Press Releases
Senator Lankford Statement on Rule to Ensure Faith-Based Organizations Can Partner with the Federal Government
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today issued a statement after the US Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced plans to clarify the civil rights protections for religious organizations that contract with the federal government. "This is an important clarification that is needed for Americans and faith-based organizations who exercise their constitutional right to live their faith when contracting with the federal government," sai… Continue Reading
08.14.19
Senators Lankford, Inhofe Praise Nomination of Jodi Dishman
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK) announced their support of President Trump's intent to nominate Jodi Dishman to serve as US District Court Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma. "Jodi's extensive experience makes her a well-qualified nominee to serve as a District Court Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma," said Lankford. "I thank her for accepting the call to serve our nation and state in this role, and I urge my colleagues to confirm her no… Continue Reading
08.14.19
Senators: Abolishing ICE would worsen child smuggling and other US-Mexico border problems
by Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA)
Last month we visited the Rio Grande Valley sector of our southern border near McAllen, Texas. We toured the Hidalgo Port of Entry - a large pedestrian access and processing point for individuals, families and unaccompanied minors. We saw the Donna Holding Facility, a large temporary facility for processing families who cross the border between the legal ports of entry. The Donna facility was added because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is limited in funding, so there is no place to … Continue Reading
08.08.19
Senators Lankford, Scott Introduce Bill to Protect Victims of Natural Disasters
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Today, Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Rick Scott (R-FL) announced the introduction of the Disaster Contract Transparency Act to improve the disaster contracting process on the federal, local, and state levels of government following natural disasters. The bill will protect victims of natural disasters by ensuring post-disaster services are delivered quickly and taxpayer dollars are spent solely on helping impacted communities. Last year, the Government Accountability Offi… Continue Reading
08.05.19
Senators Lankford, Coons Lead Letter on Concerns to Eliminate Refugee Cap
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Chris Coons (D-DE) led a bipartisan letter with Senators John Thune (R-SD), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Tina Smith (D-MN), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Thomas R. Carper (D-DE), Rob Portman (R-OH), Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Susan Collins (R-ME), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Ed Markey (D-MA) to the administration to express concern … Continue Reading
08.05.19
Senators Lankford, King Introduce Bill to Protect Small Businesses Ability to Franchise
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Angus King (I-ME) introduced the bipartisan Trademark Licensing Protection Act. The bill seeks to protect the franchise model by addressing the issue of what constitutes a joint employment relationship. It corrects a decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in which the Board reversed a 30-year standard that a business needs "direct and immediate" control over their subcontracted businesses or franchisees. This ruling ultimately… Continue Reading
08.01.19
Senator Lankford Statement on Raising the Debt Ceiling
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) issued the following statement on H.R. 3877, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019: "At $22 trillion in debt, even the most conservative of budget proposals include debt ceiling increases, but those moments must be used to confront the serious fiscal challenges facing our nation's future. We should have pursued a plan that includes a long-term proposal to address both our immediate fiscal challenges and a plan that ultimately consists of a way to pay… Continue Reading
08.01.19
Senators Lankford, Feinstein Want to Recognize September as Child Awareness Month
WASHINGTON, DC - Yesterday, the Senate passed a bipartisan resolution introduced by Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) designating September 2019 as "National Child Awareness Month." The resolution promotes the awareness of charities that benefit children and youth-serving organizations across the country. The resolution is also cosponsored by Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Doug Jones (D-AL), Mike Braun (R-IN), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), K… Continue Reading
07.31.19
Senator Lankford Praises Oklahoma’s Beauty Ahead of August Work Period
CLICK HERE to watch Lankford's floor speech. WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today spoke on the Senate floor about his plans for the upcoming August work period while the Senate is not in regular session. To encourage others to visit Oklahoma, he praised a number of specific locations he has been and will go in the state during his travels to connect with constituents and hear perspectives on the work before the Senate. Lankford plans to engage in a number of public events throu… Continue Reading
07.30.19
Senators Introduce Pro-Life Legislation to Save Human Embryos
WASHINGTON, DC - Oklahoma Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK), along with Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-SD), and Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced the Patients First Act, which would promote stem cell research without the creation, use, destruction, or discarding of human embryos. "Human life is sacred at every stage, regardless of a person's size or degree of dependency," said L… Continue Reading
