Photo Gallery

Convened a meeting with veterans’ services organizations from around Oklahoma to have a detailed discussion on how we can better work together to serve our heroes.

Held a forum with the Jenks Chamber of Commerce to hear the needs in the community and to take questions.

Muskogee has a beautiful new Northeast Oklahoma health facility that is a Federally Qualified Health Center. Cindy and I enjoyed meeting the staff and joining in the ribbon-cutting celebration.

Cindy and I stopped in to bring some donuts and our gratitude to Tulsa Fire Station #7.

Visited with the hard-working folks at Duncan Machine to learn more about their remarkable operation and hear from their team.

Headed to Madill to OK Steel and Wire to talk through Oklahoma manufacturing and some of the challenges they’re overcoming in this economy.

Stopped in at Hobbs Pharmacy in Sulphur to learn more about how we can get lower cost prescriptions to patients and make sure local independent pharmacies can thrive.

What a fun group at First Security Bank in Northeast Oklahoma City! Thanks for inviting me to hear the challenges of community banking and the many ways you are serving our community.

Enjoyed a catfish lunch with a great group of senior adults in Bartlesville to pray with them and hear their concerns in our nation right now.

OSU has a premier facility in Pawnee to educate forensic scientists for explosives, fires, and related materials as well as training for defense and military capabilities.

Cushing, Oklahoma, is the center of the energy universe. I spent time at Plains Energy to understand more about their safety, security, and ways we can lower energy prices in the future. 

Dear Oklahoma friends and neighbors:

School is officially open across our state; college football is finally back; and both the Great State Fair of Oklahoma and the Tulsa State Fair are just a few weeks away. The weather doesn’t feel like it, but we are finally headed toward Fall, which means lower temperatures, normal schedules, and rain during the State Fair. 

August is the one month of the year Congress does not vote in Washington, DC, which gave me an opportunity to travel around Oklahoma and hear directly from you about the issues facing our state and nation and your ideas to solve them. I spent time in Bartlesville, Chickasha, Cushing, Davis, Duncan, Edmond, Glenpool, Grove, Jenks, Lawton, Madill, Midwest City, Moore, Muskogee, Norman, Oklahoma City, Pawnee, Stillwater, Sulphur, Tishomingo, Tulsa, and Yukon. 

I connected with the Jewish Federation of Oklahoma City, talked about small business procurement with leaders at Tinker Air Force Base, met with rural pharmacies about how to bring down the price of Rx drugs and protect local pharmacies, talked through ways to improve veterans’ services in our state, discussed with energy companies the Biden tax and regulatory changes that are driving up the cost of energy in our state, received an update on infrastructure projects in Oklahoma, enjoyed lunch with the Asian Chamber of Commerce, and much more.

I also spent the month of August meeting with nonprofit leaders, volunteers, and community organizations like Meals on Wheels in Tulsa or the beautiful new NEO community health center in Muskogee, to see first hand how much they do daily, weekly, and monthly to help our families, neighborhoods, and communities. From putting food on the table, primary healthcare, to clothing our families and getting schools supplies to kids, our churches and nonprofits in Oklahoma are the first line of defense for those in need. I continue to work on my Charitable Act to encourage through our federal tax policy private financial support to our nation’s non-profits. 

Next week, the Senate will resume voting, and there is so much to do.

• Twelve annual funding bills need to be completed by 11:59:59 p.m. on September 30
• The Farm bill to set agricultural policies
• The FAA reauthorization bill, which is needed every few years for airline safety
• Legislation to curb high prescription drug prices, which includes many of my priorities, passed with bipartisan support out of the Senate Finance Committee

Preventing Government Shutdowns and Addressing Federal Spending

We’re quickly approaching another moment when our broken federal budget and spending process is on full display—the end of the fiscal year on September 30. The Senate has passed zero spending bills, and it looks once again like we will face unnecessary drama in Washington, DC, because Congress failed to do one of its explicit duties—fund the government.

Our debt continues to skyrocket past $32 trillion, and some in our nation’s Capitol do not seem to care because they are spending someone else’s money. 

So how do we end “shutdown showdowns” and get our spending under control?

Shutdowns are political drama, but they cost taxpayers more money, they make government even more inefficient, and they give Americans an even slower government. The people who really suffer during a shutdown are American taxpayers and federal workers and their families—simply because Congress couldn’t get its act together and pass spending bills on time.

I have a solution to take government shutdowns off the table for good and actually get Congress productively talking about our overspending again.

My Prevent Government Shutdowns Act would end government shutdowns by keeping the government open but forcing Congress to stay in Washington, DC, seven days a week until the work to fund the government is complete. We could only consider spending bills until the budget work is done. Members of Congress, our staff, and the White House Office of Management and Budget staff could not leave DC until all the spending bills for the next fiscal year passed. If your mom was like my mom, it’s the same as putting two siblings in a room until they work out their disagreements. I can say from personal experience—it works.

CLICK HERE to read more about my Prevent Government Shutdowns Act.

The most effective way to get Congress’s attention is to take away their time. I’m pushing to get my bill passed as soon as possible so instead of shutdown showdowns we can have real conversations about our out-of-control spending and our federal spending priorities.

PASSED: My Bill to Simplify Federal Disaster Assistance Applications

I pray that you and your family never have something happen that requires you to apply for disaster assistance. But sometimes our weather in Oklahoma is unpredictable, and it takes a toll on our neighborhoods.

