouse’s mission in our military. This just makes sense for our military spouses, and now it’s going to be a reality.
CLICK HERE to read more about my bill for military spouses.
Another area where we were successful this year was actually something that Oklahomans brought directly to my office. Oklahoma service members, their families, and their rural pharmacists called and emailed me about losing access to their neighborhood and family-owned pharmacies because TRICARE and Express Scripts stopped their contracts with small pharmacies without notice. We immediately took action and directly worked with the Defense Health Agency and Express Scripts to try to get this changed. Now, local pharmacies will have an opportunity to fully consider TRICARE contracts so they can hopefully once again work with service members to fill their prescriptions.
CLICK HERE to read more about my work to protect TRICARE benefits for our service members and veterans.
I made sure we brought existing federal funds—those available for upkeep of schools on our nation’s military bases—to Oklahoma. I personally toured L. Mendel Rivers Elementary School, which serves the children of our US Air Force at Altus Air Force Base, and saw the immediate need to replace the aging facility for the students and workers at the school. I helped ensure the Base’s request was heard loud and clear in Washington, DC, and fought for the funding needed to rebuild this school for the kids on Altus Air Force Base. This was yet another area where we saw a need, and we made sure that need was met for our service members and their families, without adding additional national debt.
CLICK HERE to read more about how I made sure the school had existing funds to rebuild.
My Work to Bring Down High Costs, Including for Rx Drugs, for Our Senior Adults in 2022
CLICK HERE to watch the video.
My team and I worked to address issues in Social Security, Medicare, prescription drug prices, and the high prices for everything this year since inflation and high prices hit those on a fixed income the hardest.
Inflation has been so high that the Social Security Administration is adding an 8.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security benefits beginning in 2023. There are many senior adults in Oklahoma who need extra assistance this year just to make ends meet. If you or someone you know is struggling to pay things like a utility bill, buy food, or pay rent, please call 2-1-1 in Oklahoma to find out about assistance available in our state.
My staff and I work with Oklahoma senior adults to make sure they receive their Social Security benefits, Social Security Disability benefits, and Medicare benefits correctly and timely. My team is helping more than 100 Oklahomans right now with their personal issues with the Social Security Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS, which administers Medicare. If you or someone you know are in need of help, please CLICK HERE.
One of the main issues facing senior adults is the cost of and access to quality, affordable health care. After years of me pushing CMS to take action, this year, they made an important change to give our local pharmacies more of the clarity they need to offer drugs at an affordable price by cutting back on the middle man that drives up prescription costs before you buy it at the pharmacy counter.
We are slowly unraveling what makes prescription drugs so expensive in our nation. There is still a lot of work to be done, but this is a big win for patients and independent pharmacies.
CLICK HERE to read more about my direct push to bring down Rx costs as the pharmacy counter.
This year I also got CMS to change their policy on what they consider to be a rural emergency hospital and to make some positive updates to what’s called a critical access hospital. Hospitals out in the Oklahoma countryside don’t have tons of patients, but in some cases, they are the only hospital for 50 or 60 miles. Now, because of our work on this, many rural hospitals in our state can keep their doors open to provide critical needs for rural communities
CLICK HERE to read more about my successful push to help rural hospitals this year.
Another way I supported senior adults in Oklahoma this year was by calling out bad economic policies and the Democrats’ anti-US-energy agenda that drives up energy prices. If Democrats think everyone in America likes to pay more for groceries, their utility bills, and at the gas pump, they’re wrong.
I pushed back on the massive spending bills in the last two years that have led in part to our historic levels of inflation. I keep pressing the Biden Administration to let us get back to US energy independence and mine and drill for mineral and energy resources here in the US, instead of buying energy resources from China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
CLICK HERE to watch more about the ways I’m pushing back against the Biden Administration’s policies that are taking our nation in the wrong direction.
My Work to Call 0ut Biden’s Chaos at the Southern Border & Push to Secure the US from Bad Actors around the World in 2022
CLICK HERE to watch the video.
Every family wants to have safety and opportunity. That’s not a partisan issue.
As a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee in the Senate, I spent a great deal of time in 2022 pushing the Biden Administration to secure our border, confront crime, and stand with strength against foreign nations that intend harm for Americans and our economy.
On multiple trips to the southern border, I saw first-hand just how much of a toll the border crisis is taking on our nation. Our border patrol agents face the unique challenge of working to secure the border and to stop illegal drugs and crime while the Administration promotes policies that make their job even more difficult.
In the past year, over 2 million people have illegally crossed our southern border, and that number is rising. At the end of the year, typically illegal crossings decline, but in the past two months, more than 500,000 people have illegally crossed into our country. To put that into perspective, more people have crossed our border illegally in the past two months than in the highest 12 months of the Obama Administration.
The southern border is completely out of control, and it is total chaos. Unfortunately, this Administration does not care.
This year, I repeatedly challenged Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on how these failed open-border policies have made America less safe and put more illegal drugs onto our streets, which are destroying our families and communities. I also proposed current legal and future legislative solutions to the border crisis to show that this Administration has options to secure our border; they just choose not to use them.
I continue to stand up for keeping Title 42 in place to stop the flood of illegal border crossings and stop more people from attempting to enter our country illegally.
CLICK HERE to watch my request on the Senate floor to pass my bill to preserve Title 42 at our southern border.
But the border isn’t the only security challenge we face as a nation.
Overseas, America’s adversaries are actively undermining our diplomatic interests and core values. In the Middle East, I led the effort to make Iran answer for their nuclear proliferation and support for terrorism. The Iranian regime is currently murdering peaceful protestors in the streets who just want to live free. I also worked to strengthen our relationship with our greatest ally in the Middle East: Israel.
