Even before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the spending binge that followed, the federal budget was on an unsustainable trajectory. The Republican Study Committee, the caucus of conservative GOP members of the House of Representatives, has put forward a comprehensive policy proposal to address the fiscal challenges the country faces in its recently released “Reclaiming Our… Read more »

Businesses have had to adapt to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, but so have their customers, 1st District Congressman Kevin Hern said Monday. As the lead presenter for a live-streamed The Hill program on e-commerce and small business, Hern said small-business owners have had to squeeze years of transition into a few months. “I really feel for those small businesses that are having… Read more »

First District Congressman Kevin Hern said Wednesday it’s imperative that the government perfect a playbook to effectively deal with the financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are re-inventing the wheel right now,” he said. “There is no precedent been set on how to deal with this. So this comes from how you keep businesses open, how you keep compensated so they can… Read more »

Oklahoma Congressman Kevin Hern is among those fully supportive of any possible U.S. assistance to the nation’s oil and gas industry in light of the massive plunge in oil prices. He spoke this week with the Department of Energy about the prospect of the government purchasing oil to build up the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Hern thinks the move would be good, especially for… Read more »

Tulsa, OK – Representative Kevin Hern (OK-01) spoke at the grand opening of the new Whirlpool Distribution Center in Tulsa on March 6. The 800,000 square-foot facility will create around 150 new jobs for the Tulsa area. Highlights from Rep. Hern’s remarks are below, as prepared. “Thank you for the invitation to celebrate the ribbon cutting of this incredible new factory distribution… Read more »

House lawmakers on Friday passed a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to be eligible for damages from their employer if their labor rights are judged to have been violated -- while rejecting a measure that would prevent unions from recruiting those in the country illegally. The Democrat-sponsored "Protecting the Right to Organize" (PRO) Act seeks to… Read more »

One of the nation’s most influential education policy leaders came to Tulsa on Thursday for the conclusion of a weeklong tour of schools across Oklahoma. Frank Brogan, U.S. assistant secretary of education for elementary and secondary education, made stops at Tulsa Public Schools’ Booker T. Washington High School; Bishop Kelley High School, a private Catholic school; and Union’s… Read more »

The Senate will vote for the second time on blocking President Trump’s plan to transfer military construction funds to the border, forcing many Republicans to choose whether to strip millions in funding from their home states. Trump will likely veto the resolution, introduced Wednesday morning by Sens. Susan Collins, Jeanne Shaheen, and Tom Udall. Congress first voted to cancel… Read more »

Oklahoma’s two U.S. senators and 1st District Congressman Kevin Hern all said Wednesday that they are fine with the Trump administration’s taking $8 million earmarked for a small-arms firing range at the Oklahoma Air National Guard base in Tulsa and using it for new and replacement barriers on the nation’s southern border. “Not one of the vital national security projects in… Read more »

At Tulsa Tech’s Lemley Campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma’s First District U.S. Representative Kevin Hern met with industry leaders to discuss the vocational training programs offered by Tulsa Tech and other technical colleges in the area. In our booming job market, Rep. Hern said many employers are having trouble finding qualified candidates to fill their open positions and growing companies. He… Read more »