Thank you all for being here for this historic day as we announce Oklahoma's next US senator. The last time this happened was 1963 when Oklahoma Senator Robert S. Kerr passed away while in office and Governor George Nye appointed James Edmonson to the US Senate post. It doesn't happen very often. As governor, it's an honor to make this appointment. Before I do, I want to commend President Trump and his nomination of Oklahoma's own Mark Wayne Mullin to serve on his cabinet as Secretary of Homeland Security. Mark Wayne's going to do a tremendous job and fight for Oklahoma values. We're really proud of him. Our state knows a little bit about FEMA and the need for a functioning FEMA, and Oklahomans are fortunate that we're going to have a leader like Mark Wayne who's repeatedly stepped up for our families in times of need. So really excited for him. Throughout this process, I've been impressed by the number of people who have stepped up and showed their willingness to serve the great state of Oklahoma. As you can imagine, I've had inquiries and recommendations from around the state of Oklahoma. Anybody that was connected with me, from high school friends to college friends to my mother to my father to my wife, we've gotten a lot of recommendations. It's been really fun to see Oklahomans willing to step up in this time and serve their state. It speaks volumes for the quality of people in our state who are willing to serve and make a difference. I'm also surrounded here by my great friends in Oklahoma here in the House and the Senate that are also serving their state. I'm incredibly proud now to announce that my pick as the next US Senator of the state of Oklahoma is Mr. Alan Armstrong.
Alan's story, as you guys get to know him, reflects the very best of Oklahoma: our values, our work ethic, and our pursuit of the American dream that is alive and well in the state of Oklahoma. He's a strong business leader who understands the power of free markets and limited government. He spent his career fighting for Oklahoma's energy industry and providing affordable, reliable energy to all of America. Alan is a longtime Tulsan, a third-generation Oklahoman raised on his grandfather's ranch. And there's going to be a quiz about who knows where this place is: Hog Shooter Creek. Anybody know where Hog Shooter Creek is? Okay, there we go. That's right. His dad worked for Keeler-Phillips at the time and it was right outside of Bartlesville. He has a beautiful family. His lovely wife Shelley, they've been married for 40 years and they have four children and three grandchildren. They met at the University of Oklahoma, which is also OU Day today, so Boomer Sooner. He's a proud graduate of the University of Oklahoma and over the years he's given back generously to his alma mater and to education efforts across the state. Alan began his career nearly four decades ago as a young engineer and he quickly rose up through the ranks at Williams. And by the way, Williams is Oklahoma's largest company, largest public company. It's a great company. If you're not from Tulsa, you don't know how important Williams is to Tulsa. Everybody in Oklahoma's obviously heard of Williams, but as you know, we lived in Tulsa, Sarah and I, for 20 years. And Williams is so important to Tulsa, but Oklahoma's largest company and one of the nation's most respected and largest—I think it's the largest natural gas pipeline company in the entire country. And it was started here in Oklahoma. And it's because of Alan's leadership, and people forget about this, that Williams is still headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There was another big company, big pipeline company that tried to take them over and Alan fought and kept it headquartered in the state of Oklahoma, which should be commended.
Alan is strongly aligned with President Trump on energy policy. Few people have done more to champion the America First agenda to keep Oklahoma at the center of domestic production so that we can deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy to American citizens than Alan Armstrong. While leading Williams, Alan was instrumental in advancing the NESE pipeline project, an expansion pipeline into Manhattan that President Trump approved, and that's going to provide clean-burning natural gas into Manhattan and also into Long Island. They're working on Constitution that will deliver natural gas up to the Northeast. Some of my Democrat governor friends in Connecticut and all through the Northeast really need that. Their energy prices are so much higher than Oklahoma. We're so fortunate to have the natural gas and the affordable energy we do here and it's really leading to a lot of success for our state. As many of you know, permitting reform is so important. It's one of the reasons that I think Alan is the right person for this job. Over the last few years at the National Governors Association, I've led a bipartisan group of governors pushing Washington to fix this permitting system. They had permits for NESE and then the governor at the time, Cuomo, killed that pipeline project. And we had Governor Hochul who has allowed that to go through now. And that shouldn't be that way where you can stop projects from a state level to deliver clean-burning natural gas to other parts of the country. At the state level, I've signed executive orders in Oklahoma to cut red tape, speed up approvals so businesses can get shovels in the ground, and that's leading to a lot of success in our state. And Oklahoma's pro-business approach has landed us EGA, the first aluminum smelter to be built in the US in 50 years. So really excited as you'll see that project come along over the next—in 2026, we should be breaking ground on that. But we need Congress to act this year and Alan is the right man with the right perspective to bring his leadership to work across party lines and to help us get permitting reform done. He's entering the US Senate citing reforms to secure America's future as an energy leader. His perspective and ability to bring people together will be influential in moving the needle on permitting reform which is desperately needed. This must be a priority that we can strengthen America's competitiveness and we can deliver affordable energy for generations to come. And finally, I want to emphasize that Alan views this appointment not as a political opportunity, but really as public service. And I think that trust that Oklahomans see in Alan that, hey, he's going up there just to serve our state. And it's really going to be public service. He's having to step down off of the Williams board and a bunch of different commitments to go serve the state in this crucial time for our country. So, we're really proud of him for that. And I have every confidence that Alan will bring the same integrity, his work ethic, and love for Oklahoma to the US Senate that he's shown his entire career. He will fight for our values, defend our freedoms, and champion policies that strengthen families, create jobs, and secure America's future. So Alan, thank you for answering the call to serve Oklahoma, to serve our nation, and please join me now in congratulating the next US Senator from the state of Oklahoma, Alan Armstrong.
