Lankford leads on letter to governors, Saturday rally speakers announced


OKLAHOMA CITY — Organizers of a rally for “healthcare independence” have announced speakers for their event, slated Saturday, July 7 from 9-11 a.m. on the south steps of the state Capitol. 

In other news touching continued controversy over the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the federal Affordable Care Act, CapitolBeatOK is listing below all the U. S. Senators and U.S. House members who signed a letter asking American governors — including Oklahoma’s Mary Fallin — not to begin implementation of the federal law – including a health care exchange (http://www.www.capitolbeatok.com/reports/tom-coburn-joins-republicans-in-congress-asking-nation-s-governors-including-oklahoma-s-mary-fallin-). 

U.S. Senator Tom Coburn of Muskogee and U.S. Rep. James Lankford were among the initial signatories on the letter, which was circulated nationwide on Monday (July 2). 

According to emails or facebook postings from “The Oklahoma Tenth Amendment Center,” radio host Reed Mullins of KTOK Radio will serve as master of ceremonies for Saturday’s rally. 

Speakers will include conservative activist Howard Houchen, Rev. Dan Fisher of Yukon, Toby Pedford of the Sooner Tea Party, Rev. Paul Blair of Edmond, Amanda Teegarden of Oklahomans for Sovereignty and Free Enterprise (OK-SAFE), Dale Phillips and Jenni White of ROPE, a conservative education reform group.
 
“The Oklahoma Tenth Amendment Center” has organized the planned “Rally for Healthcare Independence.” As explained in a release sent to CapitolBeatOK, Organizers contend, “Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution lists the seventeen powers specifically enumerated to the Federal Government.  Health care is NOT an enumerated power. The 10th Amendment to the Constitution states, ‘The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.’  
 
“Thus, any health care policy must be left to states to enact at the behest of their citizens – if they so choose. America’s Founders instituted government to protect the liberties of individual Americans. In fact, the majority believed that power could not emanate from a central government, that it must be dispersed among states, in order to protect the states and maximize the freedom of the individual.”  
 
The activists are stressing that Oklahoma voters gave overwhelming support to State Question 756 (The Oklahoma Health Care Freedom Amendment), a state constitutional measure prohibiting the use of government compulsion to force a person to join a health care system. 

At the national level, Sen. Coburn and Rep. Lankford were among the initial signers of the letter sent to the nation’s governors. 

Signatories included, besides Lankford: Reps. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Ron Paul of Texas, Phil Roe of Tennessee, Joe Wilson of South Carolina, John Duncan of Tennessee, Todd Akin of Missouri, Jeb Hensarling of Texas, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, Joe Walsh of Illinois, Tim Walberg of Michigan, Cliff Stearns of Florida, Dennis Ross of Florida, Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri, Trent Franks of Arizona, Larry Buchson of Indiana, Todd Rokita of Indiana, Paul C. Broun of Georgia, Charles Boustany of Louisiana, Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Justin Amash of Michigan, Pete Olson of Texas, Francisco Canseco of Texas, Tom Price of Georgia, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Steve King of Iowa, Sandy Adams of Florida, Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, Jeffrey Landry of Louisiana, Phil Gingrey of Georgia, Jeff Miller of Florida and Brett Guthrie of Kentucky.

Continuing the listing of initial signers of the House letter: Donald Manzullo of Illinois, Mary Bono Mack of California, Rene Ellmers of North Carolina, Joseph R. Pitts of Pennsylvania, Dan Benishek of Michigan, Ken Calvert of California, Tom McClintock of California, Lynn Jenkins of Kansas, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Bill Flores of Texas, Brian Bilbray of California, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, F. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, Ann Marie Buerkle of New York, Jeff Denham of California, Dan Lungren of California, Andy Harris of Maryland, Allen West of Florida, Billy Long of Missouri, Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia, Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee, Robert Aderholt of Alabama, Ted Poe of Texas, Raul Labrador of Idaho, Randy Neugebauer of Texas, and Mike Pompeo of Kansas. 

The full list of U.S. Senators, in addition to Coburn, included: Sens. James DeMint of South Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, David Vitter of Louisiana, Rand Paul of Kentucky, John Cornyn of Texas, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Marco Rubio of Florida, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, and Richard Shelby of Alabama. A copy of the signed letter can be viewed at this link provided by Rep. Michelle Bachmann’s office.