Press Releases
Lankford Urges CMS to Lower Prescription Drug Costs for Seniors
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) joined his colleagues to send a letter urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to either work with Congress to eliminate direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees to help lower prescription drug prices for Medicare Part D beneficiaries or take administrative action to address the problem. "We write today to discuss our serious concerns about the impact direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees are having on the cost of dr… Continue Reading
10.15.21
Lankford Urges CMS to Lower Prescription Drug Costs for Seniors
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) joined his colleagues to send a letter urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to either work with Congress to eliminate direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees to help lower prescription drug prices for Medicare Part D beneficiaries or take administrative action to address the problem. "We write today to discuss our serious concerns about the impact direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees are having on the cost of dr… Continue Reading
10.07.21
Lankford: Democrats Should be Responsible for Their Reckless Spending
WASHINGTON, DC -Senator James Lankford (R-OK) issued the following statement on the vote to increase the debt limit: "I have been clear since July-I will not support a debt ceiling increase while President Biden and Democrats continue their reckless, partisan spending spree. Democrats want to increase the debt limit today then spend an amount to be determined later in the days ahead. The American people are already facing increased costs on goods from the excessive spending earlier this year. … Continue Reading
10.07.21
Lankford Offers Oklahoma Service Members’ Ideas to Modernize Federal Hiring and Contracting Processes
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK), lead Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Governmental Operations and Border Management, today introduced the Department of Defense (DOD) Improved Hiring Act and the Service Contract Modernization Act, two bills aimed at updating and modernizing federal hiring and contracting practices. "I have engaged directly with Oklahoma military installations on ways we can improve their ability to get the best a… Continue Reading
10.07.21
Lankford Focuses on State-led Approach to Caring for Public Lands that Protects Private Property
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) joined Congressional Western Caucus and Senate Western Caucus Members to unveil an alternative to the Biden Administration's "30 by 30 initiative" and America the Beautiful report, known as the Western Conservation Principles. The Members' approach is a blueprint for responsible, effective conservation supported by rural communities across the United States. "We do not need new vague and lofty conservation campaign promises; we need state-led poli… Continue Reading
10.06.21
Lankford, Cornyn Press DHS for Answers on Haitian Migrants Being Released into the US
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) joined Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) to lead a group of 38 Senators asking Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to address reports that thousands of migrants in Del Rio, Texas, were released into the interior of the US instead of facing removal as the Administration had previously pledged. The Senators wrote, "…we are concerned that DHS did not actually carry out this plan, deployed resources in a manner that weakened border secur… Continue Reading
10.06.21
Lankford Holds Biden Responsible for Ignoring National Security Crisis at the Southern Border
CLICK HERE to watch Lankford's remarks on YouTube. WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK), the lead Republican on the Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management, today participated in a press conference to discuss the ongoing crisis at the southern border that Biden continues to ignore. Lankford is demanding Biden finish the border wall, enforce our laws, and stop allowing individuals to illegally cross our border, enter our country and the… Continue Reading
10.06.21
Lankford Pushes Back on Biden For Using Taxpayer Dollars for Abortion
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today issued a statement on the Biden Administration's final rule that will direct Title X Family Planning grants to abortion providers. "This step by President Biden is yet another example of how he is the most pro-abortion president in our nation's history," said Lankford. "It is illegal for Title X grants to be used for abortion, and under President Trump that was rightly enforced. Nevertheless, President Biden and Secretary Becerra have shown t… Continue Reading
10.05.21
Lankford, Toomey Prevent Presidential Abuse of “National Security” Tariffs
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) joined Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) to introduce legislation to prevent presidential abuse of "national security" tariffs by reinstating congressional authority over trade. The Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act would make any presidentially proposed tariffs or quotas applied for national security purposes (via Section 232 authority) subject to review and approval by Congress prior to taking effect. Joining Lankford, T… Continue Reading
10.05.21
Lankford Wants US to Take Action to Stop Energy Dependence on China
CLICK HERE to watch Lankford's Q&A on YouTube. WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today participated in a Senate Energy and Natural Resources hearing to examine and consider updates to the Mining Law of 1872. Lankford's questions focused on the ways Biden's policies on US domestic mineral development as well as ways the long US permitting process for mines, which can take up to 10 years, is deterring US investment in rare earth and critical minerals and encouraging dependence on… Continue Reading
