At least two members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation are in support of bipartisan legislation that would exert pressure on federal lawmakers to pass government appropriation bills in a timely manner.
U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Edmond, recently joined a Democrat colleague in co-sponsoring an updated version of the “Prevent Government Shutdowns Act.” And, earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, D-Oklahoma City, co-sponsored the “No Budget, No Pay Act”; her freshman class of legislators was the first in U.S. history to enter Congress during a government shutdown. Congress faces a Dec. 20 deadline to pass funding measures to keep the government open. In the last 40 years, “We’ve had 21 government shutdowns led by both parties – each one costing taxpayers billions of dollars and hurting federal employees,” Lankford said.
One bill introduced in the House of Representatives would prevent House and Senate members from drawing a paycheck if they miss annual deadlines for budget and appropriations bills. Another would prevent members of Congress from being paid in the event of a government shutdown. Both measures are excellent ideas. Civilian workers don’t get paid if they don’t do their jobs. Politicians should be held to the same rigid standard. “We cannot allow Congress to continue to kick the can down the road,” Horn said. Americans “deserve a Congress that will meet its constitutional responsibility and fund the government.”
Lankford and five of his Senate colleagues propose legislation that would protect federal employees and compel Congress to remain in the nation’s capital until the government is properly funded. The bill would set up an automatic Continuing Resolution at current spending levels until an agreement on funding is reached. This would prevent a government-wide shutdown, maintain critical services and operations and hold federal workers harmless while Congress negotiates. The federal government would remain open as members of Congress, their staffs and the Office of Management and Budget remained in Washington, D.C., to finish work on appropriations bills.
Among the sensible restrictions that would be imposed by the Senate measure during a period of lapsed appropriations:
• No taxpayer-financed travel would be allowed, except for one return flight to Washington, D.C.
• No travel expenses (for meals and per diem) would be reimbursed.
• No campaign funds could be spent by congressional offices to supplement official duties or pay for travel expenses.
• No motions to recess or adjourn the Senate or the House for more than 23 hours would be recognized.
• A quorum call vote would be required each day at noon in both the House and the Senate to confirm attendance, which would keep members of Congress in town for mandatory votes.
“It’s time to stop hurting federal families and taxpayers in yet another government shutdown” caused by partisan gridlock, Lankford asserted. Oklahoma has a large population of federal employees. Literally thousands of them work at Fort Sill Army post; Altus, Tinker and Vance Air Force bases; the Army Ammunition Plant at McAlester; and the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City. These facilities are critical to our national defense and airline safety.
There’s also the U.S. Department of Agriculture; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which operate several lakes in southwest Oklahoma, including Fort Cobb, Foss, Tom Steed, Lugert-Altus and Waurika; the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which manages the 59,000-acre Wich- ita Mountains Wildlife Refuge and its 13 public-use lakes, including Elmer Thomas and Quanah Parker; and the federal Bureau of Land Management.
There’s the Social Security Administration office in Lawton, which provides vital services to senior citizens throughout the region. There’s the FBI field office and the Federal Building / U.S. Courthouse in Lawton. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has an office in Anadarko, and the Indian Health Service operates facilities in southwest Oklahoma at Lawton, Carnegie and Anadarko. The list goes on and on. Just about the only agency that’s not closed during a federal government shutdown is the U.S. Postal Service. (That’s because the USPS has been self-sustaining since 1982 and receives almost no congressionally appropriated funding.)
A government shutdown has a dramatic ripple effect because laid-off workers struggle to buy groceries for their families, provide clothes and school supplies for their children, make car payments, and pay mortgage and utility bills. For Congress to use our public servants and national security as pawns in political gamesmanship is shameful. Partisan foot-dragging, sniping and name-calling are counterproductive. It’s long past time for our elected representatives, Republicans and Democrats alike, to cease the childish bickering and start acting like the mature adults they are supposed to be.