The Oklahoman: Oklahoma's State Chamber leaders make annual visit to Washington

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.

But they also wanted to talk about the presidential race and, even, the difference between serving in the House and Senate.

"I was told when I was leaving the House there were afternoon nap times" in the Senate, said freshman Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City. "I haven't seen that yet."

Two of the delegation's most senior members told the business leaders they support the Export-Import Bank as a tool for helping farmers and manufacturers. The bank, an independent agency that helps finance U.S. exports, has been out of operation since July because Congress did not renew it.

Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Cheyenne, said the House would support the bank's continued operation if there were an open vote. He predicted the bank would be reauthorized, though he couldn't say when or how many jobs would be lost before it was back in business.

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, said a group of Republicans had turned the bank's continued operations into a showdown over so-called crony capitalism.

"I think this is a manufactured issue of no merit,'' Cole said, adding that few people outside of "DC elites" cared. Cole predicted legislation reauthorizing the bank would be attached to a bill that was sure to pass.

Presidential race

Lucas, who spent part of the last few weeks traveling around his sprawling western Oklahoma district, said the presidential race had "changed the tone of my town hall meetings."

His constituents, he said, are waking up to the fact that President Barack Obama's time in office will end and are now focusing on his potential replacements. Who would have guessed, he said, that the front-runners would be U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, “a proud Socialist from Vermont,” and Donald Trump, “a property developer from New York City.”

Cole, who has decades of political experience at the state and national level, declined to predict the eventual Republican presidential nominee, though he said the candidates with no political experience — Trump, Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson — face very long historical odds.

Freshman Rep. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City, made his first appearance at a State Chamber gathering in Washington. The retired U.S. Army officer focused his remarks on how Republicans would continue to fight the nuclear deal with Iran and on the decline of domestic military budgets.

After the Iran nuclear deal goes into effect, states and Republican lawmakers will continue to press economic sanctions against Iran.

Looming shutdown

The potential for a government shutdown over the funding of Planned Parenthood produced some conflict within the delegation — though the two lawmakers in disagreement weren't in the room together.

Cole, who doesn't want a shutdown, told the business leaders members would have to compromise and reach a deal on government spending. “The easiest vote in politics is a ‘no' vote,'' Cole said.

Later, Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Tulsa, who wants Republicans to resist any legislation that allows funding for Planned Parenthood, said, “You've got to vote ‘no' sometimes to get to ‘yes.' ”

Bridenstine made scathing remarks about the legislative process and the Federal Reserve and the threat of the nation's debt. “This is not the way this country's supposed to be run,'' he said. He seemed somewhat surprised that he wasn't peppered with questions after the remarks.

Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Westville, who came to Congress with Bridenstine in 2013, said the government shutdown that year over the Affordable Care Act made him question the value of the tactic. “It cost us billions of dollars to shut down the government,'' Mullin said. “For what?”

On regulation

Mullin and the state's senators spent a good portion of their remarks on a topic dear to the business leaders' hearts: reducing government regulation.

Lankford said he has been occupied with delving into the process by which federal agencies make rules. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, said the fate of a regulation he and many other conservatives abhor, a mandate for the use of ethanol and other renewable fuels, depends on the Nov. 16 election.

Mullin, who built a large plumbing business in eastern Oklahoma, urged business leaders to stay involved and make their voices heard.

Online:The Oklahoman