News Stories
The Oklahoman - Sharla Bardin
Amanda Rowell is on a mission to motivate people to become heart smart.
She takes any opportunity to share her story about how, at age 32, she had a heart attack a few days after giving birth to her daughter.
The Norman resident said she is grateful to be alive and wants to encourage other women to know their risk factors and symptoms and equip themselves with information about preventing heart disease.
“Maybe I can reach one person,” she said.
The Oklahoman - Chris Casteel
Congress averted a government shutdown Wednesday, approving a short-term spending bill just hours before the deadline with strong bipartisan support.
President Barack Obama signed the legislation, which will keep departments funded close to their current levels until Dec. 11, two weeks before Christmas.
The Hill - Sarah Ferris
A top House Republican is asserting that the short-term government spending bill includes no funding for Planned Parenthood, a last-ditch effort to quell the conservative rebellion threatening the bill's fate.
“Just to make the record crystal clear, there's just simply not a dime in here for Planned Parenthood,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said during a markup of the spending bill by the House Rules Committee.
PolitiFact - Lauren Carroll
Congress needs to pass a spending bill by Sept. 30, 2015, or there’ll be a government shutdown. Some members of Congress want to leverage this deadline to defund Planned Parenthood.
But the bill Congress will likely pass -- a short-term spending bill that funds the government through Dec. 11 -- doesn’t include funding for Planned Parenthood to begin with, said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., on Fox News Sunday Sept. 27. So Congress shouldn’t shut down the government over funding the women’s health organization.
The Oklahoman- Chris Casteel
The Obama administration has proposed to pay Indian tribes nearly $1 billion to settle a long-running lawsuit alleging the government failed to pay the costs of running federal programs.
The $940 million settlement, filed in federal court in New Mexico, was announced by top officials at the Interior and Justice departments on Thursday.
The Oklahoman - Chris Casteel
Oklahoma business leaders, in town for the State Chamber's annual visit, heard predictions from the state's lawmakers on Thursday about upcoming policy and political battles.
There was interest among the business men and women in the Capitol Hill room about economic matters important to the state — lifting the ban on crude oil exports; the lesser prairie chicken's status under the Endangered Species Act; and the extension of the Export-Import Bank to help companies like Boeing compete worldwide.
The Oklahoman - Chris Casteel
Returning after a lengthy summer break, lawmakers are set to wage partisan battles this month over Planned Parenthood and the proposed nuclear deal with Iran, with a break to host the Pope.
"We're going to have a very busy fall," said Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa.
Busy and contentious.
With just three weeks until the new fiscal year begins, Congress has not approved spending bills for the military, homeland security and every other department that requires annual appropriations.
Lawton Constitution - Kim McConnell
The federal budget will be among the largest problems looming for Congress as members return from their summer recess, Fourth District U.S. Rep. Tom Cole said last week.
The Oklahoma Republican was speaking to the editorial board of The Lawton Constitution, following on the heels of a three-hour town hall he led at Great Plains Technology Center, one of a series of meetings he has held with constituents during the summer recess.
Lawton Constitution - Kim McConnell
Military benefits, health care, immigration top concerns at town hall
Residents asked questions about veteran and other health care benefits and national security during a town hall meeting Thursday sponsored by U.S. Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole.