View Speech Here Congressman Steve Russell (OK-5) spoke on the House floor this afternoon in defense of the free exercise of religion, as stated in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Excerpts from his speech, as prepared, are below: “Amendment 1 of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution of the United States of America - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the rig...
Read more
Del City, OK – Congressman Steve Russell (OK-5) issued the following statement in response to the directive from the Department of Education of the Obama Administration to 16,500 public school districts across the country that they must allow trans-gender students access to gender-based facilities, like bathrooms or locker rooms, of their choosing or the schools could face losing federal funding. “This abuse of power by President Obama will not stand. The President is not allowed to circumvent C...
Read more
Congressman Steve Russell (OK-5) issued the following statement today on the US District Court decision of House v. Burwell that the Obama administration has been improperly funding an Affordable Care Act subsidy program: “This is an important constitutional decision substantiating that the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was improperly and unconstitutionally implemented. Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution specifically states, ‘No money shall be drawn from the Treas...
Read more
Early Thursday morning, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) completed its mark-up of H.R. 4909 - the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Congressman Steve Russell (OK-5) offered 11 amendments to the legislation, which were all adopted. These amendments ranged from preventing further cuts to our military, to providing retired service members a more equitable distribution of retirement benefits upon dissolution of marriage, to making sure religious service providers and contrac...
Read more
Today, Congressman Steve Russell (OK-5) and Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (IL-8) introduced the Getting Results Through Enhanced Accountability and Transparency (GREAT) Act of 2016, which increases the efficiency and effectiveness of monitoring duplicative programs within the federal government. The GREAT Act was also introduced today in the Senate by Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and Ron Johnson (R-WI), Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee...
Read more
This week, the House of Representatives passed four bills to increase basic oversight of the IRS: H.R. 1206 - No Hires for the Delinquent IRS Act – Prohibits the IRS from maintaining employees who have outstanding major tax debt. H.R. 4885 - IRS Oversight While Eliminating Spending (OWES) Act – Requires the IRS to use collected user fees for user customer service, unless otherwise directed to by Congress. H.R. 4890 - IRS Bonuses Tied to Measurable Metrics Act - Imposes a ban on the payment of b...
Read more
Congressman Steve Russell (OK-5) issued the following statement on the anniversary of the tragic bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995: “Twenty-one years ago today, Oklahomans, and Americans alike, suffered a horrible attack of domestic terrorism. But in as much as it opened our eyes to the evils of the world, it also showed us awe-inspiring heroism and a sense of community as the people of Oklahoma City came together to help one another in their gre...
Read more
Today, the US House of Representative passed HR 2666 – the No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act by a bipartisan vote of 241 to 173 This bill prohibits the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from regulating retail rates levied by Internet service providers (ISPs) for broadband Internet service access. Congressman Steve Russell (OK-5) released the following statement regarding HR 2666: “FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler spoke out against Internet service rate regulation just a few weeks...
Read more
Congressman Steve Russell (OK-5) continued his attack on wasteful spending in the federal budget by introducing HR 4917 -the Free Market Flights Act. This is the sixth such bill Congressman Russell has introduced in the past month totaling over $17 billion in spending cuts and savings. The Free Market Flights Act will terminate Essential Air Service (EAS), a ten-year transitional program that was established in 1978, and assign that money back to the US Treasury. While EAS provides federal subsi...
Read more
Del City, OK – Today, Congressman Russell joined with Starbucks and the Starbucks Armed Forces Network to go “Behind the Bar” at the Starbucks located at 3301 Northwest Expressway, Oklahoma City. Congressman Russell spent his morning meeting with the employees and patrons to highlight the veterans and the spouses of veterans Starbucks hires, as well as the members of the Armed Forces who stopped in for their morning cup of coffee or beverage. Congressman Russell made time to speak with every pat...
Read more
