Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) released a video Thursday night reminding the nation that the Republican Party is the party of legal immigration.

The video includes clips from a 2018 naturalization ceremony in Oklahoma City to illustrate the importance of legal immigration in the United States.

Lankford has previously introduced legislation to protect DREAMERS. This past week he introduced legislation to end the separating of families at the Mexican-American border.

​“This afternoon, if you want to apply for any job in the country, you can. You’re an American. You can buy any place. You can live anywhere. You can travel anywhere. You can go to any house of worship you choose to go to…because you’re in America,” Lankford says in the video, welcoming the naturalized citizens to their new home.

Read the complete story from themaven.net

Senator James Lankford speaks on the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot at the John Hope Franklin Symposium https://t.co/g3TuhQUg3B

— Sen. James Lankford (@SenatorLankford) June 1, 2018

https://www.pscp.tv/SenatorLankford/1YqKDdkkNkYKV?t

Sen. James Lankford Joins OK Faith Leaders in Opposing SQ 788

Today, a grassroots and broad-based coalition of Oklahoma’s faith leaders announced their opposition to State Question 788, a ballot referendum that would legalize the commercialization and sale of medical marijuana in Oklahoma. The measure will be on the June 26 statewide ballot.

More than 100 of Oklahoma’s clergy form the coalition to defeat SQ 788 because they believe it will be harmful to the social fabric of Oklahoma, including families and businesses.

U.S. Senator James Lankford is a member of the group. He is concerned about the risks marijuana poses, especially to families and our economy.

“This state question is being sold to Oklahomans as a compassionate medical marijuana bill by outside groups that actually want access to recreational marijuana. Most of us have seen first-hand the damage done to families and our communities from recreational marijuana use,” Sen. Lankford said.

“This is a moment when we should work to make our state stronger, healthier and more economically sound, not more drug addicted and distracted. No one will convince me that our families will be better if only more parents and grandparents smoke more marijuana.”

“Our workplaces will not be more productive and safe when more people smoke marijuana in and around the workplace. Our universities will not be more successful with more marijuana use on campus. Our schools and our kids will not be better educated if more parents and grandparents smoke more marijuana, even if it does increase tax revenue. It is a sad sign of our culture when marijuana lobbyists and users can push increased access to marijuana as a supposed benefit for our kids.”

Paul Abner is director of Oklahoma Faith Leaders, a group who is part of the multi-faith coalition against SQ 788. He says SQ 788 is not about medical marijuana, but is a much more expansive bill that will have adverse side effects and an affiliation with crime.

“We need to recognize State Question 788 for what it is – NOT medical marijuana,” said Abner. “Under the language of the state question, marijuana can be prescribed to an 18-year-old complaining of a toothache. I’m against this bill – not because I don’t have compassion for people dealing with painful illnesses – but because of the broad nature of this bill and the drugs’ negative impact on our communities and families.”

Oklahoma’s faith leaders say that they don’t want the harmful consequences of legalizing this drug seen in other states, like increased incidents of drugged driving and more kids using marijuana.

“State Question 788 will do much more than offer a path to medical marijuana,” said Archbishop Paul Coakley of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. “The way the measure is written, we believe it threatens far more unintended consequences than solutions. Medical marijuana is a serious policy proposal that requires thorough investigation and debate. We must oppose State Question 788 and any similar measure until full consideration can be given to this subject.”

Abner said that his group is concerned with the fact that in SQ 788, there is no medical illness requirement in order to obtain a prescription – so an 18-year-old with a headache could receive a license to possess marijuana.

“None of us can sustain the sound minds and healthy bodies God desires us to have when we place ourselves under the controlling influence of something other than his Spirit. If this state question passes, we have no ability to stop someone from using marijuana in public places, exposing even children to second-hand marijuana smoke, because it elevates the status of marijuana to a medicine.

“State Question 788 is recreational marijuana disguised as medical marijuana and why we say this state question should absolutely not pass,” Abner said.

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Senator Lankford Responds to Senator Schumer’s Hypocrisy on Gridlock Reform Rules Proposal
Lankford: “The rules proposal that the Minority Leader is opposing is the exact same rules proposal that he actually voted for in 2013”

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today delivered a floor speech in response to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) criticism of Lankford’s gridlock reform Senate rules change resolution (S. Res. 355), which will be voted on in the Rules Committee tomorrow. In 2013, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced this same resolution solely for the duration of the 113th Congress (2013-2014); it passed with bipartisan support, 78-16 and was supported by nearly every Democrat, including Senator Schumer. Today, Senator Schumer opposes the exact proposal he touted just five years ago.

