[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 130 (Wednesday, July 31, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5227-S5228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Oklahoma

  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, August is coming quickly. It is the time 
that we have a gap in the legislative calendar. As this body knows 
well, Congress is in session for 11 months of the year. We have one 
month in which we are not in Washington, DC, which gives us the 
opportunity to be home and to, quite frankly, catch up with family but 
also to be able to travel around our States, see what is going on in 
our States, and talk to folks.
  I happen to live in an unbelievably beautiful State. In August, 
Oklahoma is crazy hot and humid, but it is a great time to get a chance 
to see people and to see what is going on.
  In just the few weeks around this time period, I have already been to 
Ada and Durant and Calera, and I will be heading quickly to Chickasha, 
Lindsay, Lawton, Vinita, Miami--that is not ``Miam--ee''; the correct 
pronunciation is ``Miam--ah''--Afton, Grove, Jay, Chelsea, Hennessey, 
Enid, up to Kaw Lake, and, of course, all around the

[[Page S5228]]

Oklahoma City area and all around Tulsa, to spend as much time as I can 
with as many different people as I can to find out what is going on in 
Oklahoma. I get this one precious month a year to make sure I have 
focus time in the State to see as many people as I can.
  I got to thinking about this and the privilege that I have really had 
in being able to travel around my State and see so many people and so 
many places, to get on Route 66, travel the State from east to west, 
and see exactly what is going on.
  I have had the opportunity to be out at the E.W. Marland Mansion in 
Ponca City. I have had the opportunity to be at Roman Nose State Park 
in Watonga. I have climbed up to the top of Black Mesa in Kenton, and I 
have been to the lowest point, by sea level, in far southeast Oklahoma 
in Broken Bow. I have been out to Mount Scott in Lawton and have 
climbed on its tumbled rocks. I have been to the Blue Whale in Catoosa.
  I have had the great privilege of getting a chance to walk around 
through the Gathering Place in Tulsa. This is an absolutely spectacular 
park and gathering place. In fact, USA Today just named it the No. 1 
new attraction in America. For folks who have not been to Tulsa or for 
the folks who have been to Tulsa before, they need to go back and just 
enjoy the Gathering Place.
  I have had the opportunity to walk the streets around Black Wall 
Street and to visit with the fine folks who are there. I have had the 
opportunity to be in Davis at Turner Falls and the Arbuckle Mountains, 
and, of course, Falls Creek. I have had the opportunity to be in 
Hochatown, which is down near Broken Bow Lake, and the chance just to 
enjoy the time there, around the tall trees, in beautiful southeast 
Oklahoma. I have had the opportunity to visit Lake Murray State Park in 
Ardmore and visit the Ole Red restaurant in Tishomingo. I have driven 
the Talimena National Scenic Byway in the fall and have seen the 
spectacular scenery in those mountains. I have been to the Robbers Cave 
in Wilburton and the Ouachita National Forest in McCurtain County.
  I have had the opportunity to walk around through the Heavener 
Runestone area and see the Norse Viking carved stones that are there in 
eastern Oklahoma. I could see, most definitely, by far, amongst those 
high trees and those rolling hills, that I wasn't the first person to 
go there.
  I have been to the Round Barn, off Route 66 in Arcadia. I have 
stopped to get a great hamburger at Pop's, which is there on Route 66. 
I have quietly stood at the national Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial in 
downtown Oklahoma City, and I have seen the amazing western art at the 
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. I have walked through the 
Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
  You can't go through Oklahoma without stopping at Cattlemen's 
Steakhouse and enjoying a great steak or without driving out west to 
see the Stafford Air & Space Museum. People who travel to Washington, 
DC, go to the Air and Space Museum, and I will often smile at them and 
say: Do not miss the Air & Space Museum that is in Weatherford, OK, 
because the Stafford Air & Space Museum has a remarkable collection 
from a fantastic Oklahoma astronaut.
  The Great Salt Plains in Jet and the Oklahoma Territorial Museum in 
Guthrie are also really remarkable places.
  I do have to brag about a spot because, on my 50th birthday, my wife 
surprised me by our taking a trip to the Little Sahara State Park and 
the sand dunes in northern Oklahoma. We rented dune buggies and drove 
them as hard and fast as we wanted on that day. It was a great day to 
just enjoy Oklahoma. It was just like the day I was able to drive to 
Pawhuska and eat at the Pioneer Woman Mercantile restaurant and just 
enjoy the downtown area.
  It is really a fantastic State, and the people and the places that I 
miss while I am here in Washington, DC, for 11 months of the year I 
look forward to getting a chance to see when I get back home in August. 
With as much work as we have to get done here--and we still have a lot 
of work to get done--we will spend some time on the phone, we will walk 
through legislation, and we will continue to do writing. Yet, 
thankfully, I will be able to write and spend time on the phone while I 
look out my windshield and enjoy some Oklahoma scenery at the same 
time.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cotton). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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