Media

During the month of August, I had the opportunity to have conversations with hundreds of individuals across the Fourth District through town hall meetings, local business visits and other informal meetings. As we visited together at every meeting, there were several recurring questions and issues that came up, particularly those concerning the future of Obamacare, the National Security Agency, immigration reform and American military involvement in Syria.

Tulsa World - Congressman Tom Cole

After the recent chemical attack in Syria, the American people expressed their strong opposition to the military strike proposed by President Obama. Through phone calls, emails, letters and town hall meetings, my Oklahoma constituents made it abundantly clear to me that they were strongly and unequivocally opposed to any U.S. involvement in Syria's civil war.

The Washington Post - Terry Atlas, Kathleen Hunter and Michael C. Bender

The U.S. Senate is putting off consideration of a resolution authorizing strikes against Syria to give President Barack Obama the “time and space” to pursue diplomacy with Russia, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.

Obama has postponed a decision on military action against Syria, sparing himself a possible political defeat at home and plunging the U.S. into potentially protracted negotiations with a global rival.

National Journal - Billy House

With big deadlines and political hurdles looming over fights to keep the government funded and hike the nation’s borrowing limit, a meeting Thursday of the top four congressional leaders could set the tone for the autumn.

Defense News - John T. Bennett

The drums of war were replaced Thursday on Capitol Hill by a more familiar sound: House and Senate leaders bickering over federal spending.

Congressional leaders obliged this week to President Barack Obama’s request to delay votes to authorize US military strikes to punish Bashar al-Assad for an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack that killed over 1,000 people. It became clear Thursday that Capitol Hill has moved beyond Syria came as those very leaders clashed over the shape of a temporary government-wide spending measure.

Pryor Times - Patrick B. McGuigan

Oklahoma activists opposed to U.S. intervention in the Syrian civil war in recent days have intensified their campaign.

Led by two well-known and respected military veterans, a coalition has formed that is characterized as “tea party to socialist to anarchist.”

Truth is, the Sooner State’s anti-war movement is so diverse it does not fit any political template.

Tulsa World - Randy Krehbiel

Tom Cole watched the events of Sept. 11, 2001, unfold from an office across Lafayette Park from the White House. A television told him what was happening in New York. From a window, he could see troops deploying around and on the White House as jet fighters screeched through the sky. In the distance, smoke rose over the Pentagon.

"I knew I was watching something of historic magnitude," said Cole, then political director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and now U.S. representative from Oklahoma's 4th District.