Currently, Senate Democrats have slowed down the Senate and forced cloture votes on 85 Trump administration nominees, forcing prolonged debate before the Senate confirmed them. The previous four Presidents combined had only 15 nominees confirmed after a cloture vote at this point in their terms. As of today, there are currently 139 executive, 57 district court, and 10 circuit court nominations waiting for Senate confirmation.

To permanently improve the efficiency of the Senate and confirm more nominees, Lankford’s resolution would simply reduce debate time for most executive branch nominees from 30 hours down to eight hours, and district court nominees from 30 hours to two hours. The resolution maintains the 30 hours of post-cloture debate time for Supreme Court, Circuit Court, and Cabinet-level nominees.

Excerpts:

(00:00-1:49) Mr. President, earlier today, the Minority Leader came to the floor to talk about multiple issues. During that conversation, he called me out by name and a rules proposal that I have in front of the Rules Committee this week, saying he vehemently disagrees with that rules proposal, and he mentioned even that he knows I came here in 2014 and I should study the history of the Senate a little bit more before I bring up a rules proposal. Well, I would only tell you, I have studied the history a little bit and would like to get a little bit of context around those comments. The rules proposal that the Minority Leader is opposing is the exact same rules proposal that he actually voted for in 2013 when he was on the Rules Committee and then voted for again when it came to the floor of the Senate. This is not some radical proposal. Democrats in 2013 found it intolerable what was happening with the nomination process. And so at the beginning of 2013, they worked with Republicans and said, we need to be able to put a structure in place to be able to get nominations through because a President should be able to have his staff put in place and there shouldn’t be an arbitrary slowdown through that process. Republicans came on board, even during a very contentious time as Republicans did not agree with the policies of President Obama and said we would agree. With a vote of 78 total votes, 78 votes on the floor of the Senate, a rule change was made that was proposed by Senator Reid, supported by Senator Schumer, supported by Senator McConnell to say this is a rule change that would go into place. It was a very simple rule.

(2:58-3:48) Fast forward to today. Today we have a historic new precedent that’s been set for any President coming in. That was absolutely not done by Republicans in the past and it was absolutely not done by Democrats in the past. But it is being done now. Right now, there are 67 judges pending and 139 executive nominees pending. 139. In just the past year and a few months, Democrats have requested 85 cloture votes. That is asking for an additional 30 hours of debate time. And they can say well, these nominees need to be vetted. These are all nominees that have already gone through the committee process, have already waited in line. There’s been a tremendous amount of invest of vetting.

(8:01-8:50) If there’s another proposal that we can have, I’m glad to be able to have that conversation. I’m not looking to make it contentious. I’m trying to actually solve a bad precedent. Because the precedent that’s now been set by the minority party right now will be the new precedent when the next President comes. So the next time there’s a Democrat President, I can assure you Republicans will say, well, we’ll just do the same thing Democrats did to the Republican president. We’ll do to the next Democrat President. And year after year this toxic environment gets worse. The only way to dial the volume back is to actually fix the rules, to be able to make sure they stay fair for everyone. Again, this is not a partisan move for me. This is trying to get the Senate to actually function and work again.

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U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, the Tulsa Republican whose nomination to lead NASA has hung in the balance for seven months, narrowly overcame a major procedural hurdle in the Senate on Wednesday, setting the stage for a final confirmation vote later this week.

The Senate voted 50-48 along party lines. A final vote is expected Thursday afternoon.

Wednesday’s vote carried some unexpected drama after Sen. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, initially voted against Bridenstine’s nomination, threatening to doom it. Senate leaders kept the vote open for an hour and Flake later changed his vote.

Bridenstine was first nominated for the position last September and nominated again in January, but Senate Republicans have struggled to find the votes needed to confirm him. He has faced unanimous opposition from Senate Democrats, as well as from Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, of Florida.

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

MARCH 17, 2018

WASHINGTON — The headline speakers at the Conservative Political Action Conference’s annual showcase, the Ronald Reagan Dinner, have historically been rising stars in the Republican Party — firebrand pundits, prominent activists, future presidential candidates.

Last month, it was Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

In the past year, Mr. Pruitt has emerged as a hero to President Trump’s supporters for his hand in rolling back environmental rules at an agency long disliked by farmers, the fossil fuel industry and the far right. And he has occasionally shocked his employees by criticizing the very agency he heads.

