James Lankford
Senator for Oklahoma · Republican · United States
“In addition, he holds certifications in FBI Hazardous Devices, FBI Weapons of Mass Destruction, Domestic Preparedness, Department of Homeland Security Infrastructure Protection, and U.S. Secret Service Dignitary Protection.”
Senate17 September 2026Source ↗
“A six-time Emmy award winner, Karen's sharp journalism and compassionate reporting won her the respect and appreciation of countless Oklahomans. Dennis and Karen share a true and admirable partnership.”
Senate17 September 2026Source ↗
“While I will miss calling my friend to ask about law enforcement issues, I look forward to calling him to ask about the trips and adventures he and Karen will take together. They have more than earned a long, peaceful, and blessed retirement with plenty of time spent with the kids and grandkids.”
Senate17 September 2026Source ↗
“Madam President, I rise today to honor the extraordinary career of a good friend, retiring Tulsa Police Chief Dennis Larsen. A native of Tulsa, OK, Dennis graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in political science while also serving our Nation in the U.S. Air Force.”
Senate17 September 2026Source ↗
“If you ask him, he has plenty of stories he can share about his former neighbor and Senator Jim Inhofe and numerous other Federal, State, and local officials that he has had the chance to interact with over his career. Rich currently resides in Tulsa with his wife Claudia, a fellow lifelong INCOG staff member.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, I rise today to honor the retirement announcement of Rich Brierre as the executive director of the Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG) in Tulsa, OK. Under his leadership, the Tulsa region has experienced significant change and growth that will benefit generations to come.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
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“While I will miss calling my friend to ask about law enforcement issues, I look forward to calling him to ask about the trips and adventures he and Karen will take together. They have more than earned a long, peaceful, and blessed retirement with plenty of time spent with the kids and grandkids. Hopefully, for Karen's sake, there are quite a few destination vacations already planned. Dennis and Karen, thank you my friends for all that you have given to the people of Oklahoma. We are all grateful, we wish you the very best, and we know that our State is better today because of all you have done for us. May God continue to bless you both in your many days ahead. ____________________”
Senate17 September 2026Source ↗
“A six-time Emmy award winner, Karen's sharp journalism and compassionate reporting won her the respect and appreciation of countless Oklahomans. Dennis and Karen share a true and admirable partnership. Though he has earned the title of chief, I am extraordinarily grateful that during my time in office I have simply been able to call Dennis ``my friend.'' To me and to my staff, Dennis has always been there when we needed him. Night or day, when a problem arose, Dennis was only a phone call away, and I was always able to rely upon his word when he said something would be done. He is a man of uncompromising integrity and character. It has been my honor to work alongside him all these years.”
Senate17 September 2026Source ↗
“In addition, he holds certifications in FBI Hazardous Devices, FBI Weapons of Mass Destruction, Domestic Preparedness, Department of Homeland Security Infrastructure Protection, and U.S. Secret Service Dignitary Protection. During his years serving Tulsa, he earned three Chief Awards, four Departmental Commendations, and the Life Saving Award. Dennis was also recognized by the Department of Justice as the third- longest serving bomb technician in the United States. Notably, he coordinated the Tulsa Police Bomb Squad's immediate response to the tragic Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and personally spent more than 100 days on site at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, where he assisted the investigation into the worst act of domestic terrorism in our Nation's history.”
Senate17 September 2026Source ↗
“Madam President, I rise today to honor the extraordinary career of a good friend, retiring Tulsa Police Chief Dennis Larsen. A native of Tulsa, OK, Dennis graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in political science while also serving our Nation in the U.S. Air Force. Dennis joined the Tulsa Police Department in 1979 and spent the better part of the next five decades in public service.”
Senate17 September 2026Source ↗
“If you ask him, he has plenty of stories he can share about his former neighbor and Senator Jim Inhofe and numerous other Federal, State, and local officials that he has had the chance to interact with over his career. Rich currently resides in Tulsa with his wife Claudia, a fellow lifelong INCOG staff member. His daughter Catharine lives and works in Tulsa, OK, and his son Will and family live in Fort Collins, CO. He is an avid cyclist, a member of First Presbyterian Church, and a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan. I know that he will enjoy spending even more time with his children and family in the years ahead. Rich, thank you for your leadership. ____________________”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, I rise today to honor the retirement announcement of Rich Brierre as the executive director of the Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG) in Tulsa, OK. Under his leadership, the Tulsa region has experienced significant change and growth that will benefit generations to come. The transportation, housing, and economic development projects that have come to fruition over the past two decades can often be directly or indirectly attributed to Rich. Originally from St.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate13 July 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate13 July 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate13 July 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate13 July 2026Source ↗
“There is no vote we will take that will help our Nation more than that. I yield the floor.”
Senate18 June 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate18 June 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate18 June 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate18 June 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate18 June 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate18 June 2026Source ↗
“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?”
