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Lucas Hits into Three Key Bills

By Louise Abercrombie

October 19, 2008

Third District Congressman Frank Lucas brought his re-election campaign to Ponca City Friday.

Listing the three top pieces of legislation affecting Oklahoma in last session, Lucas named the Farm Bill, Energy Bill and the $700 billion bailout bill.

The ranking member of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development and Research, Lucas voted for the Farm Bill the second time around.

The eighth term Congressman voted against the Energy Bill, because he felt it did not address the energy situation, and he voted twice against the bailout bill for a variety of reasons.

Farm Bill

Although the Farm Bill passed, a year late, Lucas said that the bill maintained the principals of flexibility for the farmer to raise whatever they wanted to raise and receive fixed annual payments.

The bill also provided four billion dollars above and beyond the old bill in conservation spending. Congressman Lucas was not happy that at Speaker Pelose's insistence that another $10 billion in new tax dollars was added over the course of five years for food stamps, WIC, social nutrition and school lunches.

"Literally 75 percent of the Farm Bill was for feeding programs and the other 25 percent for commodities corn, wheat, cotton, conservation, rural development and agriculture research," said Lucas, a farmer and a rancher in western Oklahoma.

He did not vote for the first version of the Farm Bill, which included a substantial tax increase.

Energy Bill

"I voted against the Energy Bill, because I am co-author of the American Energy Act and I believe we should increase all sources of American Energy, oil and gas, off shore and on shore drilling, on public or private land, in Alaska, atomic energy clean coal, wind energy, ethanol and bio-fuels."

Lucas noted the energy bill made no provision for drilling in Alaska, searching for clean coal and that the off shore drilling, and that the federal government collects 88 percent of the royalty on the off shore approved drilling. He noted this would not benefit the shoreline states. Lucas said the energy bill all but deletes consideration for natural gas, of which Oklahoma has an abundance.

Against Bailout Bill

Detailing why he voted against the bail-out bill, was the bill did not come through the normal channels, had not been discussed in a subcommittee or full committee and was not subject to amendments from the floor.

"They could not convince me that taking $700 billion of tax payer money and buying mortgages for less than face value would turn the economy around. I wanted to know who would decide which $700 billion would buy what mortgages at what price and reward the bad conduct of buyers and financiers. I wanted to know if they were going to pay 100 pennies on the dollar or if they would settle mortgages for 60 to 70 cents on the dollar. No bank will sell because they will have to admit they made bad judgments."

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