“It was an agency that was weaponized against certain sectors of the economy,” Mr. Pruitt said to applause at the Reagan dinner.

Now, people close to Mr. Pruitt say he is using his perch as Mr. Trump’s deregulatory czar to position himself for further political prominence — starting with a run for office in his home state of Oklahoma. He is widely viewed as a future candidate for senator or governor there, and Mr. Pruitt has made it known that if the president replaces his beleaguered attorney general, Jeff Sessions, he would be ready to step into the job.

Read the complete story on nytimes.com

INHOFE, LANKFORD, MULLIN AND RUSSELL INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO IMPROVE VETERAN HEALTH CARE

OKLAHOMA CITY – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Congressman Markwayne Mullin (OK-02) held a press conference at the Oklahoma City VA today where they were joined by local veteran Pete Peterson, Oklahoma City VA Director Wade Vlosich and Muskogee VA Director Mark Morgan. Together, they announced a new initiative to help each of Oklahoma’s VA facilities achieve a five star rating, indicating they are the two of the highest performing VA facilities in the country.

Additionally, Sen. Inhofe and Congressman Mullin announced they were introducing legislation, cosponsored by Sen. Lankford and Rep. Russell, to require all VA Medical Centers to present a plan to reach five star ratings.

“In the past few years, we’ve made significant progress to improve the standard of care our veterans receive by installing and empowering new leadership and promoting greater transparency. I’m proud of our VA directors and the culture of improvement and accountability they have built. I’m eager to work with them and get them any tools or authorities they need to reach a five star-status,” Sen. Inhofe said. “By saying that we’re going to aim for the highest rating, all of us here today are committing to a culture of continuous improvement at the VA. Our legislation, which would require all VA facilities to submit a plan of how to achieve a five-star rating, would seek to instill that same attitude in VAs around the country so that our veterans receive the best care possible.”

“The men and women who have fearlessly served our nation deserve first-class, or in this case, 5-star health care,” said Sen. Lankford. “The requirement for a specific improvement plan proposed in this bill will assist the VA to achieve the care that our military men and women deserve, and I’m honored to partner with Senator Inhofe, Congressman Mullin and Congressman Russell to introduce a plan that helps the nation’s VA health care facilities continue to improve.”

“Our nation’s veterans deserve five star care no matter which VA health care facility they choose,” said Rep. Mullin.“I’m proud to help introduce legislation that brings greater accountability to the VA facilities serving our veterans. The VA Medical Center Improvement Act instructs underperforming VA facilities to devise a plan to deliver better health care to our veterans.  The VA should consistently strive to improve and modernize the care our veterans receive and I’m grateful this piece of legislation brings us one step closer to high quality health care for all of our veterans.”

“Having served for 21 years in the Army, I know firsthand how much our soldiers sacrifice in defense of our republic,” Rep. Russell said. “Our veterans deserve the very best medical care; anything less than the highest standard is unacceptable. S. ___ will push our VA medical facilities to deliver the quality of care that our veterans deserve. I’m proud to support this important legislation, and will be introducing a companion bill in the House.”

Background about the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Ratings:

The Veterans Health Administration uses a unified system for summarizing hospital system performance at individual VA Medical Centers based on 25 quality measures that include complications, patient satisfaction, wait times and staff turnover. The VA Medical Centers are evaluated then awarded ratings, on a scale of 1-5 based both on their relative performance to other VA facilities as well as on year-to-year improvement. While the relative nature of the star system means not every facility will be able to achieve the highest rating, the legislation being introduced seeks to raise the level of patient care across the board by increasing competition for the highest level of ratings.

View Press Packet Here.

Background on Sen. Inhofe’s work to improve veteran health care:

·         On Nov. 30, 2015, VISN 19 sent two teams to investigate operations at the Muskogee VA center, one that looked at quality of care and the other that looked at management of the facility. Their visits resulted in the immediate shut down of intermediate surgeries at the Muskogee facility due to issues that were discovered. It also prompted the removal of the facility’s Chief of Staff on Feb. 9.

·         On Dec. 23, 2015, Inhofe contacted VISN 19 Network Director Ralph Gigliotti and requested his personal assistance in ensuring proper care is provided to the five veterans identified in the Dec. 23, 2015, USA Today article.

·         In January 2016, Inhofe requested that the VA IG visit Oklahoma VA facilities with a third party entity since past VA IG reports had not indicated any problems in Oklahoma’s VA facilities. This request was denied.

