Weekly Columns
There is no obligation more sacred than to provide for our service members and their families, both during and after service to their country. Many return from war forever changed, sometimes with both physical and psychological challenges. Especially when these veteran heroes require special care, they should never receive less than the best treatment. As a grateful nation, we owe them that debt for their selfless sacrifice and service.
Ever since Russia violated Ukrainian sovereignty by sending troops to invade Crimea back in March, the world has been clearly warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is on the move to conquer and claim neighboring territory. While he started with making Crimea part of Russia, professing that he must do so as protector of the “Russian world,” clearly his goal is to take over huge swaths of the country of Ukraine and then threaten the sovereignty of other countries allied or associated with America.
As our founding fathers clearly described in Article I of the Constitution, “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.” Unfortunately, President Barack Obama has shown a consistent pattern of executive overreach throughout his time in office by repeatedly choosing to bypass Congress and unilaterally change laws on his own.
Over the last several weeks, we’ve watched a growing crisis at our borders resulting in a flood of unaccompanied illegal juveniles—all fueled by the Administration’s immigration policy failure and refusal to enforce current immigration law. Because of the president’s failure to send these minors home quickly or at all, he has now incentivized thousands more to come at the hands and usually at the high profit of criminal cartels.
The Oklahoman - By Senator James Inhofe and Congressman Tom Cole
As one of America’s premier military installations, Fort Sill continuously accepts and trains hundreds of new U.S. Army recruits. After graduating from Fort Sill’s 10-week basic training course, these soldiers go on to help keep the nation safe and freedoms secure — all with skills they learned in Oklahoma. But in June, new neighbors arrived on the post.
While it initially went unnoticed, there is now a very apparent crisis at our borders. Instigated by the failed policy of the Administration, thousands of unaccompanied illegal minors are swarming our borders at the hands of cartels, crossing into our country, overwhelming our facilities and then rarely being returned to their countries of origin. Unless the president enforces our existing immigration laws, the situation will only worsen.
Every year on the Fourth of July, we are reminded of those brave patriots who came before us to establish and preserve liberty. Those precious freedoms that we now enjoy were paid for at a high price by thousands who believed in a better, brighter future for all generations of Americans.
Freedom is not free or easily attained. The brainchild of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin and Robert Livingston, the Declaration of Independence was just the beginning of a long, dangerous road to building and establishing the America we live in today.
Americans trust that their freedom of speech and religion as outlined and promised in the United States Constitution will be protected. When threatened, Americans also expect and trust those responsible for threatening these rights will be held accountable and that justice will be served. Unfortunately, in this scandal-plagued Administration, such attacks on our First Amendment rights are more likely to be covered up.
True patriotism is embodied in the lives of those who volunteered to defend and protect our nation, and their remarkable, selfless acts of service must never be taken for granted. We are forever indebted to them for their service, and they deserve the utmost support and appreciation every day of the year. Not only should they receive our continuous gratitude, but just as they answered the dangerous call of duty, we have the duty to take care of them when they return home from the battlefield.
With recent events and remembering D-Day 70 years ago, we are grateful for the men and women who courageously volunteer their service in our military to preserve and defend freedom. Whether serving on our own soil or directly in harm’s way overseas, the lives of our military are irreplaceable.