By Constitution Staff

Congressman Jim Bridenstine of the First Congressional District (Tulsa area) scored 100% on the "Freedom Index" of the New American magazine, in their July 22 issue. He was the only member of Oklahoma's congressional delegation to make a perfect score.

Senators Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn both made 90% scores.

Other members of the Oklahoma congressional delegation, and their scores, included Markwayne Mullin (80%); James Lankford (70%); Frank Lucas (60%); and Tom Cole, with 56%.

By comparison, Justin Amash of Michigan scored 100%, while Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts earned a zero rating. Other well-know members of Congress and their scores were Paul Ryan (70%); Peter King (60%), and Michelle Bachmann, with 100%.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, currently leading in the polls in Iowa for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, scored 89%. Arizona's John McCain earned a score of 56%, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio had an 80%. Ted Cruz, Senator from Texas, was given a score of 90%. In South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham managed only 50%.

Among the issues used in the Freedom Index was a vote for a short-term debt increase, the minimum wage, cyber intelligence sharing, the repeal of ObamaCare, the Keystone XL Pipeline, the ammunition purchases by Homeland Security, Internet Sales Tax, and illegal immigration.

According to the Freedom Index, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) "would further legalize the massive sharing of private-user online data by Internet companies with federal government agencies, such as the National Security Agency (NSA)." Sadly, only Representative Bridenstine voted correctly on this issue among the Oklahoma members of the House of Representatives. The issue did not receive a vote in the Senate.

One vote used in the Senate by the Freedom Index was the UN Arms Trade Treaty. Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma offered an amendment "to uphold Second Amendment rights and prevent the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty." Inhofe's non-binding amendment was adopted by a vote of 53-46. This was seen as "encouragement that if and when the UN Arms Trade Treaty is brought to the Senate floor for a vote, there will not be the necessary two-thirds majority required for ratification."

Articles by Oklahoma Constitution Editor Steve Byas have been published in New American, including an article on communist Woody Guthrie, movie reviews of Lincoln and Copperhead, as well as an interview with Copperhead director Ron Maxwell. Subscription rates are $39 per year, and may be sent to New American, P.O. Box 8040, Appleton, Wisconsin 54912.