·         On Feb 1, 2016, Inhofe placed a hold on the Veterans Affairs Inspector General nominee until the VA agreed to send an outside entity to investigate Oklahoma’s VA facilities.

·         On Feb. 12, 2016, Inhofe and Lankford introduced S. 2554, the Veterans Affairs Accountability Act, which would give authority to the Secretary of the VA to remove or demote a VA employee based on performance or misconduct and allow independent, third party oversight at VA facilities.

·         On Feb. 23, 2017, Sen. Inhofe announced on the Senate floor that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has committed in writing to conduct investigations of Oklahoma’s VA hospitals in coordination with an outside entity, a condition made by Inhofe prior to allowing confirmation of the VA Inspector General nominee.

·         On June 23, 2017, President Trump signed S. 1094 the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act into law. This bill gives greater authority to VA directors to fire poorly performing employees. This legislation contained portions of S.2554, which Inhofe introduced the previous year.

·         On July 10, 2017 the VA IG released a report following an investigation of the Muskogee VA that was done in conjunction with a third party, the Joint Commission. The report provided over 20 recommendations to improve the facility and care provided, which Director Mark Morgan committed to implementing.

·         On August 14, 2017, President Trump signed S.114, to extend the Veterans Choice Program.

·         On November 2, 2017 the VA IG released a report following an investigation of the Oklahoma City VA that was done in conjunction with a third party, the Joint Commission. The report provided over 20 recommendations to improve the facility and care provided, which Director Wade Vlosich committed to implementing.

·         On December 20, 2017, President Trump signed S.1266, the Enhancing Veterans Care Act. Sen. Inhofe, Sen. Lankford and Rep. Mullin, authored this legislation to provide greater accountability and allow independent oversight at Veterans Affairs facilities, which was a core component of the legislation they introduced on February 12, 2016, S. 2554.

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Senator Lankford Announces New Chief of Staff and Legislative Director

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today announced two senior staff changes; Michelle Altman has been promoted to Chief of Staff and Sarah Seitz has been promoted to Legislative Director. In December, President Trump nominated Retired Rear Admiral Gregory Slavonic to be the Assistant Secretary of the Navy after serving for four years as Lankford’s Chief of Staff.

“Michelle Altman and Sarah Seitz are highly qualified for these tasks, and I am confident they will serve the people of Oklahoma very well,” said Lankford. “Michelle has a long history of leadership in Oklahoma public service, and Sarah has a wealth of knowledge and talent for getting things done in Washington, DC. I could not be more excited about these promotions.”

For the last seven years, Altman has worked with Lankford, rising to Legislative Director and Deputy Chief of Staff while he was a US Representative for the 5th Congressional District of Oklahoma. Before joining Lankford’s staff, she worked for then-Congresswoman Mary Fallin starting in 2007. Altman graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania.

Seitz joined Lankford’s office as Legislative Counsel in January 2015 when he began his term in the US Senate. Before that, she worked in the office of US Representative Randy Forbes for six years. From 2007-2009, Seitz worked for a religious liberty law firm. Seitz received an undergraduate degree from Penn State University and a Juris Doctor from Liberty University School of Law.

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As a doctor, I investigated the root cause of problems. Some doctors have fallen into the trap of just treating symptoms — this is the major reason for the overdose epidemic.

In government, the prime way politicians, bureaucrats and some advocates approach government is to throw your hard-earned money at it. The answer to state government’s failures isn’t more money — it’s fiscally responsible governance.

Recurring revenues have been raised more than $700 million the past several years. State reports show the budget gap at less than $200 million. State government operational dysfunction abounds — for example, the scandal of at least $30 million squandered at the state Health Department. Oklahomans are striving to get out of a recession. Working Oklahomans need $800 million in annual tax increases like a hemorrhaging patient needs leeches.

Opportunities are numerous for fiscally responsible governance, so tax increases are unnecessary. Robust Medicaid enrollment audits are saving states billions — Oklahoma can implement this and save more than $80 million in state-share funds annually.

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

Senator Lankford Chief of Staff Nominated Assistant Secretary of the Navy

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today applauded the President’s nomination of Retired Rear Admiral Gregory Slavonic to be the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Slavonic is a native Oklahoman and currently serves as Chief of Staff in the Office of Senator Lankford.

