Lankford Recognized For His Conservative Excellence

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK –Senator James Lankford (R-OK) released a statement after it was announced that he was awarded the 2021 Award for Conservative Excellence by the American Conservative Union (ACU) Foundation for his voting record in 2021: 

“Conservative ideas and values help people in all neighborhoods, from all backgrounds, and from all incomes be better citizens, have stronger families, and enjoy greater economic opportunities. I am grateful for ACU’s continued work to promote conservative ideas and encourage conservative leaders as we work to solve the problems our nation faces every day,” said Lankford. “Oklahomans sent me to Washington to awaken our nation to our challenges and put policies in place for their families and businesses that would maintain our values and promote our national prosperity. I am proud to be a conservative Oklahoman who works to protect life, protect our borders, and protect our liberties.”

“The good news for Americans is that there are already dozens of conservative leaders in Congress, ready to implement policies that will reverse the disasters of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi,” said CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp. “These ratings are the most comprehensive measure of how committed elected officials are to advancing freedom and opportunity, and we look forward to welcoming more conservative lawmakers next year.” 

Founded in 1964, the American Conservative Union (ACU) is the nation’s oldest and largest conservative organization. Lankford spoke at ACU’s annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) earlier this year. Over 10,000 activists from all over the US attend the conference annually, making it the largest conference in America for conservative grassroots activism. 

In 2021, Lankford continued to be the leading voice in Congress for the protection of life, joining an amicus brief signed by more than 220 Members of Congress supporting the state of Mississippi in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which presents the Supreme Court with the opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and return power to the states in the question of abortion.

Lankford pushed back on the Biden Administration’s rule to allow taxpayer funded abortions, and successfully secured language to save the Hyde and Weldon Amendments, which prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortions and abortion-related discrimination against health care workers, including insurers. Lankford introduced the Conscience Protection Act of 2021 to protect health care providers, including health insurance plans from government discrimination if they decline to participate in abortions. 

Last year, Lankford successfully blocked President Biden’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office from opening a “sure overflow temporary facility” at the Great Plains Correctional Institution in Hinton, Oklahoma that would have been used to process migrants who crossed the border illegally and release them into Western Oklahoma. Lankford exposed $2 billion in wasted taxpayer dollars to pay Department of Defense (DOD) contractors not to build the border wall while record breaking numbers of migrants illegally crossed our border.

Lankford openly opposed and introduced legislation to stop every part of Biden’s vaccine mandates and successfully pushed the resolution of disapproval on the vaccine mandate for companies with 100 or more workers. Lankford sent a brief to the US Supreme Court to outline constitutional issues with the mandates and urge them to block it, which the Supreme Court agreed with.  

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For more information about Senator Lankford, visit: www.lankford.senate.gov