In the News
Biden’s Policies Are Taking Us in the Wrong Direction
by Senator James Lankford (R-OK)
Seventy-two percent of Americans say we’re headed in the wrong direction under President Biden’s leadership. I am one of them, and it’s pretty likely you are, too. In Oklahoma, and much of the nation, everyday life is harder and less safe under President Biden’s economy and policies. Groceries, rent, and crime rates are up, but retirement savings are down. More people are forced to live paycheck to paycheck. These are the areas we should focus on solving. We finally convinced the Biden … Continue Reading
03.03.23
More Marijuana Is Bad for Oklahoma
by By US Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and Dr. Kevin Sabet
It is a simple question: will more marijuana in Oklahoma make our families stronger, our streets safer, or our workplaces more productive? The debate for or against increased marijuana access in Oklahoma really comes down to that answer. When Oklahomans voted to endorse the growth and distribution of “medical marijuana” in 2018, few people in the voting booth could have imagined the future explosion of marijuana access in Oklahoma. Oklahoma now has more marijuana facilities than Colorado,… Continue Reading
02.28.23
The Biden Administration Aims to Dictate Retirement Investments
by Senator James Lankford (R-OK)
If you’re someone who thinks the progressive movement in our nation is looking to push its agenda in every way, look no further than environmental, social, and governance (known as “ESG”) investing. ESG demands that a company or an investment shouldn’t be scored on its financial returns or viability but instead on how green or progressive it is according to an ever-changing and loosely defined litmus test of ESG.Basically, left-wing activists can make ESG mean whatever they want to get a c… Continue Reading
02.21.23
End ObamaCare’s Ban on Physician-Owned Hospitals
by James Lankford and Brian J. Miller
What if lawyers weren't allowed to own law firms or chefs weren't allowed to own restaurants? Sounds absurd, but it's a reality for one profession: doctors. A tiny paragraph in the enormous Affordable Care Act prohibits physicians from building or owning hospitals. Any existing physician-owned hospital built before 2010 is prohibited from growing beyond the size it was when the bill passed. This law limits competition, defies common sense and is likely contributing to higher prices for Medicare… Continue Reading
02.16.23
Starting 2023 off Strong for Our Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families
by US Senator James Lankford
As a new Congress begins, I am prioritizing the key issues that are important to our service members, veterans, and their families. I introduced four bills to address these issues that are real solutions that can pass Congress and get signed by the President. Did you know almost half of active-duty families surveyed recently said spousal unemployment is an issue for them, and almost half of spouses reported they're not working but want a career? If you are in the military, you move around at th… Continue Reading
01.31.23
Lankford Continues to Push for Congress to be Held Accountable for Government Shutdowns
WASHINGTON, DC - Yesterday, Senator James Lankford (R-OK) introduced the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 2023, which would take government shutdowns off the table and force Congress to stay in town until the work is done. Supporters endorsing the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act include Citizens Against Government Waste, National Taxpayer Union (NTU), The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, America First Policy Institute, and Americans for Tax … Continue Reading
01.18.23
Chaos, Cartels, and Chinese Nationals at Our Southern Border
by By Senator James Lankford (R-OK)
Our southern border remains in chaos and in the grips of the cartels because the Biden Administration's goal for border security is to let more people into the country faster-not to actually secure our border and keep us safe. A day after Biden's three-hour choreographed trip to El Paso, I joined a bipartisan group of Senators on a deep dive on the real issues at our border. During our time in Texas and Arizona, we were briefed by the DEA, FBI, Border Patrol, local law enforcement, and communi… Continue Reading
12.12.22
Lankford, Colleagues Call for Improved Access to Brain Scans to Diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) along with Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Edward Markey (D-MA) sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure requesting reconsideration of the 2013 national coverage determination (NCD) brain imaging procedures used for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease. Specifically, the NCD restricts brain imaging for Medicare recipien… Continue Reading
12.12.22
A Christmas prayer for our nation
by James Lankford
Rather than a typical editorial, let us shift from the anger and struggle in our world to a focus on the only One who can calm the storm and give real Christmas cheer. Would you join me in prayer? Lord, we come to You with grateful hearts because we know You provide every good gift. You give wisdom when we ask for guidance, You give mercy when we ask for a new start You give protection when we are afraid, and You give hope when we humble ourselves and pray. You are the One who meets our needs.… Continue Reading
12.04.22
VIEWPOINT: Marriage bill is disrespectful of religious liberty
by Senator James Lankford
Marriage is an attraction, a union, a joyous relationship, a moral conviction, and a legal commitment all rolled into one. Marriage has great diversity in our society, but, based on our frequency of divorce, it also has a very high failure rate. Not everyone has the same view of, or dedication to, marriage. But for many people of faith in our nation, God's design for marriage is a core aspect of their faith, not a secondary doctrine. For centuries that view of marriage has not always been uphel… Continue Reading
10.25.22