“Rear Admiral Greg Slavonic is the model of public service. He has dutifully served our nation in the Navy, and he has served the people of Oklahoma as my Chief of Staff. He has been nominated to serve our country again in the Department of Defense. I am very proud of his long career and dedication to this nation. Greg has been my Chief of Staff for three years. His leadership will be missed on our team, but he will be a tremendous asset to the Navy. I fully support his nomination and look forward to Greg continuing his distinguished career as Assistant Secretary of the Navy.”

Prior to Slavonic’s role in Lankford’s office, he was a senior leader at the Computer Sciences Corporation, where he planned and executed several nationwide US Navy community outreach engagements. He also served as Executive Director of the Jim Thorpe Association; and as President of Flagbridge Strategic Communications, a consulting company focused on strategic communications and leadership. Mr. Slavonic retired from the US Navy after a 34-year career, where he originally enlisted as a Seaman Recruit and, after repeatedly distinguishing himself, was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral. During his Navy career, he held four command assignments, served in combat deployments to Vietnam, Operation Desert Shield/Storm, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and was awarded numerous decorations including the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Presidential Unit Citation, and Combat Action Ribbon. Mr. Slavonic earned a BS from Oklahoma State University and M.Ed. from the University of Central Oklahoma, where he was recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award.

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After three decades of dealing with our horribly broken tax code, Congress is on the brink of providing a major victory to businesses of all sizes in Oklahoma with its comprehensive tax reform legislation. Every business owner should thank our very own Senator James Lankford for helping to pass tax reform legislation in the Senate and paving the way for this new pro-growth tax code.

Currently, businesses in Oklahoma have to contend with a great deal of red tape simply to pay their taxes and they are often charged rates that are unfairly too high. Millions of dollars and thousands of hours are wasted every year by business owners wading through our mess of a code. What’s even more frustrating is that the rates charged by the current code make our businesses uncompetitive and limits their ability to go out and hire more employees.

The GOP tax plan will go a long way to fixing this issue. I am encouraged to see that Senator Lankford is in favor of tax reform and I urge him to vote for this once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix the tax code when the House and Senate agree on the final legislation.

— Brenda Jones Barwick, APR, Owner of Jones Public Relations

Senator Lankford Releases Federal Fumbles Vol. 3

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today released his annual government waste and solutions report. This is the third volume of Lankford’s report entitled, Federal Fumbles: 100 ways the government dropped the ball. The report lists $473.6 billion in wasteful and inefficient federal spending, but also lists solutions to each of the examples of government waste. The current United States federal debt is $20.49 trillion. The one-year deficit for Fiscal Year 2017 was $666 billion. CLICK HERE to access the report.

“During 2017, we’ve worked to roll back wasteful spending and a number of harmful and burdensome regulations from the two previous Federal Fumbles reports,” said Lankford. “The outrageous federal deficit remains too high. Unfortunately, Washington, DC seems to be distracted and the deficit has started increasing again. Our $20 trillion national debt will continue to increase until we implement spending cuts, government reforms, and create a healthy economy. This Federal Fumbles report provides commonsense examples of ways to limit our spending and fix government inefficiency. Every American should have access to how their tax dollars are spent. Congress should pass my Taxpayers Right to Know Act to give each American the opportunity to see how their hard-earned tax dollars are spent.”

Lankford released the report at a press conference in Washington, DC this morning. CLICK HERE to play video.

Excerpts from Press Conference:

On the importance of addressing the debt and deficit:

This book is designed to be a reminder that we still have an issue with debt and deficit in America. For some reason, the conversation has slowed on the issue of debt and deficit. It should not. This should be an ongoing part of our conversation. Starting in 2010 when our deficit was 1.4 trillion dollars, it was an epic deficit that caught the nation’s attention because it had grown so incredibly large. Since 2011, that deficit has gone down every single year until 2016, starting in 2016 the deficit started increasing again and increased again from 2016 to 2017. We have got to pay attention to debt and deficit. It needs to be a part of our ongoing discussion. So we released out this resource again as a set of ideas to say, If we are going to get control of our spending, if we’re going to manage our economy and our spending better, there are specific ways to do it. 

