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Congressional Daily Record
This section captures a floor statement or debate entry. It mentions members such as Frank D. Lucas.
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April 20, 2026
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Download official House Record PDFReturn to issue contextUnder the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Lucas of Oklahoma was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.)
Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solemn remembrance of something that happened 31 years ago in Oklahoma City at the Federal building that we refer to as the Murrah Building when an act of unimaginable horror took place and the lives of 168 of our fellow Americans were taken in almost an instant.
and my neighbors. It reshaped the country at the time, and that is what I and my colleagues rise this evening to discuss those 31 years ago and how our communities responded and where we went from there.
I was an 11-month Member of Congress at the time. My district office was 1\1/2\ blocks away from the Murrah Building, and the force and the magnitude of the explosion that day were so incredible that not only did it blow the interior out of the Murrah Building, leaving just a shell, but it also damaged buildings blocks away, literally creating chaos and confusion all over central Oklahoma City.
Americans, we are Oklahomans, we are fellow human beings, and we rise to the occasion. That response, beginning almost instantly and covering hours, days, and weeks, reflected that Oklahoma standard, that Oklahoma way of doing things—but not just Oklahoma, our great Nation.
that we have dealt with since then, things we observed in those moments, and how it made a real difference in the lives of the survivors and those who were so critically injured.
Oklahoma, a central member of Governor Keating's cabinet. When the emergency response programs were activated, he was a part of the State's response to help local government in interacting with FEMA.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole).
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Oklahoma, my distinguished colleague and extraordinary leader in that moment, Mr. Lucas, for yielding.
31 years ago to the day yesterday. We remember what was the darkest day in Oklahoma history, the worst act of domestic terrorism ever performed on American soil.
My friend, Mr. Lucas, as he said, was only 11 months in as a new Congressman representing that area, that district, and we are very lucky there was not a loss of life in his office, as close as they were to the disaster site. I had been in office less than 100 days working for our friend, Frank Keating.
I will never forget that day. I was walking into my office, and I could feel a little shudder. The capitol is about 2\1/2\ miles away from the disaster site. I sat down in my chair, and my secretary immediately walked into my office.
She said: Something terrible has happened in downtown Oklahoma City. Your wife—who was three blocks away working as a paralegal at the time—has just called and said that something terrible has happened. She is on the phone.
She said: I don't know what has occurred, but there has been a horrific explosion. There are hundreds of people in the street. People are screaming, and something awful has happened.
Immediately I walked upstairs to the Governor's office. Frank Keating was our new Governor at the time. He obviously had been in office less than 100 days, as well. If you walked into the Governor's office, Mr. Speaker, there is a press office immediately to your right. I looked to the right. I saw the Governor and his chief of staff, my good friend, Clinton Key.
already helicopters flying over the disaster site, and one of the news commentators was speculating: Well, this was a natural gas explosion.
as a law enforcement official and later an Associate Attorney General of the United States under President Reagan. He was looking at this. One of his first jobs as a young FBI officer in the 1960s had been to investigate acts of terrorism associated with the Vietnam war on the West Coast.
I will never ever forget him watching this. He said that is not a natural gas explosion. That is a car bomb, and it is probably some act of terrorism.
He knew immediately what we were dealing with. As we watched that horrific day unfold where we lost 168 lives, I marveled every single day at the extraordinary leadership that Frank Keating and our first lady, Cathy Keating, showed for the State of Oklahoma. He not only knew what had happened, he knew instinctively what he needed to do.
We had an emergency meeting in the Governor's office. We decided there is always a debate in one of those things: Do you go to the site? Do you lead from the capitol?
Frank Keating said: You go to where the action is. I am going downtown and assign various tasks to the rest of us. Then he headed down.
{time} 2000
I joined him later that day. He saw this horrific explosion that had taken 168 lives and injured hundreds and hundreds more people. We watched the unfolding relief effort.
proud of the State and, quite frankly, the country as it dealt with the tragedy unfolding in front of us in those opening hours on April 19, 1995.
department—immediately sprang into action, immediately trying to get people out of the building, trying to contain the disaster. Over 300 buildings around the site had been heavily damaged.
thought at the time that there might be other bombs there and that there might be other explosions coming.