I launched the Abraham Accords Caucus with my colleagues in the Senate to encourage regional partnerships and peace through strength policies. We have made remarkable progress in the past year encouraging old enemies in the Middle East to start trade and tourism.
CLICK HERE to read about the Abraham Accords Caucus, which I co-chair.
In another part of the globe, the Chinese Communist Party is actively working to repress its people. This year, I called out their genocide against the Uyghur Muslims and defended the authoritarian overreach against the people of Hong Kong and stood up for the rights of the people of Taiwan.
I spoke out often for the people of Iran who just want to live free from the oppression of the Iranian regime. Thousands of peaceful protestors have been arrested and hundreds have been killed by the brutal dictators in Iran. The people of Iran want the right to live their faith as they choose. They want the right to speak freely. In short, they want liberty. I have pushed our Administration to impose sanctions on Iranian government leaders, isolate their international diplomats and find ways to stand with the people of Iran.
CLICK HERE to watch my remarks on the Senate floor to stand up for the Iranian people and against the terrorist Iranian regime.
I also pushed our own Administration to allow a major increase of American natural gas to offset the Russian unjustified assault on Ukraine. Unfortunately, the Administration continues to stand in the way of some of our natural gas exports to Europe to help them during this crisis.
Although these risks at home and abroad seem challenging, I am dedicated to working alongside my colleagues to secure our country and stand with our allies. Keeping America safe is critical to our way of life and ensuring that “We the People” can prosper for years to come.
My Work to Protect Life, Liberty, and Our Families in 2022
CILCK HERE to watch the video.
It is not a radical concept that parents are important and should be respected. Parents should decide what’s best for their kids. Our freedom to live our values sets us apart as the greatest nation in the world. I spoke out all year for the rights of parents to make decisions for their kids’ future and education.
CLICK HERE to read more about how I stood up to the powerful unions in Washington, DC, and in support of Oklahoma parents and students.
CLICK HERE to read more about how I pushed back on the Department of Homeland Security to end its “disinformation Board,” which they ultimately ended after my pressure.
In one of our nation’s biggest victories to protect the lives of the unborn, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this year, which allows the question of how to protect unborn life to go back to the people’s representatives. Countless lives have already been saved because of the Dobbs decision, which I supported on the steps of the Supreme Court and in a “friend of the Court” brief.
CLICK HERE to learn more about my push for the Supreme Court to stand for life in our nation.
In response to the Supreme Court’s decision, Democrats in the Senate tried multiple times to pass a bill requiring every state to permit abortion on demand, even until the moment of birth. We were able to defeat each attempt, and I stood up on the Senate floor in defiance of this bill.
CLICK HERE to watch my stand against the abortion-on-demand until the moment of birth bill.
Not just based on faith, but also based on science, millions of Americans—myself included—believe that a child in the womb, is a child. They have fingers and toes, a beating heart, a functioning nervous system and DNA that is uniquely different than any other person on earth. That child in the womb is not a random clump of tissue; that is a baby. They are not medical waste; they are valuable.
CLICK HERE to watch my remarks on the Senate floor earlier this year to remind my colleagues of these simple facts.
Democrats in the Senate were so extreme this year that multiple times they blocked me from passing a bill that would protect the rights of medical providers who have a moral objection to performing an abortion. My bill did not even limit abortion; it just gave women serving in a medical field the choice of whether they wanted to participate in abortion procedures. But the “pro-abortion” crowd in Washington, DC, would not allow women the choice to not to participate in an abortion.
CLICK HERE to read more about my Conscience Protection Act.
The Supreme Court also ruled on a case that I was personally involved in, when a high school football coach in Washington named Joe Kennedy was reinstated to his position after being fired for silently praying on the field after games. My team and I were directly submitted a “friend of the court” brief to make the argument for freedom to the Justices. The Court renewed the right for people of all faiths to live their faith, change their faith, or have no faith.
CLICK HERE to read more about my support for Coach Kennedy.
While these victories at the Supreme Court signaled a strong defense of liberty, that didn’t stop politicians in Washington from doing their best to discourage any expression of personal faith.
For more than 18 months, I argued with the White House and Pentagon leadership over the right of individual members of the military to request a religious accommodation for the COVID-19 vaccine. Thousands of service members, from multiple faiths, requested an accommodation, but very few of them even got an answer from the Pentagon. They were just isolated and told to wait, for months.
In response, I blocked some of Biden’s nominations to personnel positions in the Department of Defense for over a year to push back for members of the military have been prevented form serving our nation while also living their faith. Religious accommodations are not uncommon for members of our military, but the way these accommodations were handled has been very uncommon and obstructionist.
Our founders considered your faith your most precious possession and that the government had no right to take your faith away from you. That is an American value that we should protect and export to other countries.
While it sometimes seems like our country’s core values of life, liberty, and family are under attack, I do everything I can to protect that right for the next generation and for people of all faiths.
There is more work to be done in the days ahead, but I wanted to take a few minutes to update you on some of my and my teams’ work in 2022 for Oklahomans. We are grateful to serve you and your families in 2023. Please remain engaged and continue to reach out to my office so we can continue to serve you.
In God We Trust,
James Lankford
United States Senator for Oklahoma
Stay Connected!
Receive this from a forwarded email? SIGN UP to receive my e-newsletter direct to your inbox.
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.
Notice: If you wish to stop ALL electronic communications from my office, visit this link to opt out permanently from this list. If you have any questions about this Notice or your right to decline future electronic mail from this office, please contact us at United States Senate, 316 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510. |