On fixing duplication and inefficiency:

We put out something called the Taxpayers Right to Know because every year we talk about duplication and every year we talk again about duplication from the previous year. It just keeps going on and on. Six years ago, I put out the Taxpayers Right to Know in the House of Representatives. We will continue to carry that here. It passed unanimously in the House of Representatives. It’s being held up in the Senate to be able to move. It’s a very simple straightforward piece. You can’t tell where there’s duplication in government until you go to GAO and do a request for them to study a specific area. Eighteen months later, they come back and give you the information on that particular slice where there’s duplication. That should be something you can do and eighteen seconds rather than eighteen months, we should be able to see from every single agency what they do. Right now the new cabinet officials cannot tell you everything the agency does. There is no master list. You can’t deal with duplication if you can’t see the duplication. That’s an area we have to fix structurally.

On Federal Fumbles providing solutions to spending problems:

We are trying to give some specific examples, again it’s not intended to be the big one. But if we are going to deal with deficit we have to be able to address it. We have to think about it and talk about it and find ways to solve it. There are things we need to spend money on. There’s also things we don’t need to spend money on and there’s some things we need to stop doing or start doing if this is ever going to turn around.

On tax reform:

There is a broad need for tax reform. I’m not opposed to tax reform, we just need to make sure when we do it, we do it right because we won’t get this again for another 30 years or so. When it’s done we need to build in basic protections for the just-in-case options and we also need to make realistic presentations with it. … There are already changes going through as there have been a lot of conversations with multiple members. The conversations have all been productive. No one is pushing back. No one is saying ‘No we don’t want to do this.’ It’s just how do we get it done, how do we work through the parliamentary process and what’s the best way to do that.

Examples of Legislative Victories from 2015 & 2016 Federal Fumbles Reports:

1. EPA Power Grab: Final “Waters of the United States” Rule (2015, page 57) – In June 2017, the EPA announced plans to repeal the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. Lankford has consistently pushed the EPA to work with states and Tribal governments, as it had done for decades, to decide who has regulatory authority over waterways.

2. It’s Midnight in America (2016, page 26) – Throughout 2017, Congress worked to repeal many of the burdensome regulations put in place toward the end of the Obama Administration. In total, congressional action reduced the regulatory burden by $3.7 billion and saved American businesses and taxpayers more than 4.2 million hours completing paperwork.

3. Freeze on new regulations – A number of burdensome regulations were highlighted in the last two editions of Federal Fumbles. This year, the Trump Administration has reduced the regulatory burden on the economy by $22 million and managed to eliminate 16 old regulations.

4. DOJ’s Slush Fund (2016, page 42) – A 2016 Fumble pointed out that settlements reached between defendants and the DOJ often went to groups that were “favored activist groups that would not otherwise receive federal money as the DOJ leadership would like.” In 2017, the DOJ implemented Lankford’s reform that ends this litigation slush fund.

5. To Advertise or Not To Advertise? That Is The Question. (2015, page 61) – In the past, the FCC would not allow non-commercial education public channels to raise funds necessary for continuous operations. In 2017, the FCC announced it would relax that rule and allow these stations to dedicate a percentage of their annual airtime to fundraising.

Examples of Waste listed in 2017 Federal Fumbles Report:

1. Social Security for Chimpanzees (page 1) – Despite announcing in 2015 that NIH would cease funding all biomedical research conducted on chimpanzees, NIH provided $2.6 million in 2015-2016 to operate NCCC.

2. This is Weird, Right? (page 1) – A $30,000 NEA grant supports the production of Doggie Hamlet. The adaptation does not include any actual lines from Hamlet, is conducted outdoors in a 30-by-50-foot field in New Hampshire, and is mostly humans yelling or running toward confused sheep and dogs.

3. You’re Fired… Just Kidding!! (page 2) – A 2014 Treasury IG investigation discovered from 2010 to 2013, the IRS hired 824 people who were previously terminated due to “prior conduct or performances issues. July 2017, the IG released a new report showed more previously terminated employees were rehired.

4. Senate Waiting Games (page 4) – Many positions within the Administration remain unconfirmed. These delays mean federal agencies and departments lack the day-to-day leadership and management necessary to ensure federal funding is used wisely.

5. Welcome to Hotel Kabul (page 25) – OPIC loaned $85 million to construct a hotel and apartment in Kabul, Afghanistan.

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 11, 2017

Senator Lankford Releases Solution Sunday Video

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Senators James Lankford and Tim Scott today released a video about their Solution Sunday Initiative, an effort started last year to improve race relations in our country. The simple idea encourages Americans to address racial tensions in our nation by engaging people of another race over meals in their home, for the purpose of building genuine relationships and learning from other perspectives. This video also features Senate Chaplain Barry Black, the first African-American to hold that position in the U.S. Congress.

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