States, Bill Clinton. Most people don't know this, but President Clinton and Governor Keating had gone to Georgetown University together. When the Governor was president of the senior class, then- sophomore class member Bill Clinton was president of the sophomore class. They knew one another extraordinarily well.
activity directed from overseas. The President asked the Governor: Governor, do we have any earthly idea who did this? He said: No, Mr. President, we don't. You will hear a lot of speculation, but obviously, we don't know at this point who did this deed.
I remember thinking: Well, gosh, how could you want it to be an American? The President said something very insightful. It actually came back to me when we as a country went through 9/11. He said: If this was done by somebody overseas, we will be at war someplace in the world in the next 6 months. He, too, knew immediately
what the consequences of this awful act were.
police, and all the surrounding police officers and fire departments did an extraordinary job as we struggled to find out who had done this, what we could do to save lives, and whether there were still survivors left in there.
alone. The mayor of Oklahoma City, Ron Norick, a good friend of Congressman Lucas and mine, also performed magnificently, directing the response effort.
responded instinctively and heroically, not only in sending the relief efforts that we initially needed, but also in rallying around the victims, giving blood, and trying to see that whatever was needed would be done.
were immediately moving in our direction to help. We had relief units. I met the captain of the New York Fire Department, who later lost his life responding to 9/11. I met relief and rescue workers from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. People came from all over America because it is what Americans do when they face a tragedy: You help other Americans.
spectacularly. President Clinton sent every bit of aid that we requested and then some. When our First Lady decided that we needed to grieve while we were dealing with disaster, she came up with the idea of the prayer service, which was attended immediately by Billy Graham, by the President of the United States, obviously by our local dignitaries, and by our neighbor, the newly elected Governor of the State of Texas, George Bush. You saw all Americans coming and working together.
developed and is still very famous amongst first responders. This is how our community, a State, and, frankly, a country is supposed to respond when confronted with an unspeakable act of evil. So as terrible as it was, it became a rallying point for the people of Oklahoma, and it became an incident where you could see the goodness and decency of the American people overcoming a terrible act of evil.
We got help from all over the world. I still have prayer beads sent to us from Germany that the nuns had made. People just responded and stepped up.
days I ever lived through. We will never forget the decency of both the people of Oklahoma, certainly of Oklahoma City, decent people from all across the country who helped us, and a great and compassionate government that was immediately available. Sometimes, the government is a pretty controversial thing these days. You will never know how lucky you are as an American as when something terrible like this happens and all the resources and all the compassion of a great and good people are immediately at your disposal to help you get through a disaster: FBI, FEMA, law enforcement personnel, more rescue teams. That went on for day after day after day.
Out of that came a thought that the Governor had: What can we do to help the survivors? What can we do for all the children who are now orphans? He set up with the First Lady, Cathy Keating, a foundation which, frankly, raised the money and provided for the education of every child who lost a parent. College, technical education, whatever they needed, we would be there to fulfill the role of the parents who were taken from very young children at an age and in a way that they couldn't possibly comprehend. Frankly, none of us could ever understand what happened behind it and what the reasons for it were.
on the anniversary dates. There was an enormous celebration yesterday in Oklahoma City, prayer services, a memorial marathon that we run every year connected with this event, and the Day to Remember. Again, out of that terrible thing, many good things have happened.
Mr. Speaker, I particularly commend my friend. I was assigned the job, as secretary of state, of being the liaison with the Federal Government. That meant I was working through my congressman and friend Frank Lucas to try to make sure that the Federal Government played its appropriate role, not only in the response—and, believe me, they did. I could not have, again, asked any more from President Clinton. I have expressed that to him on many occasions and on this floor on multiple occasions. Anything we asked for, he made sure that we had.
us. We saw superb leadership at the public level. My friend was at the heart of making sure that Oklahoma City got all the help that it needed.
