Farm Director, KC Sheperd, had the chance to catch up with Congressman Josh Brecheen and talk about legislative highlights from his past year in office and more.
Despite headwinds, Brecheen said he is proud to be part of a group that can sit down and decide what is best for the country and the state of Oklahoma.
“It has not been easy,” Brecheen said. “It has been quite a ride the past year.”
Brecheen said that he and others on the budget committee are looking forward to putting together a budget that is solid and will balance within ten years, including sizeable cuts.
“I am on the budget committee, and I am disappointed in the final numbers that we ended up with, but we are now starting the process of looking ahead for next year,” Brecheen said.
This week, Brecheen said he is on the committee that plans to move forward with the impeachment of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
“That has to happen,” Brecheen said. “He has violated the rule of law, he is violating congressional law, he is violating constitutional law, and whatever you tolerate, you empower. Mayorkas has been empowered for too long.”
Regarding the crisis on the Mexican border, Brecheen said failure to gain control will have detrimental effects on the U.S.
“If you take the total numbers of illegal immigrants, they would have a state that is the seventh largest in population,” Brecheen said. “But they are dispersed among all the states. When you have states like Illinois and New York that are giving these people the ability to get drivers licenses and the ability to vote, what a dangerous concept.”
Immigrants are not just coming from Mexico, Brecheen said, as there are illegal migrants crossing over from 160 different countries.
“They are going to undermine what we hold in believing that the best allocation of scarce resources is the free market, and they are going to undermine liberty,” Brecheen said.
Brecheen said he believes the ultimate goal of the Democratic party is to grant illegal immigrants citizenship state-by-state in order to lock in democratic control in different areas of the nation.
“That is going to fundamentally change this nation,” Brecheen said. “I am one of those who contends that not only do we have to seal the border, but we have to deport anywhere from 12 million to 20 million people. I am convinced they have to be deported. If they are allowed to stay here, they are going to undermine what we in this country believe.”
Regarding some initiatives in the agriculture realm, Brecheen said he has been working to provide the opportunity to make some changes to the food stamp program. The total farm bill now is close to 85 percent food stamp related, Brecheen said.
“We have 40 million Americans that are on food stamps today,” Brecheen said. “If you take all of agriculture- both the value-added side and the production side together, agriculture represents 40 million jobs. For every job that is ag-related, it is a one-to-one ratio of people who are on food stamps.”
Brecheen added that the food stamp program has undermined work ethic and the workforce across the country. For those who are recipients of food stamp dollars, Brecheen said he also believes those dollars should be utilized for foods besides soft drinks, and junk food.
“You have got a big lobby out there who benefits from selling this junk food to our kids,” Brecheen said.
