Press Releases
May 22, 2020
Press Release
Cheyenne, OK – On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the approval of a request from Oklahoma to provide online purchasing of food to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households. The USDA SNAP online purchasing pilot program, created in the 2014 Farm Bill authored by former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, will allow Oklahomans to be able to purchase food online with their SNAP benefits.
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May 21, 2020
Press Release
Cheyenne, OK – Following an announcement by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday, May 20, 2020, Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) announced today that HHS, through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), will distribute $4.5 million to Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) in communities across Oklahoma to expand COVID-19.
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May 8, 2020
Press Release
Cheyenne, OK – Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded $736,276 to four HRSA-funded community health centers to expand COVID-19 testing:
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May 7, 2020
Press Release
Cheyenne, OK – This morning, Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) joined United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue and Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur announcing the investment of $71 million in broadband services in unserved and rural areas in Oklahoma. Funded by USDA’s Rural Development Broadband ReConnect Program, the project will build over 800 miles of fiber to the premises for more than 12,500 households, farms, and businesses.
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May 6, 2020
Press Release
Cheyenne, OK – Last week, Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) co-sponsored the Immediate Relief for Rural Facilities and Providers Act, introduced by Representatives Phil Roe (R-TN) and Kim Schrier (D-WA). The Immediate Relief for Rural Facilities and Providers Act provides relief to rural hospitals to help address the COVID-19 crisis with emergency mandatory grants to Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) and rural Prospective Payment System (PPS) hospitals to stabilize loss of revenue.
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May 5, 2020
Press Release
Cheyenne, OK – Today, Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) joined House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Dean of the U.S. House of Representatives Don Young (R-AK) in introducing The Universal Broadband Act. The Universal Broadband Act will ensure rural Americans have the opportunity to access reliable broadband services by expanding the Universal Service Fund (USF) contribution base to include broadband services, rather than the current outdated model that draws support solely from telephone services. The costs of building out service to areas without adequate broadband continues to rise, while the current base that contributes to the USF is declining. This has resulted in an increasingly growing contribution factor, overburdening those who are required to contribute.
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May 4, 2020
Press Release
Cheyenne, OK – Following an announcement by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) on Friday, May 1, 2020, Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) announced today that HHS will distribute an additional $281 million to Oklahoma’s rural hospitals provided by the CARES Act’s Provider Relief Fund, helping rural providers in support of the national response to COVID-19. Recipients of HHS’s rural distribution will include, rural acute care general hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), and Community Health Centers located in rural areas.
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May 1, 2020
Press Release
Today, Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) led a bipartisan letter with 24 of his House colleagues to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue requesting that he provide the findings of the Agency’s beef pricing investigation to Congress as soon as possible. Following the announcement of the USDA’s Packers and Stockyard Division investigation in August of 2019, Secretary Perdue, extended USDA’s investigation last month to determine the causes of divergence between live beef and box prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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April 28, 2020
Press Release
Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Education announced last week that it would distribute more than $160 million to the state of Oklahoma’s K-2 educational institutions from the Education Stabilization Fund as authorized by the CARES Act:
April 24, 2020
Press Release
Today, Oklahoma’s Congressional Delegation released the following statements after the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) clarified this morning that publicly-owned rural hospitals will be eligible to receive Paycheck Protection Program loans and other financial assistance relief provided through the CARES Act:
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