Oklahoman Q&A: U.S. Sen. James Lankford
Oklahoma’s Senator Lankford candidly talks Israel, abortion and Social Security
by Chris Casteel
WASHINGTON — Almost immediately after an anti-abortion activist began releasing secretly recorded videos of Planned Parenthood employees discussing the sale of fetal organs and tissue, Sen. James Lankford became a central figure in the debate over defunding the group.
Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, choked up during a speech on the Senate floor in which he questioned whether the United States needed to reassess its most basic principles. And he was a lead author of the bill to bar the group from getting any federal funds.
That bill was blocked in the Senate, but the issue is expected to be a major component of the budget negotiations next month between the Republican-held Congress and President Barack Obama.
In an interview with The Oklahoman in his office last week, the freshman senator said that, despite the work on Planned Parenthood, he has been spending the majority of his time lately examining the way federal agencies make regulations. It is the type of un-sexy work the wonkish Lankford has specialized in since coming to Congress in 2011, first as a House member.