While attending the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Convention, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays had the opportunity to visit with Congressman Frank Lucas about many things including the AFBF Distinguished Service Award he was presented with at the 2024 National AFBF Convention, a farm bill update, and the outlook for President-Elect Trump’s second term in office.
Congressman Lucas is a fifth-generation Oklahoman whose family has lived and farmed in Oklahoma for over 120 years. He graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in Ag Economics and has served on the nation’s Ag Committee for thirty years. Before that, he was on the state House of Representatives Ag Committee for five and a half years. Lucas has been a crusader for the American farmer since being elected to Congress in 1994 and has fought to protect Oklahoma values.
He said, “It was very kind of my friends, my fellow Farm Bureau members on the national level to honor me that way at the last National Convention. When the folks who know you and understand what you have tried to do show their appreciation, that means a tremendous amount. It’s kind of like the family reunion when you get to say grace to start the meal.”
Optimism is an inherent value of Oklahoma farmers that Congressman Lucas shares. He feels good about Republicans gaining the majority vote of the House, Senate, and Presidency. Two hundred eighteen votes are required to be the majority, and Republicans will hold roughly 220-221 in the House of Representatives when the newly elected members take their seats.
As far as the renewal of a farm bill, Congressman Lucas began by saying, “There are several things in play right now. First and foremost, is the overall appropriations process. The government is only temporarily funded until December 20. Some of my very conservative friends will call for a short-term extension of the present funding, and want to sort through the rest of it in the new administration. I suspect that President Trump’s advisors would like to have a clean slate, and I agree with them.”
He mentioned the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which will authorize the activities of the Department of Defense for the coming year. The fact that Oklahoma houses five large military bases makes it of paramount importance as well.
“Of course, it goes without saying that my heartbeat is set by where we are in the farm bill process, and right now, I’m missing a beat every so often,” Congressman Lucas admitted. “It might be the toughest piece of those three. I had a long visit on the phone with Chairman [G.T.] Thompson last night about the issue. He assures me that he is pressing the Speaker on the first hand that we, in the ag committee, have a product that is ready to go and that we can be a part of whatever kinds of year-end negotiations there are.”
Chairman Thompson related back to Congressman Lucas that if they couldn’t have a complete farm bill, they must at least take the Title 1 – Commodity title and the Title 11 Crop Insurance title to incorporate them into the final year package.
“Now, there have been lots of discussions about disasters: bridges, hurricanes, and all manner of things going on in the country. I would argue that whether you are a farmer in the Southeast or a farmer in much of the Southwest who didn’t get a summer crop – there was no milo cut – that we need to address those issues. Afterall, as well-written as the farm bill was in 2018, based on the 2014 farm bill, between inflation, trade wars, COVID, and a myriad of things beyond producers’ control, the safety net that was set up in ’18, is not adding much safety for producers out there. That has to be addressed,” Congressman Lucas stated.
In the absence of a complete farm bill, he said that he would prefer to take the sections that must be operative, use supplemental spending to address the needs for disaster relief, and then buckle down on completing a new farm bill in the Spring when the new members are seated.
Under Republican rules, a person can only lead a House committee for six years, and Congressman Lucas is preparing to wrap up his tenures as Chairman of both the Ag Committee and the Science Committee. His focus is shifting to the third committee he hopes to lead.
“While not many people in the district think of me as being a member of Financial Services, it was one of my early committee requests right after ag, because whether you are aggies, energy producers, main street, or manufacturing, the common thread in the third district is capital,” Congressman Lucas said. “We are a capital-starved district, so the cost of and the availability of credit, meaning capital, matters! So let’s take a fellow farmer from many generations of debtors, make him Chairman of the Committee, and we will see if we can make sure those issues are better addressed when it comes to ag, industry, main street, and everybody’s home expenses.”
Three others are vying for the title, and Lucas says that it is the most complicated and competitive chairman’s race that he has ever taken part in due to the committee’s jurisdiction over all banks, credit unions, the Department of Treasury, the federal reserve system, housing, certain insurance issues, and export/import banks.
“It is a level of competition I have never been a part of before, but that’s okay,” he commented. “I bring the longest track record of any of the candidates, having accomplished the most legislatively. We will see. I think my fellow Republicans will trust me when they have to make a decision.”
About President-Elect Trump’s second and final term in office, Congressman Lucas said, “What kind of legacy does he want to leave? He is clearly focused on trade, taking less money from every individual’s pocket, less regulatory interference from the government, and letting business be business. Agriculture is incredibly business oriented. I think that bodes well for us.”
