James Lankford
Senator for Oklahoma · Republican · United States
“(a) In General.--The Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency shall conduct an assessment of-- (1) the scope and nature of Turkey's procurement of dual- use military components and technologies; and (2) the degree to which Turkey's acquisition and co- production efforts involve Chinese military companies (as defined by section 1260H of…”
“I am going to take just a moment to be able to pray for Lindsey's family: Father, I do ask that You would help Darline and help the whole family right now as they grieve and struggle through this: the 10 million emotions that she has to feel right now with the [[Page S3906]] loss of her brother and with the responsibility of coming to thi…”
“Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 113 (Monday, July 13, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 113 (Monday, July 13, 2026)] [Senate] [Page S3885] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 6653. Mr.”
“Lindsey's family needs Your nearness. The people of South Carolina and so many friends will need that. So, Father, help us as we grieve and help us to be able to honor You in the days ahead. God, I am grateful that You are the One who cares for each of us and that You can be trusted every day. So we are grateful for that.”
“Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 113 (Monday, July 13, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 113 (Monday, July 13, 2026)] [Senate] [Page S3889] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 6663. Mr. LANKFORD (for Mr. Fetterman (for himself and Mr.”
“As much as we miss him here, we also understand full well there is a lot of grieving in South Carolina and especially with his family and with Darline, who will be here tomorrow, being sworn in to this body as she takes her seat, literally sitting in the same chair he was sitting in 2 weeks ago.”
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“He is a person that loved this body. He loved the country. He loved the people of South Carolina, and it showed. And as we grieve, I pray that we grieve together and that we go again and again and again to the source that hears our grieving and that meets us in our pain. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.”
“Lindsey's family needs Your nearness. The people of South Carolina and so many friends will need that. So, Father, help us as we grieve and help us to be able to honor You in the days ahead. God, I am grateful that You are the One who cares for each of us and that You can be trusted every day. So we are grateful for that. So help us, guide us in the days ahead to do things well and to be able to honor You in our work. That is what we ask in the Name of Jesus. Amen. I remember the first week that I came into this body. Lindsey caught me just in a random conversation, and he said: You and I are the only Southern Baptists that are in the Senate now. Then he smiled at me and said: You should probably talk about that more than I do. And I have never forgotten that whole conversation. That was just classic Lindsey.”
“I am going to take just a moment to be able to pray for Lindsey's family: Father, I do ask that You would help Darline and help the whole family right now as they grieve and struggle through this: the 10 million emotions that she has to feel right now with the [[Page S3906]] loss of her brother and with the responsibility of coming to this body to hold this spot for months. I pray that You give her the strength that she needs, the insight that she will need in the days ahead, and that You would comfort her as she grieves. For all of Lindsey's family and so many friends, for his staff, God, we ask that You would fulfill what Your word says in Psalm 34:18, where it says that You are ``[near] to the brokenhearted,'' and You ``[save] those who are crushed in spirit.'' We count on that today, Father, because this body will need Your help.”
“As much as we miss him here, we also understand full well there is a lot of grieving in South Carolina and especially with his family and with Darline, who will be here tomorrow, being sworn in to this body as she takes her seat, literally sitting in the same chair he was sitting in 2 weeks ago. So I thought it would be appropriate that we do more than just talk about him. Many of us have actually shared. We are praying for his family, we are praying for his staff, and we are praying for the folks around him. So I thought it would be appropriate here in this body that we don't just talk about him but that we actually fulfill the words that are on the wall in our building where it says ``In God We Trust'' and just to take a moment to just express that.”
“Mr. President, a lot of words have been said today about our colleague Lindsey Graham and his passing. As the Presiding Officer knows well, where my desk sits, I literally sit and stand directly behind Lindsey's chair--where right now there is a black drape and white roses--where he should be today, but he is not. We miss our colleague. We miss his humor. We miss his ideas. We miss his insight on a lot of things, his passion for Israel, his passion for national defense, his passion for the life of the unborn, his passion for this body, for our Nation, and for South Carolina.”
“INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES RECEIVING AN ANNUAL REPORT IDENTIFYING ALIENS FOR WHOM THE TERRORIST ACTIVITIES GROUND OF INADMISSIBILITY HAS BEEN WAIVED. (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Inadmissibility Waiver Notification Technical Correction Act''. (b) In General.--Section 212(d)(3)(B)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(3)(B)(ii)) is amended by inserting ``the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate,'' after ``the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate,''. ______”
“Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 113 (Monday, July 13, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 113 (Monday, July 13, 2026)] [Senate] [Page S3889] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 6663. Mr. LANKFORD (for Mr. Fetterman (for himself and Mr. Lankford)) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by Mr. Lankford to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: At the end of subtitle C of title X, add the following: SEC. 1025.”
