Oklahoma Rep. Kendra Horn Releases State of the District Address
On Thursday, Congresswoman Kendra Horn gave a State of the District Address for Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District. Watch the full State of the District Address here. The text of the Congresswoman’s address is available below:
State of Oklahoma’s 5th District Address
Remarks by Congresswoman Kendra Horn
Hello Oklahoma! My name is Congresswoman Kendra Horn and I represent Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District. Thank you for joining me for a State of the District update.
Today is a special chance for me to talk directly with folks back home about the landscape in Oklahoma’s 5th District, the challenges we face, and our work to make progress for Oklahoma’s families over the next year.
During my first year in Congress, I heard from thousands of Oklahomans, at town halls and constituent coffees, in classrooms and community centers, from Oklahoma City to Konawa. I heard from teachers who struggled to make ends meet, I heard from parents who couldn’t afford their child’s medication, and I heard from voters across the political spectrum worried about their future, uncertain about the direction our country is headed in.
I don’t believe the direction of Oklahoma’s 5th District has ever been certain. As a fifth-generation Oklahoman, my grandparents weathered the uncertainty of the dust bowl and the Great Depression, not knowing what the future of our state held. There was uncertainty and pain decades later when Clara Luper and her students sat down at Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City for one of our nation’s first sit-ins. As Clara Luper said, her fight for civil rights was like believing in the sun when the sun didn’t shine.
I hear a similar uncertainty today when I talk with Oklahomans about the future of our state. As a freshman legislator last year, I was among the first congressional class ever to come into Congress during a government shutdown. When I was sworn in, our federal government couldn’t work together enough to keep the doors open. At town halls, I have heard from Oklahomans who ask me whether it’s even worth trying to bring both parties together anymore, or whether it’s worth trying to enact legislation in a gridlocked Congress. My answer is yes.
I ran for Congress challenging the idea that both parties can’t work together, and today, one year after my swearing in, I’m proud to say that we’ve made real progress uniting Republicans and Democrats to pass meaningful reforms. Our fight to end partisan gridlock isn’t over, but we’ve shown that Congress still has the power to address the issues that matter most to the American people. The victories we’ve won show that we have more in common than divides us.
Just yesterday the bipartisan USMCA trade deal was signed into law. For months, Republicans and Democrats in the House debated labor protections, drug pricing reforms, and enforcement provisions in the USMCA. I worked with Republicans and Democrats, urging our leadership to finalize the deal and bring it to the floor. In the end, after many hours of debate and thoughtful dialogue, we enacted a trade deal that is good for our country and Oklahoma.
That is just one example of what we can accomplish when we reach across the aisle, when we put solutions over partisanship. Last year, we passed legislation fully funding the government, enacting a set of appropriations bills which invest in our top national priorities from early education to national security. The year-end funding bills we enacted in December increased funding for Head Start and Early Head Start by over $500 million. And the National Defense Authorization Act we passed provided a historic 3.1% raise for service members – the largest raise in a decade. Those aren’t Democratic or Republican victories, those are victories for all of Oklahoma, and they’re the result of working together with members of Congress regardless of their party.
In the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, where I serve as the Chair of the Space and Aerospace Subcommittee, I just introduced bipartisan legislation setting out a long-term, sustainable framework for NASA and our nation’s civil space program. Our bipartisan bill takes a comprehensive approach to supporting NASA’s work as a multi-mission agency, emphasizing the importance of balanced exploration, science, aeronautics, technology, and education portfolios. What made this legislation possible was across-the-aisle teamwork, including over a year of hearings, expert testimony, and thoughtful debate. When I introduced my bill, our fellow Oklahoman and Ranking Member of the Science Space and Technology Committee, Congressman Frank Lucas signed on as a cosponsor. What I’ve seen from my seat as Chair of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee is that when we put our heads together, Republicans and Democrats, we can achieve goals from the moon to Mars and beyond.
One of the most significant bipartisan achievements last year was our Tenants Bill of Rights for military families that I worked on with Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe. At one of my first town halls, a mother told me about the unsafe and unsanitary housing conditions that her family was forced to live in at Tinker. Since hearing her story, I’ve used my position on the House Armed Services Committee to fight for housing protections for our military families. The Tenants Bill of Rights protects our military families from predatory contracts and provides increased oversight of privatized base housing. Our fight for military families and safe housing is far from over, but the Tenants Bill of Rights that Sen. Inhofe and I worked to pass is a step in the right direction.
So while Oklahoma still faces its share of challenges, while we still have work to do here in Congress ending partisan gridlock, the state of Oklahoma’s 5th District is hopeful. Hopeful that we can work together, hopeful that we can pass bipartisan solutions to address the issues Oklahomans care about most, and hopeful that we won’t let partisanship define who we are.
