Before Christie and I had kids, there were periods of time when I worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If I got a call from a customer during Thanksgiving dinner, I was out the door and ready to fix whatever needed attention. A call on Christmas morning? I was gone. The day our oldest son, Jim, was born, was the day I stopped working for myself. I started working for him. If you ask any parent about the most important parts of their life, I am sure that one answer would be their children. M... Read more

In Washington and across the country, it is commonly believed and accepted that America cannot have a strong economy without a strong middle class. This idea is an important part of our success story and reinforces the basic principal of the American Dream: if you work hard you can achieve any goal. Families and individuals in Oklahoma are working hard to achieve their American Dream, but regulations from this president and his administration are causing the cost of survival to climb higher than... Read more

The end of July is one of the most important periods of time in Washington, DC. There are funding deadlines that must be met and legislation that needs to be completed before lawmakers go home for the August district work period. This July, I am happy that we were able to close the month by passing two bills that will help us do a better job of keeping our commitment to our nation’s veterans. My team and I have spent this month focusing on veterans and military families, and the passage of these... Read more

Many Oklahomans have expressed their deep concerns about the president’s deal with Iran on nuclear weapons and sanctions. Rest assured, I share these concerns, and I want to take this opportunity to update the Second District on the situation. The nuclear negotiations between the six world powers and Iran began in 2013. This week, the Obama administration finally sent Congress the proposed agreement. Prior to this transmission, we had not seen the full agreement. Now, Congress has 60 days for re... Read more

We are on an exciting path—a path that leads to hope for patients and families across Oklahoma and our nation. In the 21st Century, medical innovation is happening quickly. We have seen breakthroughs that completely change the way we treat diseases like cancer, advances in research that allow us to pinpoint the single cause of a genetic mutation, and discoveries that have profound impacts on patients’ quality of life. Despite advances like these, our federal drug and device approval system lags ... Read more

When it comes to the privacy of our personal information, we all get a little nervous - and rightly so. Recent revelations about the data breach of federal employees’ highly personal information possibly by Chinese hackers are deeply troubling. Equally as disturbing are reports that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) knew about the breach, past breaches and about vulnerabilities in their system for over a year. The sheer volume of federal employees impacted by the breach is astounding. It ... Read more

It is hard to believe that we are almost past the first half of this year. The past few months have been full of important wins that bring our Oklahoma values to Washington. Already this year, the U.S. House of Representatives has helped our veterans gain better access to health care, voted to reverse the president’s executive power grab on immigration, fought for energy independence and passed bills that simplify America’s complicated and confusing tax code. We have also fought and will continu... Read more

In 1938, songwriter Irving Berlin dug through a trunk that contained his incomplete arrangements for a piece he had started two decades earlier—a piece that has become so important to the tradition of being an American that it’s hard to imagine anyone criticizing it for being “just one more patriotic song.” On November 11, 1938, God Bless America was performed for millions of Americans on CBS radio. With the start of the Second World War looming, the song served as a prayer for peace in an uncer... Read more

Not all heroes wear a cape and fly. We can look around our communities and see real heroes in our midst. Some drive an ambulance; others keep us safe or put out fires. And, parents have an opportunity to be a hero every single day when they read to their children, read with their children or take their children to the library. This summer, libraries across Oklahoma’s Second Congressional District are celebrating heroes in their summer reading programs. Using heroic imagination, our libraries hav... Read more

For many of our men and women in uniform, returning from warzones overseas is only the beginning. Many of these heroes will fight post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following this experience even after they return home. June is National PTSD Awareness Month, a time when we remind ourselves to remain aware of the unique struggles that veterans, current service members, and others around us may be facing. I am fortunate to have two former combat veterans on my team who diligently and compassion... Read more