“(a) In General.--The Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency shall conduct an assessment of-- (1) the scope and nature of Turkey's procurement of dual- use military components and technologies; and (2) the degree to which Turkey's acquisition and co- production efforts involve Chinese military companies (as defined by section 1260H of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283; 10 U.S.C. 113)). (b) Reports.-- (1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the findings of the assessment conducted under subsection (a). (2) Form.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex. ______”
“Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 113 (Monday, July 13, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 113 (Monday, July 13, 2026)] [Senate] [Page S3885] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 6653. Mr. LANKFORD submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: At the end of subtitle E of title XII, add the following: SEC. 1271. ASSESSMENT OF PROCUREMENT BY TURKEY OF DUAL-USE MILITARY COMPONENTS AND TECHNOLOGIES.”
“There is no vote we will take that will help our Nation more than that. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.”
“But instead he said: Bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord. It is a very clear statement to dads to say don't just yell at your kids; train them on how to be able to love God and love people, train them up in the right way because if you want a church and community and a family to be better, dads need to be engaged with their kids. So happy Father's Day to my dad, happy Father's Day to all the dads that are out there. And if I can make just the most simple cultural challenge, if we really want a stronger nation, there is no vote that we will take in this body today that will make the Nation stronger than just dads loving their kids and spending time with them and helping them know how to be able to walk with God and live a patriotic life and serve their family and community.”
“Could I just say from my own context, the Scripture is full of conversations challenging dads to love their children, and, quite frankly, children to honor their parents. Let me just give you a couple of them. In Malachi 4:6. It says: The role of the Prophet Elijah was to turn the heart of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers lest there be a curse on the land. What a clear statement: to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the children to their father; if not, there is a curse on the land. And how about this one? Just a simple challenge from Paul, who, interestingly enough, was not a dad but was somebody that understood the importance there. Paul in Ephesians 6:4. It says: Fathers don't exasperate your children. Don't just push them, push them, push them.”
“If the next generation is going to be patriotic, if the next generation is going to love God, if the next generation is going to make good decisions, if the next generation is going to have a hard work ethic, if the next generation is going to learn to be kind, if the next generation is going to stand up for what is right, it is going to be because a dad invested that into that child's life. [[Page S2921]] So if you want to see the Nation stronger, dads engage. That is what is going to make the Nation stronger. Every child needs a guide, a role model. They need to see the courage and kindness and strength of a dad. They need more than just dad jokes. They need a dad present. That is what makes the biggest difference.”
“I have talked to plenty of folks in churches and in communities and friends and neighbors that are just encouraging other dads to be able to be a better dad. It is a good gift to the next generation to be able to do that. I will tell you this, pure and simple: Every child needs a mom. Every child needs a dad. There is no substitute. Many people in this body know I am a former youth pastor, and I would have parents that came up to me all the time and say: You are such an influence on my child for teaching and role modeling. And I would say that is very kind, but there is no influence that is a bigger influence on a child than their mom and dad. The path of their life will be set by their mom or dad. So dads should not think it is somebody else's responsibility; it is theirs.”
“It is incredibly important to that woman, that mom, that is raising those kids to still have the financial support and for that dad to still show his financial support, I hope, as well as his love and encouragement to those kids. The Trump administration is now saying if a dad is not paying child support, they can't get a passport, and if a dad is not paying child support, they can have their tax refund, if they are getting that, withheld. Good for them to be able to encourage that man to be able to be responsible as well. But, ultimately, you can't legislate being a good dad. That is a decision that a man makes. Now, I would tell you, I have talked to men, and they have said: Hey, I didn't have a man in my life and so it is tough to be able to learn how to do that.”
“For years, they have done this study, and the same three things rise up over and over again every time they do this study: if you graduate high school, if you have a job of any type, and if you wait until after marriage to have children. If those three things are true, 97 percent chance you rise out of poverty. That is someone making good decisions, and it allows the next generation to also be successful as well. That is just good tax policy to be able to incentivize ways that we can keep families together and to encourage families in that way. The Trump administration has also made some changes to be able to encourage more dads to make alimony payments; if there is a divorce that happens and a child is there, for the dad to make sure he is providing alimony.”
