News Stories

Businessweek - Jonathan Nicholson

Congress is increasingly unlikely to start talks on getting a budget deal and forestalling a debt limit impasse before the next five-week break in August.

Several factors are at play: brightening deficit forecasts from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, a crowded July calendar dominated by potential action on immigration and the lack of an obvious starting point for bargaining between two sides that remain far apart, Bloomberg BNA reported.

Journal Record - Associated Press

A London-based urban affairs think tank has selected Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis as its "Mayor of the Month" for his leadership in the aftermath of the May 20 tornado.

The City Mayors Foundation announced Monday that Lewis is the mayor of the smallest city ever to win the honor.

Previous winners include New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, San Antonio's Julian Castro and Rio de Janeiro's Eduardo Paes.

Government Executive - Kellie Lunney

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers wants to know why certain civilian employees at the Defense Department are subject to furloughs.

Norman Transcript - Staff Report

Congressman Tom Cole, R- Moore, said he is pleased with the ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States that upheld Oklahoma water rights in the case, Tarrant Regional Water District v. Herrmann.

This case challenged the terms of the Red River Compact of 1978, a congressionally sanctioned agreement allocating water rights in the Red River Basin shared by Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Bloomberg - June 7, 2013

Congress’s longest-serving member arrived at the House of Representatives when Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House, “The Honeymooners” was a top-rated television show, youngsters wore coonskin caps and their older siblings danced to “Rock Around the Clock.”

As of today, Michigan Democrat John Dingell, 86, has served in Congress for 57 years, five months and 26 days -- exceeding by one day the record set by the late West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, a Democrat, who died in office in 2010.

Indian Country Today - Brian Daffron

Many tribes honor those who have contributed heart and soul to their people, and the Chickasaw Nation is no exception. This year, the Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame inducted five new members May 7 at the Riverwind Showplace Theater in Norman, Oklahoma.

Recipients include Betty Ruth Kemp of Norman; Colbert Latimer “Bud” Baker of Marco Island, Florida; Gene “Nashoba” Thompson of Austin, Texas; and two posthumous inductions, Thomas Benjamin Thompson Sr. and Benson Pikey.

Ada News - Eric Swanson

Environmental Protection Agency officials have assured U.S. Rep. Tom Cole that Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Center will have a new permanent director by September, Cole said Thursday.

Cole said Congress should not get involved in personnel issues at the EPA, but lawmakers have a forum for seeking information from agency officials. He added that he recently discussed the situation at Kerr Lab with officials who pledged to fill the director’s job this fall.

NPR - Tamara Keith

When Congress voted on federal relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey earlier this year, five of the seven Oklahoma representatives and senators voted no. Rep. Tom Cole, one of the two who voted yes, warned that someday Oklahoma would be asking for help — and that day came last week after a massive tornado.

The storm ripped through the city of Moore, in Cole's home district, killing 24 people and destroying thousands of homes.