07.30.19
Lankford Subcommittee Examines Improvements to Federal Workforce Hiring
WASHINGTON, DC - The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management, under the chairmanship of Senator James Lankford (R-OK), today held a hearing to examine "Solutions to Improve Federal Hiring." The witnesses at today's hearing included Government Accountability Office (GAO) Strategic Issues Team Director, Yvonne D. Jones, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Chief Human Capital Officer, Angela Baily, and Department of Veterans Affairs Ass… Continue Reading
07.30.19
Senator Lankford Questions Acting CBP Commissioner
CLICK HERE to watch Lankford's Q&A. WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today questioned Acting US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan in a Homeland Security Committee hearing about the causes of some of the overcrowding issues at our southern border facilities. Morgan identified that funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is currently inadequate. Lankford also questioned Morgan about the current legal loophole in our system caused by the F… Continue Reading
07.30.19
Senators Lankford, Hassan Applaud Passage of Bill to Improve Federal Government’s Customer Service
WASHINGTON, DC - The Senate passed the Federal Agency Customer Experience (FACE) Act of 2019, a bipartisan bill, introduced by Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH), to better assess and improve the customer service experience for Americans dealing with federal agencies. "Attention to customer service is an important part of improving the federal government's interaction with the public it serves," said Lankford. "The commonsense, bipartisan, bicameral FACE Act gives federal a… Continue Reading
07.26.19
Senator Lankford on the Frontlines of US-Mexico Border
CLICK HERE to view the video OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) released a video to show his trip to the US-Mexico border on Sunday. During the video, Lankford outlines the care that Customs and Border Protection is providing, how Mexican cartels are manipulating loopholes in US immigration laws to smuggle people into the country, a ride-a-long with CBP, and solutions needed to address the crisis at the border. On Sunday, July 21, 2019, Lankford toured the Rio Grande Valley se… Continue Reading
07.25.19
Senators Lankford, Hassan Continue Work to End Government Shutdowns
WASHINGTON, DC - Yesterday, Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) discussed their bipartisan legislation to end government shutdowns on a conference call with members of Fix the Debt, an organization that brings together Americans on both sides of the aisle to promote fiscal responsibility. Lankford and Hassan discussed their bipartisan Prevent Government Shutdowns Act, which would prevent future shutdowns by providing automatic funding to keep the government open and keep Mem… Continue Reading
07.25.19
Senator Lankford Introduces Two More Bipartisan Bills to Lower Prescription Drug Prices
WASHINGTON, DC -Senator James Lankford (R-OK) joined Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) to introduce a package of bipartisan bills to lower the price of prescription drugs. Lankford and Cassidy introduced the Transparency for Pharmacists Act and the Right Price for Medicare Act with Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Steve Daines (R-MT), John Tester (D-MT), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). "These important bipartisan drug price transparency bills represent first steps to actua… Continue Reading
07.25.19
Senator Lankford Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Cut Costs of Prescription Drugs
WASHINGTON, DC - Senators James Lankford (R-OK), John Kennedy (R-LA), Jon Tester (D-MT), Bill Cassidy M.D. (R-LA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced the bipartisan Phair Relief Act to lower drug costs for seniors and improve financial certainty for community pharmacies. "The Phair Relief Act gives us the chance to resolve in law many of the issues we've de… Continue Reading
07.24.19
Senator Lankford Stresses Support for Border Agents after Trip to US-Mexico Border
CLICK HERE to watch Lankford's floor speech. WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today offered a speech on the Senate floor detailing his oversight trip to the southern border on July 21. Lankford began his speech by telling the story of a three-year-old migrant boy who was found at the US-Mexico border alone after he was used to smuggle people over the border by the cartels, and the only information available about the child when he was apprehended by Border Patrol was a name and ph… Continue Reading
07.24.19
Senator Lankford Bills Promoting Government Transparency Pass Committee
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford's (R-OK) bipartisan, bicameral government transparency bill, The Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act (S. 2177), passed out of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) today. The bill would require the federal government to make public the details, costs, and assessments related to every federal program. Currently, taxpayers send their hard-earned dollars to Washington and never really know how they are used, where they go, and the effective… Continue Reading
07.24.19
Countdown to Ending Government Shutdowns
by By Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH)
It's a sad but true reality: Congress functions best on a deadline. In theory, when Congress established the annual budget and appropriations process in 1974 it gave itself a number of deadlines to set a budget and fund the government. The problem is Congress has only met those deadlines four times since 1974. You've probably seen the "Countdown to Shut Down" clocks on the major news networks as the nation waits impatiently for Congress to fund the government, usually in late September or right… Continue Reading
