Poteau Daily News

Enjoying our freedoms

- Rep. Randy Randleman Randleman, a Republican, serves District 15 in the Oklahoma House of Representa­tives, which covers Haskell County and portions of Muskogee, Sequoyah, LeFlore, Pittsburg and McIntosh counties.

I’ve been attending many events in the district to celebrate one of my favorite holidays, but as we enjoy the Fourth of July, let’s be sure we don’t overlook the significan­ce of Independen­ce Day.

Our freedoms are something veterans have fought to gain and protect for centuries, and previous generation­s have worked hard to pass these onto their children and grandchild­ren. It’s easy to get caught up in the festivitie­s with family and friends over the holiday, but let’s remember to celebrate what we have gained in this country through immense sacrifice.

We would do well to think about the true meaning of the word “independen­ce” and realize what it means to us as Americans, because I think sometimes we don’t value it enough. I’ve spent time traveling outside the United States, and seeing how other people in the world live has helped me understand how blessed we are to be Americans.

One of the freedoms we enjoy in Oklahoma is the right to have a voice in our government, and we saw that recently through the primary elections across our state. I want to thank the people of House District 15 for reelecting me to a third term in the Oklahoma House of Representa­tives! I look forward to continuing to serve you.

House District 15 grew by 30 percent after redistrict­ing following the 2020 census, and I want to welcome my new constituen­ts. The new boundaries are used for voting purposes during this election cycle and will take effect in November. •••

While the Oklahoma Legislatur­e is not in session during the summer and fall, legislator­s spend this time researchin­g policy issues and working on solutions through what we call interim studies. This year, Friday was the deadline for legislator­s to submit requests for interim studies. I have filed a request for a study on improving academic achievemen­t for our students. The House Speaker will announce the approved studies by the end of the month.

I’m already preparing for the new legislativ­e session, which begins next February. So far during my time in office, I’ve been the primary House author on seven bills that became law and supported numerous other pieces of legislatio­n authored by my colleagues. There are a couple of other issues I’ve been working on outside of legislatio­n, and we’ve seen some exciting progress on those issues that will really help Eastern Oklahoma. I look forward to continuing those ongoing discussion­s. Several bills I’ve authored or issues I’m pursuing were brought to my attention by constituen­ts, and I am committed to continuing to listen to your concerns. If you want to recommend issues to be addressed in the district, you can reach out at (405) 557-7375 or randy. randleman@okhouse.gov.

Thank you again for the support — let’s continue working together to advance our communitie­s!

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