Oklahoma City. I remember talking to my counterparts in the Federal Government at the time whom President Clinton had dispatched. The normal relief in a situation like that, a disaster, is a 75/25 split. I remember telling one of them that this isn't a natural disaster. This is an attack on a Federal facility in the middle of Oklahoma City.
{time} 2010
They thought about it. They said: You know, you are right, this is really a Federal responsibility. The generosity of the people of the United States of America helped rebuild Oklahoma City, and that very same concept was used when our friends in New York, who had been so quick to send us help, went through an even more horrific ordeal on 9/ 11.
These disasters were meant to hurt the State of Oklahoma. They were meant to hurt our faith and our system, and they were meant to damage the American people profoundly. They did exactly the opposite. They reminded us that whatever our differences politically, whatever differences we have in different parts of the country, in the end we are all Americans, and in the end Americans stick together and look after their own.
Frankly, as I said, we got help from all over the world. We got help from every point on the political spectrum. We got the assistance of folks who decided they would not give in to horror, they would not give in to terrorism, they would not allow evil to overcome the innate decency of the people.
As I pause and reflect, I do remember it as the worst day of my life. I do remember it as the worst day in the history of my State. But I remember it also as an example of the compassion, decency, and the enormous capability of the American people to look after their own in a terrible situation.
because it is really something we should never forget, but it is something we should always be proud of. We should be proud of the response of those very first police officers and firemen, just as at 9/ 11, not knowing exactly what had happened, but throwing themselves in harm's way.
time. We were very fortunate to have the Governor we had, the First Lady that we had, Frank and Cathy Keating, the mayor we had in Oklahoma City, the Congressmen we had that represented that area and worked with us not just in those days and weeks but, frankly, in the months and years that followed to make sure that Oklahoma City recovered.
occurred that day and never ever will let the forces of evil overcome the forces of good and the decency of the American people.
and that in the end it always does because I saw it in Oklahoma City. I saw it with friends and colleagues. I saw it from strangers all across the country. I saw it from political leaders at every point in the political spectrum. What was our worst day as a State was probably our best day in terms of showing what we were capable of when we were challenged and reminding the world that all of America stands together against terrorism and all of America works together to help people not only deal with the immediate tragedy but to overcome, to heal, and to move on.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for setting up this fitting memorial discussion this evening.
Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman who represents the Second District of Oklahoma, Congressman Brecheen. Clearly, he, too, cares about all Oklahomans and all of our fellow citizens.
Mr. BRECHEEN. Mr. Speaker, I find myself in an unfortunate status. I was a Coalgate High School young adult. A Member of Congress was dealing with this at the time that I was in high school, and the Secretary of State was dealing with this at the time I was in high school. I, of course, had friends who lost a loved one. I would later have a college roommate that I would discover—people I went to church with for years—his father was an APHIS, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, veterinarian for USDA. We would room together at Oklahoma State University. I never learned this story while we were going to church together; it took going to college.
being called to the headquarters office, she covered it up accidentally, and he didn't show up for one of the sides of the building that would be most impacted. There are some very famous photos.
the 168 Pennies campaign on behalf of career tech. While these men were serving in State leadership roles, the youth were responding to try to find ways to assist and be a part of the good will that was spoken of just a minute ago.
need to fulfill what George Washington in a 1789 statement talked about: That it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.
the home front, and it shattered us. Years later, we would have 9/11, but it reminds us today, as we pause and remember what happened in Oklahoma 31 years ago, taking the lives of 168 innocent people, the need for us to have bended knees and pray Psalms 91-type protection over this Nation.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Lucas for setting this up. I truly appreciate it.
Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, my grandparents' generation could tell you where they were when they heard the news that Wiley Post and Will Rogers had been lost in that plane crash in Alaska in 1935. They could also tell you exactly what they were doing when the news came of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941.
exactly where they were when that same news about Pearl Harbor came. They could tell you exactly what they were doing when they discovered that President Kennedy had been assassinated.
that will mark the memory forever, but that day 31 years ago that took the lives of 168 of our fellow citizens is my equivalent to those earlier tragedies.
for a meeting of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, BRAC, when the tragedy occurred at 9:02 a.m. I will never forget having a reporter from one of the Oklahoma City news radio stations tap me on the shoulder, and he said: Congressman, don't you have an office in the Federal Building?
