BLOG: Why I Voted For The Omnibus Spending & Tax Relief Bill
Last week, Congress passed a spending bill that funds the federal government for the Fiscal Year, which ends September 30, 2016. The total cost of the omnibus bill was $1.1 trillion. For context, the entire annual federal budget is almost $4 trillion. The Omnibus was a collection of 13 bills, all compiled into one giant bill. The House […]
Senator Lankford, Jonathan Small in The Oklahoman: Plan, commitment needed to tackle nation’s debt
Question: How do you burn down your house? Answer: Get distracted and forget about the pan on the stove top. Our nation is focused on very real concerns with terrorism, education, immigration, energy, our economy and much more. But in the middle of the chaos, if we forget about our national debt, the most vulnerable […]
Senator Lankford in Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Social Security: A Promise that Isn’t Being Kept
When I took the oath of office in January to be the next U.S. senator for Oklahoma, I made a commitment to represent our great state and our values in Washington, D.C. While Oklahomans do not agree on many issues, most Oklahomans are very protective and very skeptical of Social Security. We know years ago […]
Senator Lankford in The Washington Times: The freedom to bow our heads and pray in public
Telling grieving families that our thoughts and prayers are with them in times of tragedy or hearing people say “God bless the United States of America” at the end of a speech are common. They are part of our American tradition. Culturally, it is acceptable to talk about prayer, and even ask God for his […]
Senator Lankford in The Oklahoman: Fact-checking the president’s Keystone decision
President Obama on Friday announced his rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline project. Since the beginning of this debate, seven years ago, everyone generally knew of the president’s opposition to oil, gas and coal, but no one dreamed he would hold a pipeline permit for over 2,000 days, then reject it with no data-based conclusions. […]
Senator Lankford in Tulsa World: We need a regulatory process of the people and by the people
Many Oklahomans know the cost of basic items such as food, insurance, banking and consumer goods continue to rise, but some might not realize many of the cost increases are directly connected to new regulatory costs passed on to consumers. The federal government is eager to regulate every action of our lives, but the result […]
Senator Lankford on FoxNews.com: Let Coach Kennedy remain free to pray, as we are in Congress
As members of the House and Senate, we open each daily legislative session with prayer—a tradition which dates back to a prayer given before the First Continental Congress on September 7, 1774. Often, these prayers are given by the House or Senate chaplain, but at times members themselves have also offered the prayer. Were these […]
Senator Lankford in Stillwater News Press: We Must Trust Farmers and Ranchers
It’s always surprising to me how often bureaucrats in Washington, DC, who spend most of their life on concrete, want to control everyday Americans thousands of miles away who spend most of their life on dirt. They think they know better than hard-working Americans, and nowhere is this philosophy more evident than in the agricultural industry.
Senator Lankford on FoxNews.com: We cannot be a nation that does this to our children
On Tuesday, an undercover video was posted online and reported on by various news outlets that showed a Planned Parenthood executive talking about the organization’s operation of selling body parts of aborted children. After learning about it, I was immediately struck with deep emotion. It is hard to believe this is occurring in the United […]
Senator Lankford in National Review: Judicial Deference Enables Agencies to Usurp Congress’s Legislative Power
“It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is” declared Chief Justice John Marshall in the landmark case of Marbury v. Madison. For centuries this statement has stood as one of the most famous in American jurisprudence. It was a declaration of the role and duty of […]