In 2020, I am fighting to keep that hope alive by seeking bipartisan action on issues like prescription drug prices. Last year, the House passed a bipartisan bill called the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, legislation that would drastically lower drug prices for diseases from diabetes to cancer. The bill included a provision I introduced which would lower prescription drug costs for the 46 million patients who have Medicare Part D by reducing the program’s out-of-pocket maximum from $5,100 to $2,000. My provision would save up to $3,100 annually for patients with Medicare Part D. Now we need the Senate to consider that same legislation.
This year, I will continue my focus on serving Oklahomans. Over the last year, our district offices resolved 371 constituent cases, returning over half a million dollars to constituents. My office responded to over 26,500 letters emails and calls from Oklahomans writing to us about the issues important to our state. We are here to serve, and if you or your family needs assistance in the new year, I encourage you to reach out to our office.
In 2020 I will also continue my fight to address the student debt crisis. In the U.S. today there are 43 million individuals who hold student loan debt, totaling over $1.6 trillion. We must use practical solutions to address the student loan crisis - solutions that are fair to both students and taxpayers. We need fixes that are fair to people who hold student debt and to those who’ve paid it off.
Last year I introduced a slate of legislation to address the student debt crisis, including a bill to stop federally issued loans from accruing interest while students are in school and another bill to stop loan providers from charging students arbitrary high-interest rates. Nothing we do in government should be arbitrary. We need an intentional, thoughtful process of how we treat everyone – especially those seeking opportunity in this country.
I’m proud that both of these pieces of legislation are bipartisan. The problem of student debt, like most of the challenges our country faces, is not a partisan one. Our solutions to address the problem shouldn’t be partisan either.
Student loan debt and prescription drug prices are just two of the issues I plan to tackle in 2020. In Congress, I will continue fighting for action to invest in infrastructure, legislation to take care of our veterans, and bipartisan solutions to increase access and affordability in health care.
The key to our success on these issues is to stay focused on solutions over politics, and always remember the Golden Rule – treat others as you’d want to be treated. My parents taught me that you shouldn’t just hang the Golden Rule on your wall, but you should hang it in your heart. In Congress, and at home, that means treating people with the respect they deserve and looking for the common ground that brings us together.
Bipartisan solutions won’t always come easily. Democracy in a nation as large and diverse as ours can be messy. But as Oklahoma’s civil rights hero Clara Luper once said, “The beauty of America is in the diversity of her people.”
I’m glad we live in a congressional district that is home to a multitude of voices and a diversity of ideas. I’m glad that at each of the 19 town halls and constituent coffees I hosted last year, there was never any shortage of voters who wanted to make their voices heard. I think our district would be a worse place if we agreed with each other all of the time.
My promise is that whether we agree or disagree, I will never stop listening, and I will never stop fighting for our state and our families. This month, I was proud to be ranked as one of the most accessible Members of Congress for the town halls that I hosted in 2019. In 2020, we’re going to continue that trend, by hosting town halls where I get to hear directly from people in my district about the challenges they are facing and the solutions they want to see action on. As the Congresswoman for Oklahoma’s 5th District, it is critical that I hear from the people that I represent so I can bring their voices to Congress.
That is the spirit of democracy. That is the spirit of debate, and compromise, and hopefulness that I believe makes our congressional district special.
It was earlier this year that I had the honor of unveiling a bust in the U.S. Capitol of Oklahoma’s own former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Carl Albert. The whole Oklahoma delegation in the U.S. House, Republicans and Democrats, joined for the ceremony.
Now, some of you may be familiar with the Little Giant from Little Dixie. Born in the small town of Bugtussle, Oklahoma, Carl Albert is the only House Speaker from our state, and the highest ranking federal official from Oklahoma. But what made Speaker Carl Albert special was not the fact that he is remembered as the highest rising federal official from Oklahoma, it’s what he did with his position as Speaker of the House that matters.
Speaker Albert led the House of Representatives during some of the most tumultuous times in U.S. history. He was Speaker during the Watergate scandal and during the Vietnam War. Twice, as the Nixon Administration was collapsing, Speaker Albert was just one heartbeat away from the U.S. presidency.
But rather than putting himself in line for the Oval Office, Speaker Albert worked to do what was right for the long-term health of our democracy. He searched for bipartisan support in the House’s inquiry into Watergate, and he ensured that a Vice President of Nixon’s own party would be installed in the White House, ending the possibility that he would fill the presidency when Nixon resigned.
It was Speaker Albert who said, “I like to face issues in terms of conditions and not in terms of someone's inborn political philosophy.” Today, Carl Albert’s speakership is a strong reminder of the positive impact we can have when we put partisanship aside in service to our country.
As we begin 2020, I want to thank everyone who has written to my office, attended my town halls, and made their voices heard over the past year. I am honored to be your Representative in Congress, and as we set out on a new decade, I believe that by working together and looking for common ground, we can make a difference on the issues we care about most.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
The Gayly. 1/31/2020 @ 5:56 p.m. CST