Oklahomans know our families, nonprofits, and churches are the first boots on the ground in a disaster situation, but the federal government does have a unique role and resources following a disaster. I’ve consistently heard from Oklahoma disaster victims about how difficult and disjointed the process of finding and filling out an application was when they were trying to put their life back together. That’s just bad customer service on the part of the federal government.

I introduced a bill with Michigan Senator Gary Peters to create one online application portal to use across federal agencies that helps ensure disaster victims can easily apply for assistance on their phone or tablet while they clean up. Currently, disaster victims must fill out separate and detailed applications depending on which agency they need help from. For example, the Individuals and Households Program from the Federal Emergency Management Agency can provide assistance for housing and other needs, and the Small Business Administration’s Real Property Disaster Loans and Personal Property Loans are available to eligible homeowners and renters. The process of figuring all that out can take weeks or even months.

My Disaster Assistance Simplification Act would significantly streamline this process to reduce the burden on disaster survivors.

CLICK HERE to learn more about my bill.

Protecting Religious Liberty

Everyone in our nation has the constitutional right to have a faith, change their faith, or have no faith at all. The Constitution also protects our right to live out our faith in public and in private life. My faith is not a hobby I only practice on weekends; it is part of who I am every day. No one in our nation should be asked to check their faith at the door, whether they work at a hospital and need conscience protections or they are a federal contractor and want to do business with the federal government. I will always work to protect religious liberty in our nation.

Earlier this year, I led a letter to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray about the Bureau’s leaked memo targeting Catholic Americans. The memo, which was later walked back after it went viral, referred to some Catholics as having “Radical Traditionalist Catholic Ideology.” Although the FBI claims they don’t “investigate, collect, or maintain information on US persons solely for the purpose of monitoring activities protected by the First Amendment,” the fact that this memo was able to be published and released in the first place is very concerning.

CLICK HERE to read my letter with 19 Senators and Representatives to FBI Director Wray demanding answers on the Bureau targeting Catholics.

The next month, I was able to follow up my letter with direct questions on this to Director Wray before the Senate Intelligence Committee. He expressed his personal concerns with the letter, emphasized that it was only one office, and that they were looking into it. Since that time, we now know multiple offices were involved in creating the “Traditional Catholic Ideology” memo. Last week Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and I were joined by several other Senators to follow up on our requests for more information about how this happened. We’re not letting this go. I am working to expose obstructions of religious liberty and to ensure that our justice system continues to uphold our rights, regardless of which administration is in the White House.

CLICK HERE to watch my Q&A with Director Wray.

CLICK HERE to read my follow-up letter keeping the pressure on FBI to give us answers on the memo that targeted Catholic Americans.

I will remain vigilant of protecting every American’s constitutional right to religious liberty. Last month I introduced a resolution to stand against the Biden Administration’s Department of Labor rule that restricts the First Amendment rights of Americans who choose to live their faith. No American should be forced by any Administration to choose between their First Amendment freedom and doing business with the federal government. I remain strongly opposed to the Biden Administration’s ongoing push to trample on Americans’ right to live their faith.

CLICK HERE to read more about my bill to protect federal contractors’ constitutional rights to religious liberty.

Keeping You in the Loop

• Cutting Down Border Wall Materials to Build a Smaller Border Wall – While I work on writing legislation to end illegal crossings over our southern border, the Biden Administration has spent their time cutting down the uninstalled sections of the eighteen-foot-tall wall to six feet. A six-foot fence is what many of us have in our backyards. That is not a deterrent for illegal immigration. As illegal crossings surged again last month, we should have more security and law enforcement, not less.
• Demanding Answers on COVID Relief Going to Planned Parenthood – I led a letter to the Inspector General (IG) for the Department of Health and Human Services about more than $20 million in COVID “relief” funds going to Planned Parenthood. The CARES Act for COVID relief was specifically designed not to provide any funds for abortions. If Planned Parenthood received COVID “relief” unlawfully, our letter asks the IG to refer their application to the Department of Justice for civil or criminal charges. CLICK HERE to read more about my letter.
• Preventing cuts to the Medicaid Hospital Program – In 1981, the US government set up a program to help medical facilities that treat a disproportionate number of Medicaid beneficiaries to help offset care costs at these facilities for those who cannot afford them and are not otherwise covered by Medicaid. In the coming weeks, an automatic cut to this program that was created in the Obamacare legislation could affect numerous hospitals and medical facilities across our state and the nation. I sent a letter to Senate leadership to make sure we can avoid these cuts. CLICK HERE to read more about my letter.
• Cracking Down on Iranian Ships Evading Sanctions + $6 billion Secret Negotiation with Iran – I recently called out the Biden Administration to explain why an Iranian tanker was found offloading in the Gulf of Mexico or why US tax dollars are concurrently heading to Tehran. CLICK HERE to read one report on this recent development. I am also demanding answers from the Biden Administration about the approximately $6 billion they released to Iran in exchange for American prisoners. We all want our fellow Americans home, and we have the ability to address wrongful detention of Americans without negotiating with terrorists. CLICK HERE to read more about the action I’m taking to address this. We should stand with the people of Iran against their oppressive regime that is determined to destabilize the Middle East.
• Promoting Commonsense Justice System Updates – Oklahomans want a fair justice system that stops violent crime and focuses on rehabilitation so individuals who are not a threat to public safety can get back to their families, jobs, and communities. I am working with my fellow Senators to tailor commonsense adjustments to our nation’s federal supervised release program to protect Oklahomans and give a second chance to those who have earned it. CLICK HERE to read more on my bill.
  

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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