Lankford Raises EPA Overreach in Senate Floor Speech

That old ‘bugagoo’ called ‘overreach’ by critics of the Environmental Protection Agency made its way into a speech by Oklahoma U.S. Senator James Lankford this week.

But instead of talking so much about the EPA and its fingers spreading into most aspects of life in America, the Senator referred to the environmental overreach in a speech during which he opposed the confirmation of John King Junior to become the Secretary of the Department of Education.

“For far too long, we have witnessed executive overreach in this administration, from the Clean Power Plan to the Waters of the United States, federal departments and agencies have usurped the power to invent law with increasing boldness,” said the Senator in a nearly 15-minute floor speech opposing King’s confirmation. The Senator said the U.S. Education department has also overreached its authority and King refused to oppose it.

“The Department of Education overreach is similar in this kind,” he continued. “Instead of promulgating rules that conflict with Congressional intent, the Department of Education has skirted the rule-making process altogether by issuing guidance documents they call ‘Dear colleague’ letters.”

Lankford explained that individual companies and entire industries can and have fought back against the regulatory overreach by the Department of Labor and the EPA.

“The Department of Education positions itself to hold federal funding ransom if universities don’t comply with its policies even when those policies are unlawful abuses of regulatory power,” professed Sen. Lankford.

Listen to part of his speech.

Click here for audio