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Republican (1854-present)

James Lankford

Before his service in Congress, James served students and families for more than 20 years in ministry, including 15 years as the Director of Student Ministry for the Baptist Convention of Oklahoma and Director of the Falls Creek Youth Camp, the largest youth camp in the United States, with more than 51,000 individuals attending each summer.

James and his staff enjoy serving people from all backgrounds across Oklahoma. As Ranking Member of the Government Operations and Border Management  Subcommittee, which covers border security, management, and operations; regulatory reform; and the federal workforce. He demands we have a secure, more fiscally responsible, and transparent federal government, and our nation remains the world leader. He believes that the federal government has an important role in our nation, but empowered families, individual people, and private businesses grow our economy and pass down our values.

Afghanistan

Before President Biden rushed our botched withdrawal from Afghanistan this summer, Senator Lankford was engaged in oversight of US operations in Afghanistan throughout our military presence in country to ensure US military personnel had what they needed for their mission, to assess the situation on the ground facing our service members, and to ensure federal funding was adequate for operations.

  • As a previous member of the Intelligence Committee, In 2018 Senator Lankford participated in a congressional delegation trip to Afghanistan (Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif, and Kandahar) to conduct oversight of ongoing US operations on the ground. 
  • Senator Lankford supported National Defense Authorization Act provisions for our service members in Afghanistan as well as programs supporting them when they returned home.
  • On August 17, Senator Lankford spoke out against President Biden’s too-hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan as Oklahomans watched the chaos that began to ensue when we announced our arbitrary timeframe for withdrawal, later calling on the Administration to devote all means necessary to ensuring Americans could get out amid the chaos, which Senator Lankford said the Administration ultimately failed to do.
  • Senator Lankford also worked to support the Gold Star Families whose lives were forever changed by the loss of loved one in their last full m measure of devotion to our nation in Afghanistan. Senator Lankford wrote an op-ed for the 20th anniversary of the devastating attacks on 9/11 regarding his support for Gold Star Families and the importance of us continuing to take care of them going forward.
  • Senator Lankford and his colleagues on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee send a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Acting Director Shalanda Young regarding the White House’s funding request in the FY 2022 Continuing Resolution that would allow the Department of Homeland Security Secretary to adjust the status of Afghan parolees on a case-by-case basis and waive grounds of inadmissibility, including terrorism.