“Right now, the Ad Council is running an ad campaign across the entire country that just is called ``Be a Good Dad Today.'' That is cultural encouragement on these things. But there are also things that we are working on as well: marriage penalty, for instance, in our tax law. If there are areas of our tax law that actually give you greater benefit not being married than married, those things need to be fixed. And there are several of those. The Brookings Institute for years has asked the most basic question: How does someone rise out of poverty? If someone is born in poverty, how do they rise out of poverty?”
“Around 85 percent of the abortions that happen in our country, year to year, happen with a single mom when no dad is around and no man is around--85 percent. That is a woman who is making an incredibly difficult decision to take the life of the child, often because she is afraid she will not have the resources or the support to be able to support this child, and so she makes this decision to take the life of a child instead. I have a friend of mine that often says behind every abortion is an irresponsible man. Dads, dads are important. Now, it is not something we can legislate, though I would tell you there are initiatives that are out there. Right now there is fatherhood.gov if people want to go to that site that encourages ideas for dads. It is not just up for Father's Day, it is up all the time. And people can go to fatherhood.org.”
“And when I hear people complain about the status of where we are as a nation, I have to tell you, the first place that I look are dads and to say how are dads doing because dads will define a tremendous amount of the strength of our Nation and the strength of our culture. If dads back away from their families, families get weaker, communities get weaker, the Nation gets weaker. If dads are engaged with their kids and with their families, the Nation gets stronger, communities get stronger. Now, it is not just me speaking on this; I mean, you can go to any statistic that you want to be able to go to. The research out there for youth and adult offenders, between--depending on a State and a place-- between 70 percent and 85 percent of incarcerated individuals do not have a dad in their life. They came from fatherless homes.”
“Quite frankly, being a dad is a courageous job and a challenging job but exceptionally important. And it is not just being a breadwinner, it is not just being a disciplinarian, it is just being there for their child. I first want to say happy Father's Day to my own dad, but I also want to be able to challenge all dads that are out there to turn to your kids and to rededicate again, not just this weekend, but to rededicate again to actually spending more time with your kids because healthy families are the most basic building block of culture. I have said it to people over and over again: Healthy families make healthy communities, make a healthy nation.”
“You may or may not know them, but it does take two to tango, they say, and every single person does have a mom and a dad. There are a lot of dads that are separated, and there is a lot of disjointedness. What we are watching in culture is culture pushing back on men, to challenge men to be better dads. I applaud a good thing that is happening in culture with that. We are literally seeing the statistics on this. The numbers on it bear out. Literally in this generation of dads right now, they are three times more likely to spend more time with their kids than the dads during the 1960s. It is an interesting shift that is happening. We have fewer dads out there, but the dads that are there in America are looking at their kids and saying: I want to spend more time with them. Good. We need more engaged dads.”
“Mr. President, I have come to this floor many times to be able to talk about a lot of serious policy issues, to be able to walk through all different kinds of tax policy, energy policy, immigration policy. We have worked through a lot of different issues on this floor, and I have had the opportunity to be able to speak on a lot of issues. I don't often take time just to be able to pause and talk about a cultural issue. I want to do that today. This weekend, the Nation will pause and celebrate Father's Day. Now, this will be the 116th year of celebrating Father's Day in America; the 54th year since it was officially recognized as an official Federal holiday. It is kind of a big deal. Every human being on Earth has a mom and a dad.”
“And if I can make just the most simple cultural challenge, if we really want a stronger nation, there is no vote that we will take in this body today that will make the Nation stronger than just dads loving their kids and spending time with them and helping them know how to be able to walk with God and live a patriotic life and serve their family and community. There is no vote we will take that will help our Nation more than that. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.”
“Don't just push them, push them, push them. But instead he said: Bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord. It is a very clear statement to dads to say don't just yell at your kids; train them on how to be able to love God and love people, train them up in the right way because if you want a church and community and a family to be better, dads need to be engaged with their kids. So happy Father's Day to my dad, happy Father's Day to all the dads that are out there.”
“That is what makes the biggest difference. Could I just say from my own context, the Scripture is full of conversations challenging dads to love their children, and, quite frankly, children to honor their parents. Let me just give you a couple of them. In Malachi 4:6. It says: The role of the Prophet Elijah was to turn the heart of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers lest there be a curse on the land. What a clear statement: to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the children to their father; if not, there is a curse on the land. And how about this one? Just a simple challenge from Paul, who, interestingly enough, was not a dad but was somebody that understood the importance there. Paul in Ephesians 6:4. It says: Fathers don't exasperate your children.”