So much for American energy independence
by Senator James Lankford
I remember staring out the window of my mom's brown Pontiac LeMans as we waited in a two-block-long line at the gas station during the 1970s oil embargo. Even as a kid, I understood energy independence would have alleviated the crisis in which we found ourselves. Since then, we have innovated our way to energy independence. Not too long ago, a Democratic President and climate change activist named Barack Obama signed a bill to lift a 40-year ban on crude oil exports after it passed the Republi… Continue Reading
08.24.22
More IRS Audits Are Coming for Americans at All Income Levels
by Senator James Lankford
The Democrats in DC finally noticed the high inflation in the United States - caused by their $2 trillion spending bill last year - so they passed a bill to spend even more on green energy, environmental workshops, and labor-union credits. I'm sure this will fix inflation right away. (That's sarcasm.) One of the core elements of the "Inflation Reduction Act" is adding billions of dollars of new spending for IRS audits on Americans of all income brackets. I'm not sure why Democrats believe more… Continue Reading
08.02.22
Biden's Wide Open Border Is Killing Oklahomans
by Senator James Lankford
Oklahomans have told me they don't hear much about the southern border anymore on the national news, so it must be better. I'm sorry to tell you, it's worse. The national media has just stopped covering it. I'll let you guess why. Almost every family in our state knows someone who has destroyed their life with illegal narcotics. Recently, I spoke to leadership in the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and multiple district attorneys about our state's drug issues. They all spoke about the rise of il… Continue Reading
06.08.22
Our Families Need Us
by Senator James Lankford
If our families are strong, our nation is strong. If our families are weak, our nation is weak. Nations struggle when families struggle; it's just that simple. We are more interconnected than ever through social media, but we are also more isolated than ever. Government cannot solve our isolation; only families can solve that kind of deep hurt and loss. We have hard issues to solve as a nation because we have heart issues to solve. The federal government will never be able to solve heart issue… Continue Reading
05.21.22
Peace through strength is the right decision in Ukraine
by By US Senator James Lankford
Reagan fought for eight years to ensure the breakup of the Soviet Union. Now, Putin is working to rebuild it. We should not sit idly by and think we will not suffer consequences if Russia takes over Ukraine and the Black Sea. Standing with Ukraine as they fight Putin's domination of Europe is in the best interest of the United States. The world-especially China and Iran-are watching what we do now. "Peace through strength" still matters. If America gets distracted from the war in Ukraine after … Continue Reading
04.04.22
Lankford: Democrats Are Trying to Avoid Responsibility for High Gas Prices by Blaming “Big Oil”
by By US Senator James Lankford
On the first day of the Biden presidency, he announced he would not permit the Keystone Pipeline to bring heavy crude oil from Canada, but we could purchase the same amount of heavy crude oil from Russia. How did that foreign policy decision work out? Every month of the Biden presidency, gas prices have gone up because he shut off pipeline expansion, closed off leasing federal lands for oil production, changed the rules for energy development, and announced he wanted a big tax increase on small… Continue Reading
03.17.22
Why is Biden afraid of COVID-19 natural immunity information?
by Senator James Lankford
Raise your hand if you had a COVID vaccination and also got COVID. I see those hands. If you got COVID after you got the shot, usually you hear that you didn't get a really bad case of COVID because you had increased immunity from the vaccine. But the Centers for Disease Control currently refuses to say you have increased immunity if you recovered from COVID even though everyone knows the obvious. When you have recovered once from COVID, your body is better prepared to recover again. The Oklaho… Continue Reading
01.20.22
Why we march for life each January in Washington
by US Senator James Lankford
Blessed is he who has regard for the weak... Psalm 41:1 Each January, tens of thousands of students and adults come to Washington, DC, in a beautiful display of compassion for the dignity and value of every human life, no matter how small. They march for life, and I'm proud to join them as we march and pray together to end abortion in America. Since the devastating Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade 49 years ago, major advancements in science have changed the conversation on abortion from "… Continue Reading
01.13.22
Getting the US government out of human trafficking for good
by By US Senator James Lankford
Unfortunately, coyote human smugglers in Central America, child traffickers in Central Asia, and forced labor in the center of our government are all happening today. This month, during Human Trafficking Awareness Month-and everyday-hundreds of nonprofits in the U.S. and around the world are saving adults and children from being trafficked for forced labor, sexual exploitation, or other forms of the disgusting practice of trading, buying, and selling human beings. The U.S. government and each Am… Continue Reading
12.12.21
We're the land of the free and home of the brave. Let's live like it.
by Senator James Lankford (R-OK)
Pop quiz: Can a U.S. president drop by a local store and fire the manager and the assistant manager, then go fire the gas station attendant, then fire the cook and two wait staff at a restaurant? If you said, "no," you passed the test. In China, North Korea or Venezuela, leaders may be able to impose their will on local businesses, but our president cannot and has not - at least not until recently. On Sept. 9, President Biden declared his patience was "wearing thin" with the American people and… Continue Reading