I said: Chris, I do, but there are three Federal buildings. Are you talking about Murrah, the Federal Courthouse, or the United States Post Office?
and in the lobby were the television screens even in that day with the live coverage. I immediately recognized the Murrah Building. My people were a block and a half away in the U.S. Post Office Building, but I immediately recognized the building. The core of this building had been blown out. It had been designed in the 1960s during the antiwar period to withstand an attack, but not the magnitude of this attack.
hurriedly went down and discussed with the leadership of the BRAC Commission and the two State delegations ahead of us, and they were able to accelerate our abbreviated testimony. We left Dallas and came back to Oklahoma City as fast as we could.
Harvey, coming by what was then our old Sixth District office in the U.S. Post Office Building. This is a block and a half away on the opposite side of the blast, down the street. The shock wave was big enough that it blew all of our windows in and took down our ceilings.
rooms, but everyone was okay. We were lucky. In the delegation, we proceeded, J.C. and I and several staffers, on up the street and around the corner to behold what we saw, it was just the most amazing thing.
{time} 2020
was amazing. A lot of times people think that when you have a tragedy, a natural disaster, that the Federal Government is going to come in and save you. That is not the system.
government to call upon county and State government to support them. If the need is great enough, they then turn to the Federal Government and FEMA to back them up. That is exactly the way it worked in Oklahoma City. The mayor, the police chief, and fire chief triaged the situation, knew they had more than they could handle, called upon county government, State government, the Governor, Secretary Cole, who then turned to FEMA and the President of the United States. It was a textbook example of how things were supposed to work in the most hideous and horrible of circumstances.
magnitude ever again. It took 5 years of the Federal delegation working with those Federal employees who had survived, many of whom had been physically or emotionally injured, and their families to sort out what were they going to do next, what did they want to do, and what were they capable of doing.
Mr. Speaker, call it compassionate work if you want, call it treating your fellow citizens in a decent way, but we worked for 5 years to work our way through that.
love and support from across the country. The emergency management teams and all of the entities that came pouring in to help. It was amazing. However, about 3 or 4 months after the immediate tragedy was over, I got a call from one of our colleagues, a congressman in New Jersey by the name of Jim Saxton. Jim told me that his community had been raising money and they wanted to give it to Oklahoma City to help. Would I come to New Jersey with him and see his folks and accept their gift.
Saxton, and if his people were trying to help my people, absolutely. We went up to New Jersey. In a high school auditorium near a military base, the bands and the cheerleaders and the school kids and the adults in the community—it was quite an event—they had done car washes and bake sales. They donated money. They raised cash, and they presented me with a huge check—now, this is 31 years ago—for $100,000.
money in 1995 to give to people you had never met and that you didn't know but you knew you cared about. That is another one of those moments I will never forget, $100,000.
Bottom line is this: From that great tragedy came the foundation to educate people about these issues, from that tragedy came the memorial memorializing, honoring, and remembering those 168 lost people.
and walk through that somber memorial. You should go through all of the educational exhibits at the foundation. It is just the most amazing thing.
moment the tragedy struck? I will always be different. I will always be different. When you have seen the worst of what humanity can do to itself, followed by the best of what humanity can do for itself, you can't help but be a changed person.
Mr. Speaker, again, to my friends, I thank them for everything that they did. I thank them for working so diligently for all those good folks in Oklahoma City and everybody across the country.
My grandparents could tell you when Wiley and Will had their tragedy. My father could quote you where he was standing in Elk City when they saw on the TV screen that President Kennedy has been assassinated. I will forever have burned in my memory that reporter tapping me on the shoulder, “We have a report. There has been an explosion. The Federal building is gone. Where is your office?” I will never forget that.
Mr. Speaker, one last time, I thank everyone who helped us in Oklahoma City. I express my sympathy for everyone who lost someone in Oklahoma City, but thank goodness, we are Oklahomans. Most importantly, we are Americans.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.