Senate18 June 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate18 June 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate18 June 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate18 June 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate18 June 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate18 June 2026Source ↗
“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.”
Senate2 April 2025Source ↗
“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.”
Senate2 April 2025Source ↗
“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.”
Senate2 April 2025Source ↗
“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.”
Senate2 April 2025Source ↗
“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.”
Senate2 April 2025Source ↗
“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.”
Senate2 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Wyden and I both be able to complete our remarks before the vote.”
Senate2 April 2025Source ↗
“But let's also have the fight during office hours so the American people don't have to feel the effects of a government shutdown. The clock is ticking today. My Democratic colleagues have got to determine if we are going to have this vote today. Let's pass it. I yield the floor.”
Senate14 March 2025Source ↗
“Government Funding Mr. President, as we talk about the government shutdown looming tonight at midnight, I want to remind you and this body again: This is something I have spoken out on for years. Years ago, I sat down with my Democratic colleagues and said: How do we take government shutdowns off the table? How do we end this? There have been proposals for literally decades to be able to end government shutdowns.”
Senate14 March 2025Source ↗
“But it is unfinished business at this point, to the great frustration of a lot of families around the country, including in my own State of Oklahoma. I yield the floor.”
Senate5 March 2025Source ↗
“I not only encourage people to take a glance at our ``Federal Fumbles'' book, now that it is released, but I encourage every Member of this body to assign their staff to go look for waste. And then let's sit down together and see if we can figure out how to make it stop. We should waste less and save more. It shouldn't be that hard. I yield the floor.”
Senate12 February 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I would ask unanimous consent to be able to use a prop during my speech.”
Senate12 February 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.”
Senate11 February 2025Source ↗
“President, I just want to be able to remind everyone, we have more to go. We are going to continue to be here this week to finish out the Office of Management and Budget and Russell Vought in that role, because if we are going to deal with spending and we are going to make the government more efficient, we have to have leadership in the Office of Management and Budget. That will be done this week, to make sure that we can continue to be able to implement the policies to be able to help the Nation to continue to move forward. I yield the floor.”
Senate5 February 2025Source ↗
“I think having a clear definition of what anti-Semitism is and calling out universities that would allow that kind of oppression on their own students, I think, is important. I think for this body to be able to speak out with one voice to say we are not going to allow American soldiers nor our allies to be called in by a kangaroo international court, I think, is important to us. And this week, of all weeks, on Holocaust Remembrance Week, we should speak with one voice. To say ``never again'' means never again. And we will continue to stand with our friends and allies in Israel, and we will continue to stand against anti-Semitism here, there, anywhere. With that, I yield the floor.”
Senate29 January 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, for myself as chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics and for Senator Coons, vice chairman of the committee, that the annual report of the Select Committee on Ethics for calendar year 2024 be printed in the Record. The committee issued this report on January 31, 2025, as required by the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007.”
Senate28 January 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following interns be granted floor privileges until May 30, 2025: Hinson Peed and Madeline Becker.”
Senate22 January 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I have one request for a committee to meet during today's session of the Senate. It has the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.”
Senate22 January 2025Source ↗
“It means she is vulnerable, and that means we as a nation should determine what we are going to do with the life of the most vulnerable. I encourage a ``yes'' vote on this. This should be a bipartisan conversation where we speak from this body for those who cannot speak for themselves. I yield the floor. Cloture Motion”
Senate22 January 2025Source ↗
“I am looking forward to working with him and seeing even what happens on day one to be able to secure the border. This is something the American people want. They want a border that is secure; they want communities that are secure; and they want just basic commonsense things done, like if someone breaks into our country and then steals stuff, they are actually detained rather than just released to go do it again. Let's at least do the basics that we can do while we continue to be able to work toward the big projects that still need to be done. Multiple of my colleagues will be coming in the moments ahead to talk through this same issue because we feel like, on this side, it is incredibly important we get this done. I yield the floor.”
Senate15 January 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.”
Senate15 January 2025Source ↗
“But the focus that we need to have as a body is not what we do to talk about government waste but what are we going to do to get it done. We are looking forward to President Trump's inauguration in a week and a half. We are looking forward to beginning to implement both on the executive branch and through legislative action real changes that can actually get our government toward more efficiency. Now, I have to warn everybody: It is going to take a while because there is a lot to get done. But the good news is, we are not just talking about it; we are actually going to get something started. I yield the floor.”
Senate8 January 2025Source ↗
“I am especially grateful for all the work you have done. Mr. President, I would like to introduce a fellow colleague, Senator Joni Ernst from Iowa. She is the founder of the DOGE Caucus and has been the one who has been very passionate about trying to find the waste in government. I ask that she be recognized to speak.”
Senate8 January 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.”
Senate8 January 2025Source ↗