By Constitution Staff

Senator Tom Coburn scored 100% on the "Freedom Index" published by the New American magazine, in the January 6 issue. He was the only member of the Oklahoma congressional delegation to make a perfect score.

Oklahoma's senior senator, Jim Inhofe, who is up for reelection this year, finished second in the delegation this time, with an 86% score.

Other members of the Oklahoma congressional delegation, and their scores, included Jim Bridenstine (80%); Markwayne Mullin (60%); Frank Lucas and James Lankford (both with 50%); with Tom Cole trailing with a 40% score.

By comparison, Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Mike Lee of Utah made perfect 100% scores. Some members in the House of Representatives who also had perfect scores were Tom McClintock (California); Walter Jones (North Carolina); and John Duncan of Tennessee. Another well-known libertarian-conservative hero, Justin Amash of Michigan made 90% this time.

Other well-known members of Congress included Senator Marco Rubio, with a 70% score; Lindsey Graham at 60%; and John McCain of Arizona, with a dismal 44%. Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, who has claimed to be a "moderate" Democrat, and is facing a tough reelection bid, scored zero conservative.

Among the issues used in this edition of the Freedom Index was a vote to end the blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act, especially the collection of phone records by the National Security Administration (NSA); the effort to defund ObamaCare; efforts to rein in military actions by the president without congressional authorization; to eliminate indefinite military detention of any person in the United States; border security; and the raising of the debt limit.

The Freedom Index quoted Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, who said, "The 2001 AUMF was never intended to authorize a war without end," in arguing for an amendment to prohibit military actions after December 31, 2014 that are carried out pursuant to the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). "That authority and the funding that goes along with it should expire concurrent with the end of our combat role in Afghanistan."

During consideration of the defense appropriations bill, Rep. Justin Amash (R-Michigan) offered an amendment to end the blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act. During the debate, Amash said that his amendment would limit the government's collection of the records "to those records that pertain to a person who is the subject of an investigation pursuant to section 215 [of the Patriot Act]."

Articles by Oklahoma Constitution Editor Steve Byas have been published in the New American, including an article on communist Woody Guthrie, movie reviews of Lincoln and Copperhead, an interview with Copperhead director Ron Maxwell, and most recently, an article on how destructive government price controls are after a natural disaster.

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