| Dear Oklahoma friends and neighbors: It’s time for the holiday season to officially begin! I pray that each of us would remember with gratitude the many blessings we enjoy as Oklahomans and Americans. We are always working to form a more perfect union, but we are still the greatest nation on Earth. This Thanksgiving is a great moment to pass down our values to the next generation of Americans. Please remember during this time to give thanks for all that God has given us and to those who keep us safe so we can live free. Congress Still Has a LONG To-Do List for 2024 Currently, government funding runs out on December 20th. Each year, the deadline for the Defense Bill (known as the National Defense Authorization Act or the NDAA) is the end of the year. North Carolina and Florida are still struggling to recover from the devastating hurricanes. Our farmers and ranchers also need us to finalize a Farm Bill to update our agricultural policies and provide more certainty and stability for our producers. Senator Chuck Schumer has not scheduled votes on any of those important bills all year, which has pushed everything to the end of the year. I am continuing to push for the NDAA, Farm Bill, Pharmacy Benefit Manager reforms and other end-of-year agenda items to get completed and not just punted to “later.” Next year, the new Republican majority in the Senate is ready to quickly confirm President Trump’s nominees through an open and transparent process, help close the open southern border, extend the expiring Trump tax cuts, tackle our skyrocketing debt and deficit, and much more. As busy as December will be to end this session of Congress, the start of the next session will be even busier. Two weeks ago, I was elected into leadership of the Republican Senate for next session. In January, I will begin my service as the Republican Vice-Chair of our Conference, which will allow me to bring Oklahoma common sense and problem solving to the decision making process. We have an incredible number of things to get done next year. My new position will allow me to push the Senate to get busy solving the problems we face, not just talk about them. I would appreciate your ideas and prayer support as we get started early next year. FEMA Clean Up As soon as the information came out about FEMA disaster responders avoiding locations with Trump yard signs in the areas affected by the recent hurricane on the East Coast, we immediately took action to verify the information and then connect directly with FEMA. The individuals carrying out the political discrimination have now been fired, but I want to make sure this never happens again. This week, I passed legislation out of the Homeland Security Committee to prevent FEMA from ever again using political discrimination against disaster victims. This is one of multiple reforms I have proposed to fix our emergency disaster assistance programs. Natural disasters are nothing new for Oklahomans. When disaster strikes, families should focus on rebuilding and helping their neighbors recover, not waiting on FEMA paperwork or dealing with replacement fees. I introduced the Replacing Essential Passports and Licenses After Certain Emergencies (REPLACE) Act to automatically waive replacement fees when survivors lose critical documents like passports, citizenship documents, and visas in natural disasters. CLICK HERE to read more about my REPLACE Act. I also called out the Administration’s reliance on FEMA to address the border crisis, which has diminished FEMA’s readiness for disaster relief, including hurricane response. Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration has spent around $1.5 billion on FEMA’s border-related programs, and I am concerned that reliance on FEMA to address the ongoing border crisis has diminished FEMA’s readiness for disaster relief, including hurricane response. CLICK HERE to read my letter. I also recently advanced my bill in the Senate to reform FEMA’s Individual Assistance program, which helps families without insurance after a disaster, because when disaster strikes, red tape shouldn’t get in the way of Oklahomans getting assistance from federal agencies. My bill streamlines the process to get resources to those who need it most. CLICK HERE to read more about my bill. UPDATE: Securing Our Southern Border On November 21st, FBI Director Chris Wray and DHS Secretary Ali Mayorkas were scheduled to publicly appear before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, but they both bailed out the day of the hearing. This is a hearing that has been conducted every year for over a decade and a half, but this Administration said they would only appear in a closed-door session, not in public. I had already notified both leaders of the questions I would ask them so they could be prepared, including updates on the number of people who have recently illegally crossed the border that were designated as a national security risk and an update on the massive telecommunications hack by the Chinese. People deserve to know the truth. Last month, I spent time on a very remote area of our southern border in Arizona to see the continuing crisis along our southern border. I watched federal law enforcement process Russian nationals into the country under President Biden’s mandatory release program. This is one of many programs that will end January 20 of next year, but I will continue to challenge this Administration to focus on national security now. CLICK HERE to read more about my most recent time at the southern border. Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris Administration continues to use taxpayer dollars to put up a politically charged billboard from the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman that seems to advance their progressive border agenda. Fox News’s Bill Melugin first reported on the billboard on X. CLICK HERE to read Bill’s post. I took action immediately to demand answers for this and flag this practice for my colleagues as Republicans prepare our priorities for addressing the crisis on the southern border. CLICK HERE to read my letter demanding answers. CLICK HERE to read my letter outlining the ways the Biden-Harris Administration has undermined law enforcement at our southern border. |
 EPA Waste Management Rule Hurting Oklahomans I was joined by Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin to stand against the EPA’s proposed rule that would lead to dramatic and unnecessary increases in compliance costs for waste management across Oklahoma without any real benefit. We urged the EPA to reexaimne the standards they used to create this mess. CLICK HERE to read more about my letter to addresss this burdensome compliance process for Oklahomans. |