“The path of their life will be set by their mom or dad. So dads should not think it is somebody else's responsibility; it is theirs. If the next generation is going to be patriotic, if the next generation is going to love God, if the next generation is going to make good decisions, if the next generation is going to have a hard work ethic, if the next generation is going to learn to be kind, if the next generation is going to stand up for what is right, it is going to be because a dad invested that into that child's life. [[Page S2921]] So if you want to see the Nation stronger, dads engage. That is what is going to make the Nation stronger. Every child needs a guide, a role model. They need to see the courage and kindness and strength of a dad. They need more than just dad jokes. They need a dad present.”
“Now, I would tell you, I have talked to men, and they have said: Hey, I didn't have a man in my life and so it is tough to be able to learn how to do that. I have talked to plenty of folks in churches and in communities and friends and neighbors that are just encouraging other dads to be able to be a better dad. It is a good gift to the next generation to be able to do that. I will tell you this, pure and simple: Every child needs a mom. Every child needs a dad. There is no substitute. Many people in this body know I am a former youth pastor, and I would have parents that came up to me all the time and say: You are such an influence on my child for teaching and role modeling. And I would say that is very kind, but there is no influence that is a bigger influence on a child than their mom and dad.”
“The Trump administration has also made some changes to be able to encourage more dads to make alimony payments; if there is a divorce that happens and a child is there, for the dad to make sure he is providing alimony. It is incredibly important to that woman, that mom, that is raising those kids to still have the financial support and for that dad to still show his financial support, I hope, as well as his love and encouragement to those kids. The Trump administration is now saying if a dad is not paying child support, they can't get a passport, and if a dad is not paying child support, they can have their tax refund, if they are getting that, withheld. Good for them to be able to encourage that man to be able to be responsible as well. But, ultimately, you can't legislate being a good dad. That is a decision that a man makes.”
“The Brookings Institute for years has asked the most basic question: How does someone rise out of poverty? If someone is born in poverty, how do they rise out of poverty? For years, they have done this study, and the same three things rise up over and over again every time they do this study: if you graduate high school, if you have a job of any type, and if you wait until after marriage to have children. If those three things are true, 97 percent chance you rise out of poverty. That is someone making good decisions, and it allows the next generation to also be successful as well. That is just good tax policy to be able to incentivize ways that we can keep families together and to encourage families in that way.”
“Now, it is not something we can legislate, though I would tell you there are initiatives that are out there. Right now there is fatherhood.gov if people want to go to that site that encourages ideas for dads. It is not just up for Father's Day, it is up all the time. And people can go to fatherhood.org. Right now, the Ad Council is running an ad campaign across the entire country that just is called ``Be a Good Dad Today.'' That is cultural encouragement on these things. But there are also things that we are working on as well: marriage penalty, for instance, in our tax law. If there are areas of our tax law that actually give you greater benefit not being married than married, those things need to be fixed. And there are several of those.”
“The research out there for youth and adult offenders, between--depending on a State and a place-- between 70 percent and 85 percent of incarcerated individuals do not have a dad in their life. They came from fatherless homes. Around 85 percent of the abortions that happen in our country, year to year, happen with a single mom when no dad is around and no man is around--85 percent. That is a woman who is making an incredibly difficult decision to take the life of the child, often because she is afraid she will not have the resources or the support to be able to support this child, and so she makes this decision to take the life of a child instead. I have a friend of mine that often says behind every abortion is an irresponsible man. Dads, dads are important.”
“I have said it to people over and over again: Healthy families make healthy communities, make a healthy nation. And when I hear people complain about the status of where we are as a nation, I have to tell you, the first place that I look are dads and to say how are dads doing because dads will define a tremendous amount of the strength of our Nation and the strength of our culture. If dads back away from their families, families get weaker, communities get weaker, the Nation gets weaker. If dads are engaged with their kids and with their families, the Nation gets stronger, communities get stronger. Now, it is not just me speaking on this; I mean, you can go to any statistic that you want to be able to go to.”
“It is an interesting shift that is happening. We have fewer dads out there, but the dads that are there in America are looking at their kids and saying: I want to spend more time with them. Good. We need more engaged dads. Quite frankly, being a dad is a courageous job and a challenging job but exceptionally important. And it is not just being a breadwinner, it is not just being a disciplinarian, it is just being there for their child. I first want to say happy Father's Day to my own dad, but I also want to be able to challenge all dads that are out there to turn to your kids and to rededicate again, not just this weekend, but to rededicate again to actually spending more time with your kids because healthy families are the most basic building block of culture.”
