{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://cole.house.gov/joint-op-ed-tulsa-world-lifting-ban-crude-oil-exports-starts-new-chapter-oklahoma", "Joint Op-Ed in Tulsa World: Lifting ban on crude oil exports starts new chapter for Oklahoma", "2015-12-27", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "House", "OK", "Tom Cole", "C001053", "cole.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Tulsa World - By U.S. Senators Jim Inhofe & James Lankford and Congressmen Frank Lucas, Tom Cole, Markwayne Mullin & Steve Russell\nRevenue in Oklahoma is down by 12 percent. We face a $900.8 million shortfall going into 2016. Our state Secretary of Finance has said we are facing the biggest fiscal challenge since the 2008 recession, and our state education agencies have been told to prepare for large, across-the-board budget cuts midway through the school year substantially due to unreasonably restricting our own access to the international market.\nOn top of all of this, a report from Oklahoma State University shows our state could lose more than 20,000 jobs through 2016 as a result of our unstable energy market.\nOne immediate way we can fix the problem is by ending the 40-year-old relic that has been dictating our national energy policy.\nMost people might not know that it has been illegal for the U.S. to sell crude oil around the world. This outdated law has hurt our state and its families and businesses that are already struggling to get by.\nThis is why we have been fighting for a change.\nWe have been fighting to give jobs back to Oklahomas oil patch workers, to keep gasoline prices low, and to make sure the United States and our allies are not held hostage by countries that use energy as a political weapon.\nWe won this fight to lift the ban on exporting U.S. crude oil in the year-end funding bill.\nLifting the ban means creating 1 million jobs across nearly all 50 states. It means more revenue for Oklahoma. It means six new downstream jobs for every 10 new energy jobs, from manufacturing to information technology.\nLifting the ban on crude oil exports means maintaining the low prices we see at the gasoline pumps and disposable money families can put in savings or back into our economy. It means freedom from dangerous cartels across the Middle East that threaten our security and our way of life.\nLifting the ban on crude oil exports is about our kids future. It is a new opportunity for the entrepreneur down the street, motivation for the student thinking about an apprenticeship in our energy economy and security for the parents who are worried about their jobs.\nThe new year is a turning point. One of the final budgets under this president is behind us. Now we have an opportunity to move beyond this administrations heavy hand and bring Oklahomas values back to our federal government.\nAs your voice in Congress, we will always fight for our families, our jobs, our values and our freedom.\nOnline: Tulsa World", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://cole.house.gov/joint-op-ed-tulsa-world-lifting-ban-crude-oil-exports-starts-new-chapter-oklahoma"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.734856214374304, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}