SHAWNEE — Republican Congressman Frank Lucas, who represents Oklahoma’s 3rd Congressional District, spoke at the Oklahoma Press Association annual convention on Saturday.
While visibly frustrated with Congress, Lucas said he remained an optimist about the United States.
“In spite of the challenges in Europe, the Western Pacific and in spite of what would appear to be political chaos here at home, I’m still the eternal optimist,” he said. “The glass is still half full. The Constitution is still strong, and the Republic is still worth fighting and working for and the best years are ahead of us if we’ll work together.”
Lucas, who has served in Congress since 2003, painted a starkly partisan picture of Washington D.C. at the same time he called for more bipartisan action to address the country’s problems. He said that even before Congress’ far-right wing began pushing its agenda, the year was going to be a challenge.
“You have a president – and I say this respectfully – who was elected because he wasn’t the other guy. And the guy before him was elected because he wasn’t the other lady,” he said. “It’s been a while since we’ve elected a president based on their abilities.”
At the same time, he said, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives saw it dwindle from what they thought would be a 25-seat majority to a much smaller five-seat majority.
“Statistically, really tight,” he said. “And one of those five people from New York might be in a different profession before long.”
Lucas was referencing the self-inflicted political wounds cause by New York Republican Congressman George Santos who was recently charged with fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and presenting false statements by a federal grand jury.
In addition to the possibility of the GOP caucus losing Santos, Lucas said he was concerned by the announced resignation of Utah Congressman Chris Stewart, who said he would leave Congress to care for his sick wife.
“And we have another member in Utah, who I have great respect for, who will resign in the first part of September because his wife has major health issues. I respect that immensely, but that takes us to a three-seat majority,” he said.
That razor-thin majority plus the pushback by the GOP’s far-right wing makes things difficult. “A five-, soon to be three-seat majority in the House, one-seat majority in the Senate, and a president who was elected as a lesser evil, it’s a tough environment,” he said. “And then throw on top of that, again, our pugilistic friends who took us to 15 ballots in the United States House to select a speaker because they want their way.”
That said, Lucas said, made it a tough year before the other issues arose. As an example, he said the country needs a farm bill and needs to pass legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration.
“It’s really hard, but I’m eternally optimistic,” he said. “But if it gets done it’s gonna be by consensus because the two wings on each side of the room don’t have enough votes to get their way.”
He said the country can govern from the center and it should.
“We can get our work done now just like we did in 2014, but the practical and the rational have to gel together to do what’s right.”