10.04.21
Lankford, Colleagues Want to Establish Strategy to Prevent Alzheimer’s, Dementia-Related Diseases
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) led a bipartisan group of senators in sending a letter to US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, urging him to establish an ambitious national goal to prevent Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and to develop a plan to achieve this goal. The senators wrote, "Alzheimer's disease is a public health crisis that is expanding, with a projected increase to nearly 14 mill… Continue Reading
10.01.21
Lankford Offers Prayer to Open Run to Remember
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) issued the following statement today ahead of joining thousands of Oklahomans at the Run to Remember in Oklahoma City to honor those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever by the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building: "It is always moving to see thousands of athletes and their families remembering what happened that day in April 1995 but also living in the great state that rose out of the ashes of domestic … Continue Reading
10.01.21
Lankford Stands Up for Border Patrol and ICE Personnel
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Following the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) release of its long-awaited "Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law," Senator James Lankford (R-OK) expressed support for our law enforcement personnel who have told him they feel they are "handcuffed" by DHS leadership who tells them what immigration laws they can and can't enforce. The new guidelines, which refer to illegal immigrants as simply "noncitizens," replace the interim priorities issued by Immi… Continue Reading
09.30.21
Lankford Slams Democrats’ Out-of-touch Progressive Policy Push
CLICK HERE to watch Lankford's remarks on YouTube. WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today spoke on the Senate floor to rail against the Democrats' out-of-touch progressive policy push while the rest of the nation and the world are dealing with huge issues largely being ignored or bungled by the Biden Administration and congressional Democrats. Lankford highlighted the head-shaking nomination of climate extremist Tracy Stone-Manning to lead the Bureau of Land Management, Biden's … Continue Reading
09.30.21
Lankford A ‘No’ on Continuing Resolution, Again
WASHINGTON, DC -Senator James Lankford (R-OK) issued the following statement after the Democrats' continuing resolution (CR) passed the Senate. While the latest version does not include raising the debt ceiling, Lankford has been clear that we must make real reforms to address Congress's spending process and our ballooning national debt, and this bill does not do that: "Today is the annual deadline for Congress to pass funding for the next fiscal year. Once again there was no debate about ho… Continue Reading
09.30.21
Lankford Pushes to Hold Erdogan Accountable
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today led his colleagues in a letter urging President Biden to hold Turkey's President Erdogan accountable for his recent efforts to disenfranchise Turkey's Kurdish population, undercut political pluralism in the country, and tighten his grip on power through anti-democratic means. The Senators wrote, "We write with deep concern regarding the Turkish Constitutional Court's June 2021 decision to accept an indictment against the Peoples' Democratic P… Continue Reading
09.30.21
Lankford Calls Out Harmful Marriage Penalties in Democrats’ “Human Infrastructure” Bill
WASHINGTON, DC - In response to the harmful tax penalties for married couples included in the Democrats' "Human Infrastructure" bill, Senator James Lankford (R-OK), led by Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT), today sent a letter along with several of their colleagues urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) to remove any proposals that would discourage marriage. "Federal policy should be designed to foster strong marriages, which are th… Continue Reading
09.28.21
Lankford Says Getting Americans Back to Work is Best for Our Nation, Not More Entitlements
CLICK HERE to watch Lankford's remarks on YouTube. WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today spoke on the Senate floor about the value of work in the US and the negative effects that will come from the Democrats' tax-and-spend progressive agenda, which will make Americans more reliant on government entitlement programs instead of hard work. Lankford remains steadfast that work is the answer to solving generational poverty and that increased reliance on the government is what keeps fa… Continue Reading
09.28.21
Lankford Introduces the Stop Vaccine Mandates Act
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today introduced the Stop Vaccine Mandates Act to repeal President Biden's Executive Order which mandates vaccines for federal employees and federal contractors. "President Biden's Executive Order excessively exceeded his power. Every American should be able to make the decisions that are best for them and their families. My family made the choice to get the vaccine and I encourage every Oklahoman to get vaccinated, but no American should be force… Continue Reading
09.28.21
Lankford Joins Colleagues to Urge Democrats to Abandon Proposal that Compromises Americans’ Financial Information
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) joined Senators John Thune (R-SD), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Pat Toomey (R-PA) along with 21 Republican senators to urge Leader Schumer to abandon the Biden Administration's unprecedented proposal to expand the reporting of the private, confidential financial data of law-abiding Americans from financial institutions to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The Administration's proposal would force financial institutions to report customer information suc… Continue Reading
