Lankford Wins Praises From Colleagues, Politico

Congressman James Lankford's first year in Congress is ending with superlatives from his colleagues and the influential publication Politico.

Of Lankford, Politico wrote: "James Lankford - This Oklahoma freshman looks like an adolescent, sounds like Barry White, and has the unlikeliest of résumés for success in politics. But the former Christian camp counselor has proven to be a quiet, disciplined and effective voice for his colleagues, earning respect on the Budget Committee. He also holds a safe Republican seat in his state, meaning that if he can keep the conservatives in his district happy, the freshman lawmaker should have a long career in Washington."

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Lankford Says Two-Month Tax Policy Impractical

Congressman James Lankford appeared on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal this morning to discuss the Senate-passed bill to extend the payroll tax holiday for only two months. Congressman Lankford said there should be a year-long extension to bring stability to the economy and certainty for family budgets.

On the Impracticality of Two Month Tax Policy: “You cannot really do tax policy in a two-month term. That is not fair for the Senate to say, ‘This is going to be difficult, negotiations are going to be hard, but we will get it off our desk and just put it out to the American people and say ‘go figure out how to apply this.’’ Can anyone stand up and with a straight face say we should do tax policy 60 days at a time on the American people? There is nothing more destabilizing when no one knows what the tax rate is going to be. No one knows how to do their jobs. If you want to just throw money out of the door, take money from the Treasury and send it out the door, you can do that in two months. If you want to create stability in tax programs in America, you are not going to do that two months at a time.”

On Going to Conference Committee: “What we are doing today is sending over a conference report. The typical, normal way everyone who grew up in civics class to be able to track through a bill – the House passes a bill, the Senate passes a bill, the language is not the same; they go to conference and work it out, and it goes back to both bodies and is passed. That is the normal process for a bill. We passed a bill and sent it to the Senate, and they did not approve it. The Senate passed a bill and when it comes over to the House, we are not going to approve it today. We are going to ask for to go to conference.”

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Lankford To Appear On Washington Journal

Congressman James Lankford will appear on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal tomorrow morning to discuss the payroll tax holiday and the need to provide consistency for small businesses and American families.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Time: 6:45 AM CT
Channel: Cox Communications Channel 126

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Lankford Makes Secret Trip To Afghanistan

Congressman James Lankford's office disclosed today that he traveled to Afghanistan last weekend on an undisclosed trip as part of a six-member Congressional Delegation to meet with American civilian and military leadership, Afghan government officials and foreign allies.

The delegation visited several regions of the country to discuss the situation on the ground, the challenges facing our service men and women, reconstruction efforts and the progress of the Afghan National Army and Afghan Police. Lankford departed Washington, D.C., on Thursday, December 8 and returned on Monday, December 12.

To ensure the safety and security of the military and all members of the delegation, information pertaining to the trip was kept private until the trip’s completion. Lankford praised the dedication of American forces serving in Afghanistan.

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Lankford Intros Taxpayers Right To Know Act

Congressman James Lankford introduced H.R. 3609, the Taxpayers Right to Know Act, in the House today to provide the American people with a better understanding of how their tax dollars are spent.

Congressman Dan Boren is an original cosponsor of the legislation, and Senator Tom Coburn is the lead sponsor in the Senate.

A GAO report released in March 2011 found “overlap and fragmentation among government programs or activities can be harbingers of unnecessary duplication.” The Taxpayers Right to Know Act addresses this waste in government by requiring each federal agency to produce an annual report that identifies every program with a description of the program and its costs, expenditures for services, beneficiaries of services and number of staff. This information would be posted online, along with recommendations from each agency to improve their efficiency. By eliminating overlap, duplicative programs and services and fraudulent payments, GAO estimates billions of dollars could be saved annually.

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Lankford Files Shutdown Prevention Act

Congressman James Lankford introduced the Government Shutdown Prevention Act of 2011 today as part of a comprehensive set of ten budget reform bills unveiled by the House Budget Committee and Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI).
The measure is designed to avoid lapses in government funding and services if Congress fails to pass a budget or the corresponding appropriations bills in a fiscal year.

“This legislation is about getting Congress to appropriately perform its most basic function,” said Congressman Lankford, “and that is ensuring funds are appropriated for government services.”

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Lankford Wants Congressional Changes

From The Hill ~ Like many of his freshman peers, Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.) is concerned about the federal deficit, unfunded mandates to states and the implications of 2009’s healthcare overhaul.

He also wants to require a two-year budget, prohibit government shutdowns and recast the entire committee system.

That last idea is “semi-revolutionary,” he admits — especially coming from a freshman with no previous political experience — but Lankford says observers should not be surprised.

Read the entire story at http://thehill.com/capital-living/new-member-of-the-week/197071-lankford-looks-to-not-just-change-what-hill-does-but-how-it-does-it.

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Lankford: No Room For Politics In Grant Process

Congressman James Lankford said today there is no room for the federal government to put politics ahead of transparency and accountability in the grant process when providing care for victims of human trafficking.

His comments followed a committee hearing entitled, “HHS and the Catholic Church: Examining the Politicization of Grants.”

The hearing examined the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) National Human Trafficking Victim Assistance Program after it became known that HHS allowed political preferences to exclude the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for a grant they have been awarded for years. According to an independent review board, the USCCB received the second highest score (89) among candidates applying for grants on a list of criteria set forth by HHS. Despite their high score, the USCCB were ultimately not awarded the grant and instead passed over in favor of an organization that had the fourth highest score (69).

“Today’s hearing clearly shows the need for grant reform because too often politics trump merit during the award process,” said Lankford. “The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has for five years demonstrated that they are capable of meeting the requirements outlined by the grant proposal to assist human trafficking victims, but because these grants are being awarded without an open process, their vital services are being limited for reasons that have nothing to do with care or support. There is no room for this type of interference when it comes to giving victims of human of trafficking much needed health care, counseling, housing and legal assistance. Since the Catholic Church would not encourage abortions, their grant was pulled by the political leadership of HHS. It is apparent that the grant process was neither transparent nor free of political interference. This grant should prioritize the victims of human trafficking, not the political favors of the administration.”

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New Face Enters 5th District GOP Primary

Edmond Republican James Lankford said today he is filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to launch a bid for the Republican nomination for Congress in the 5th District next year.

Lankford, 41, has been the Director the Falls Creek Oklahoma Youth Camp since 1996. Falls Creek is the largest Christian youth camp in America with over 50,000 students and adults attending camp each summer from across Oklahoma.

"We will establish our campaign committee and begin the process in earnest of fundraising and putting together a strong grassroots organization throughout the Fifth District," Lankford said. He will be leaving his position as Falls Creek director later this month to campaign full-time.

Lankford has also been an adjunct professor at Oklahoma Baptist University and has coordinated mission teams around the world.

He and his wife, Cindy, have two school-age daughters.

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