Focus on Committees

The Oklahoma Legislature is in session, and -- in the words of Gideon J. Tucker -- "No man's life, liberty, or property are safe...."

We're watching 4 proposals in the Oklahoma Legislature that would jeopardize intellectual freedom in our state. These measures would have the effect of restricting public access to the knowledge resources of the United Nations.

The 4 measures are SB23, SB53, SJR2, and HB1412. Each one has an Anti-Knowledge flavor. Each one is based on a false premise.

None of these measures has been voted on yet. The first three have been assigned to the Energy Committee of the Oklahoma Senate. The last one has been assigned to the States' Rights Committee of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

(Yes, we have a States' Rights Committee in the Oklahoma Legislature; it is new).

To oppose these bills, our plan of action is to engage (in a friendly way) the members of these committees with the goal of persuading them to vote down these Anti-UN measures.

ACTION REQUESTED. Please consider reaching out to the members of these committees. You are welcome to use the following fact sheets (in PDF format) that we have prepared:

Intellectual Freedom ... A description of Senate Bill 23 and how it would restrict access to knowledge resources from the United Nations. (Senate Bill 23 is practically identical to SB53, HB1412, and SJR2).
www.una-okc.org/Intellectual_Liberty.pdf

The UN & Property Rights ... A 2-page fact sheet that challenges the underlying assumption of these measures.
www.una-okc.org/TheUNandProperty.pdf

The Value of UN Resources ... A sampling of some of the ways in which knowledge resources from the UN help to benefit the health, safety, and cultural richness of all Oklahomans.
www.una-okc.org/The_Value.pdf

Feel free to forward theses fact sheets to the committee members or just compose your own message to send.

Here are the email addresses for each of the committee members ...

Energy Committee (OK State Senate)
Senator Cliff Branan ... Oklahoma City ... branan@oksenate.gov
Senator Bryce Marlatt ... Woodward ... marlatt@oksenate.gov
Senator Rick Brinkley ... Owasso ... brinkley@oksenate.gov
Senator Eddie Fields ... Wynona ... efields@oksenate.gov
Senator A J Griffin ... Guthrie ... griffin@oksenate.gov
Senator Jim Halligan ... Stillwater ... halligan@oksenate.gov
Senator Tom Ivester ... Sayre ... ivester@oksenate.gov
Senator Constance Johnson ... Oklahoma City ... johnsonc@oksenate.gov
Senator Rob Johnson ... Kingfisher ... johnsonr@oksenate.gov
Senator Clark Jolley ... Edmond ... jolley@oksenate.gov
Senator Ron Justice ... Chickasha ... justice@oksenate.gov
Senator Susan Paddack ... Ada ... paddack@oksenate.gov
Senator Frank Simpson ... Springer ... simpson@oksenate.gov
Senator Rob Standridge ... Blanchard ... standridge@oksenate.gov
Senator Greg Treat ... Oklahoma City ... Treat@oksenate.gov
Senator Charles Wyrick ... Fairland ... wyrick@oksenate.gov

States' Rights Committee (OK House of Representatives)
Rep. Lewis Moore ... Arcadia ... lewis.moore@okhouse.gov
Rep. Sean Roberts ... Hominy ... sean.roberts@okhouse.gov
Rep. Ed Cannaday ... Porum ... ed.cannaday@okhouse.gov
Rep. Kay Floyd ... Oklahoma City ... kay.floyd@okhouse.gov
Rep. Kevin Matthews ... Tulsa ... kevin.matthews@okhouse.gov
Rep. Mike Shelton ... Oklahoma City ... mikeshelton@okhouse.gov
Rep. Dale DeWitt ... Braman ... daledewitt@okhouse.gov
Rep. Elise Hall ... Bethany / Warr Acres / OKC ... elise.hall@okhouse.gov
Rep. Jason Murphey ... Guthrie ... jason.murphey@okhouse.gov
Rep. Ken Walker ... Tulsa ... ken.walker@okhouse.gov
Rep. Dan Fisher ... Yukon / El Reno ... dan.fisher@okhouse.gov
Rep. Tommy Hardin ... Ardmore / Madill ... tommy.hardin@okhouse.gov
Rep. Dustin Roberts ... Durant ... dustin.roberts@okhouse.gov

On behalf of the OKC Chapter of the UN Association, I have already written to most of these people. I have tried to explain how they can support the future progress of our state by opposing SB23, SB53, SJR2, and HB1412. I have asked them to preserve the intellectual freedom that is currently enjoyed by all Oklahomans.

These folks need to hear from you as well.

I want to be clear that none of these bills has yet been scheduled for a hearing. When they are brought up for discussion in committee, we won't get much advance notice -- maybe a day or two. To be sure that our message is heard, we need to start now with letters, emails, phone calls, etc.

If you have questions or anything, please be sure to let me know.

Thanks for your support for the values of the United Nations,

Bill Bryant
President, OKC Chapter
United Nations Association of the USA
405-760-5322
wildbill73107@yahoo.com