“Now, this will be the 116th year of celebrating Father's Day in America; the 54th year since it was officially recognized as an official Federal holiday. It is kind of a big deal. Every human being on Earth has a mom and a dad. You may or may not know them, but it does take two to tango, they say, and every single person does have a mom and a dad. There are a lot of dads that are separated, and there is a lot of disjointedness. What we are watching in culture is culture pushing back on men, to challenge men to be better dads. I applaud a good thing that is happening in culture with that. We are literally seeing the statistics on this. The numbers on it bear out. Literally in this generation of dads right now, they are three times more likely to spend more time with their kids than the dads during the 1960s.”
“Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 103 (Thursday, June 18, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 103 (Thursday, June 18, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S2920-S2921] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] Father's Day Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I have come to this floor many times to be able to talk about a lot of serious policy issues, to be able to walk through all different kinds of tax policy, energy policy, immigration policy. We have worked through a lot of different issues on this floor, and I have had the opportunity to be able to speak on a lot of issues. I don't often take time just to be able to pause and talk about a cultural issue. I want to do that today. This weekend, the Nation will pause and celebrate Father's Day.”
“Mr. President, I look forward to working on a larger proposal in the days ahead, but that larger proposal is not going to move in the House in the next month or 2 months. In the meantime, we are going to have criminal organizations getting away with it over and over and over again. So let's move as much as we can as fast as we can, but at least, at this point, let's solve what we can today. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.”
“I want to do as much as we can on the unemployment insurance side, but let's do things as quickly as we can to be able to stop criminal activity and be able to prosecute those individuals. So, in knowing that, I will not modify my request. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection to the modification is heard. Is there an objection to the original request? The Senator from Oregon.”
“Let's force everyone to work on the bigger solution, and every single day, let more people get away [[Page S2120]] with fraud until we come up with a bigger solution and can agree on it. We should stop as much fraud as we can today and keep working on the bigger solution to be able to get the bigger issues done. If I can also say to my friend, he also knows this bill well. This is not about incidental actions that have happened through someone who accidentally filled out something or a State did something inappropriately. This bill is very clear. That is why it had such strong bipartisan support out of the House. This is about criminal actors. These are people who criminally engaged in large-scale fraud deliberately. It is $191 billion out there that the inspector general under the Biden administration even identified.”
“Reserving the right to object, my friend from Oregon-- and we are friends, and we had the opportunity to be able to serve together, and we have worked on a lot of issues. He is correct, and I am glad to be able to see a larger proposal to deal with unemployment insurance. It has been an issue for a long time, but this is one of the most classic examples of saying the perfect is the enemy of the good. Today, we have people getting away with fraud--today--and we can do nothing about it because the statute of limitations has run out. The House has passed a bipartisan bill by a wide majority to deal with this one problem, and they have come to an agreement by a wide, bipartisan majority to say let's at least solve this part and then we will work on bigger solutions later. What my friend is recommending is to say: No.”
“President Trump is determined, and, quite frankly, this Congress is determined. We are not going to be asleep on that again. We will take it very, very seriously. It is a very big emergency. So I thank my colleagues for coming here to be able to talk about it today.”
“The cartels and the criminal organizations are shifting more and more to Canada to be able to find ways to be able to move it in. The Canadians have seen that and they have noted that as well by the aggressive actions they have taken. Just to give you a quick glance at this, dealing with just the fentanyl issue, in 2020, the Canadians interdicted 1,000 pounds of fentanyl precursors; in 2021, it was 11,000 pounds. That is the acceleration that is also happening for these criminal organizations that are trying to be able to move fentanyl into our country and, quite frankly, into Canada as well. So we are grateful for their partnership, but we definitely see this as an emergency. A decade ago, the United States did not move fast enough to be able to stop the movement of fentanyl into our country. We lost tens of thousands of Americans.”
“Mr. President, I do appreciate so much my colleagues coming to the floor just to be able to talk about the scourge of fentanyl and what it is really doing in our communities. Senator Ricketts, Senator Moody, Senator Budd, and Senator Hoeven spent a lot of time laying out the challenges we really face. I think most Americans know it and have seen it, and they just don't realize how fast it is really moving. Ten years ago, we had 700 deaths in the country due to fentanyl. Last year, we had 87,000. That is the acceleration we have seen in a decade. A vast majority of fentanyl used to come across the border from, quite frankly, China. It was being mailed in. Active work was done to be able to shut that down. It started to come through Mexico--that is progressively. We are taking that on.”
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Wyden and I both be able to complete our remarks before the vote. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.”