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Lawton Constitution: Cole hopeful despite chaos in Washington

October 15, 2015
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Lawton Constitution - Mitch Meador

This is as chaotic a time as Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole has ever seen in the U.S. House of Representatives, but he feels confident of four things: The U.S. will not default on its debt, Congress will not shut down the government again, the government will find a way to shore up its dwindling transportation fund, and Congress will not allow sequestration to happen.

In speaking appearances here Wednesday before Comanche County Farm Bureau members and the Executive Club, Cole said House Speaker John Boehner will continue to serve in that capacity until a new speaker is named because the speaker is next in line for the presidency after the vice president and the post can't be vacant.

Boehner sent shock waves by his Sept. 25 announcement he would resign effective Oct. 30. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, a seeming shoo-in for the job, abruptly announced on Oct. 8 he was dropping out of the race.

Cole said his favorite for the position is former Mitt Romney running mate Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who would have to trade his dream job as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee for one that would require more travel and less time with his family.

Cole plugged Ryan, saying he married an Oklahoman from the Fourth District, the former Janna Little of Madill, and he has two hunting dogs named Boomer and Sooner.

"I think he has got the best chance of actually unifying the Republican Congress," Cole said while admitting that if Ryan opts not to run, the race will be wide open.

Ryan, meanwhile, is negotiating with the Obama administration to let corporations bring back expanded profits from overseas at a lower tax rate to raise revenue for the transportation fund, Cole said. Better gas mileage and alternative fuel vehicles have cut the revenue flow from excise taxes on gasoline, and a funding mechanism is needed to implement the long-term transportation bill U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe has introduced in the Senate.

In response to a question posed by Jimmy Kinder on infrastructure to address the drought, Cole said Congress will take up roads before it gets to reservoirs.

Cole added that Congress has a lot of business to get done by the end of the year. The U.S. will bump up against its debt ceiling by Nov. 5 at the latest, the transportation fund has to be reauthorized and if Congress doesn't reach a larger budget deal by year's end, the sequestration provision of the Budget Control Act of 2011 will kick in. Its across-the-board cuts would cost defense $40 billion, which Cole said would be "a catastrophic mistake" when the military is being asked to do more all the time and the world is a much more dangerous place than in 2011.

Cole noted that the Russians are trying to redraw the eastern border of Europe, China is building islands in the South China Sea to serve as military bases, the Russians are sending troops into Syria, Iran continues to sponsor terrorism throughout the Middle East and ISIL has effectively established a terrorist state in the heart of the Middle East.

Cole said there's some thought to having Boehner stay on until the budget is done because there is so much controversy around it and it would be hard for a newcomer to manage. The congressman believes Congress won't shut down the government again because it simply doesn't work.

Cole would not say who he thinks will be the Republican nominee for president, joking that even his own wife doesn't care who he endorses for president. He did note that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has flipped positions on the Keystone pipeline she once favored, and that's indicative of the thinking now within a party that will never go back to the Democratic Party it once was.

Online:Lawton Constitution