mr. lankford: thank you, mr. westmoreland. it's an honor to be able to stand in front of this house today. we talk about families all across america right now struggling with their own finances. they're sitting at a dinner table this evening because they have run out of paychecks and they're struggling through just the basics of how they're going to do life. because they're in debt and they're struggling day-to-day. they will make decisions to be able to put their house in order and to be able to resolve where they're headed as a family because they don't want to be a family that's going to live heavily in debt. because once you're in debt as a family, everything's about everything there is a new battle about money. about spending. how will we ha d life. the hard part is that's where we are as a na rouse and the se the president, we continue to argue through things about money, and every week it seems like we're fighting a new fight about money. because guess what. we're $16.5 trillion in debt. we're five years in a row we've

mr. james lankford. mr. lankford: thank you. the national prayer breakfast is a great reminder to slow down, not as republicans and democrats but as americans, to be able to come together and do what we always do, to pray. it's what we have done from the very beginning. we are a people of prayer. i enjoy getting a chance to tell people at home new york oklahoma, about how members of congress get together to be able to pray in the prayer caucus. we gather privately just to be able to sit down and pray. the house and the senate both open every day in prayer. sitting on the platform at the inauguration, the president asked two people to pray. it should put to rest forever the debate if we have prayer in public places, when we see it in the house, the senate, the executive branch, prayers repeated over and over again and have from the beginning. we have our national optimism because we believe in this world, in this nation, they were created with the -- with a purpose and the creator cares for his creeeags. we believe that all peopl

mr. lankford. the gentlewoman from kansas, mrs. jenkins. the gentlewoman from california, ms. foxx.he gentlewoman from california, ms. pelosi. the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer. the gentleman from south carolina, mr. clyburn. the gentleman from california, mr. becerra. the gentleman from new york, mr. crowley. the gentleman from new york, mr. israel. and the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. duckworth. the vice president: the president of the senate at the direction of that body appoints the following members to escort the president of the united states into the chamber. the senator from nevada, mr. reid, the senator from vermont, mr. lay hay, mr. durbin, mr. schumer, the senator from washington, mr. murray, the senator from colorado, mr. bennett, the senator from michigan, ms. stabenow, the senator from texas, mr. cornyn, the senator from south dakota, mr. thune, the senator from wyoming, mr. berasso, and the senator mr. moran. the speaker: the members will escort through the chamber doors to the lobby. the sergeant at arms: mr. speaker, the dean of the diplomatic corps. >> mr. s

mr. lankford. the chair: the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized for two minutes. mr. nkford: i thank the gentleman and i thank the madam speaker as well. back home last week i had a gentleman who came up to me and said i make $80,000 a year between my wife and i. that has always been enough until now. with the economy slowing down and prices continuing to increase, it's not enough. what is going on? the simple statement that i can make to him is the economy continues to slow down because the federal government continues to borrow more and more money for its own debt, taking that money out of the private sector's hands which would typically increase the economy, increase jobs, increase economic activity, but instead right now it's all coming towards the federal government as we require more and more money slowing the economy down more and more. the unemployment rate under this president has been higher longer than the last 11 presidents combined. there is something unique that i can say to the college student coming out of college that can't find a job, this is not a ty

mr. lankford: thank you, madam speaker. i do want to stand in support of the house proposal today on protecting women across this nation. this is something that protects all women. i know there's been some interesting accusations that we're trying to exclude people. this is for all women and all places. as a dad of two daughters, i get this. i understand this. my two daughters were on this house floor not very many weeks ago getting a chance to visit to be here and be part of the process and meet great ladies on both sides of the aisle and also to interact with people and see how laws are made. i want them to know in the days ahead, laws here that are done are for every person and that we stand for every family. this is a family issue. this is a women's issue. this is also a state legal issue. it's a community issue, and it's also a national issue that's right that we deal with today. i want to encourage organizations in oklahoma city, like the w mbings ywca, who have a simple theme of eliminating racism, empowering women,

mr. lankford, who chairs the republican study committee who said we ought to pass things that we think the senate can pass, not just messages, not just political spin, but pass things that can actually be passed through the united states senate and signed by the president and made law, made policy so that america has the confidence in a its congress can work. it must work. america needs it to work. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kansas, mr. pompeo, for five minutes. mr. pompeo: thank you, mr. speaker. you know, when i go around in kansas and talk to folks and talk to them about a business that supports 1.2 million american jobs and over $150 billion of wealth creation across the u.s. economy, i'd ask, what do you think a president would do about that? they same the same things folks say, the president ought to encourage that, ought to thank the people that work in that industry, ought to promote that industry all across the world, a great american manufactured product d

mr. lankford. >> thank you. i want to be able to continue on that same line of conversation about the long-term impact. is there an economic benefit to balancing our budget? not adding to principal year after year, is there a benefit to our economic development as a nation? >> a smaller deficit all the way down to zero can be better for the economy in the medium and long run than a large deficit, but what the economic effect is how you do that. >> i understand that. is how you get there also matters that has to be done in a way that makes sense for the economy itself. i interact with a lot of families that have a challenge of understanding this as they walk through the document and want to know how this applies to their individual family. can you help break it down to the individual family, what is the effect of a $16.5 trillion debt on a family and what is the effect of how that grows as you said, $7 trillion over the next 10 years. i know you can't name the family and say this family will lose their job but th

mr. lankford. >> thank you. i want to be able to continue on that same line of conversation about the long-term impact. is there an economic benefit to balancing our budget? not adding to principal year after year, is there a benefit to our economic development as a nation? >> a smaller deficit all the way down to zero can be better for the economy in the medium and long run than a large deficit, but what the economic effect is how you do that. >> i understand that. is how you get there also matters that has to be done in a way that makes sense for the economy itself. i interact with a lot of families that have a challenge of understanding this as they walk through the document and want to know how this applies to their individual family. can you help break it down to the individual family, what is the effect of a $16.5 trillion debt on a family and what is the effect of how that grows as you said, $7 trillion over the next 10 years. i know you can't name the family and say this family will lose their job but th