OKLAHOMA CITY – Three of the five members of Oklahoma’s Republican Congressional delegation spoke to members of the Oklahoma Press Association last Saturday during a morning question and answer session.
Congressmen Frank Lucas and Markwayne Mullin as well as Congresswoman Stephanie Bice, spoke to a crowd of about 75 journalists. The trio spoke for roughly an hour about the country’s energy policy, inflation, immigration and agricultural issues.
They also were harsh critics of Democrat President Joe Biden. Mullin said the Biden administration was dangerous and had “turned a blind eye to threats that have taken place across the world.”
“The position the United States has taken has completely shaken the core of the world,” Mullin said.
Echoing Mullin, Lucas – the longest-serving member of the delegation – said the president and legislative leader’s focus on social issues and environmental justice has “cause them to set an agenda that they don’t seem to be able to do.”
Bice, the youngest member of the delegation and the group’s only female, said the country is plagued by several crises: the border, immigration, crime and energy. “Since Biden has been elected there has been what I consider a full-on assault (of the energy industry),” she said. She said the Biden administration wants to force Americans to use electric vehicles. “They want to force everyone to use less fossil fuel,” she said.
All three members described the government of China as one of the greatest threats the U.S. faces and spoke repeatedly about high gas prices.
Mullin, who is running for the soon-to-be vacated seat now held by Jim Inhofe, said the Biden administration could help bring down high gas prices if it showed support for the fossil fuel industry.
“If the administration will just send a signal that they support fossil fuels you’ll see the industry stand up overnight and within a month you’ll see gas prices come down,” he said. “All they have to do is say, ‘drill baby, drill.’”
Bice criticized the federal Securities Exchange Commission for a policy that requires publicly traded companies to issue environmental social governance guidelines as part of their filings.
“There is no reason for that,” she said. She said the SEC is trying to pressure companies to become more environmentally friendly.
Responding to the school shootings in Texas and the shooting at a hospital in Tulsa, Mullin questioned the need to raise the age to purchase a weapon. He also said the said the U.S. Constitution prohibits restrictions on gun ownership.
Mullin said the government can play a role in better protecting children by making schools hard targets – that is, reinforcing school facilities and paying to place armed guards at entrances.
Lucas said Oklahomans should be prepared for a few more difficult years.
He said he expected food and fuel prices to stay high. Lucas said one way to keep prices in check was to develop and pass the 2023 farm bill.
“The next two years, we are going to be under stress,” he said. “We will work our way through this process, but the food will be here. We’ve got some struggles ahead of us.”