It's About Freedom

It’s About Freedom

Last Thursday was probably the toughest political battle in my entire career. It was the final passage of HB3202, known to many as the “teeth floating bill”, known to some as the “vet bill”. I have never in my life seen so much misinformation spread by so many intelligent people who just did not understand an issue. In a time when we are raging against an over-zealous federal government that seems to want to run every piece of our lives, from health care on down, my thought was that this issue would be easy for people to “get”.

First, let me say what this bill is not. This bill is not a pro-life issue. The opponents of this bill twisted the facts to make it seem as if some of these common ag pharmaceuticals might somehow be misused for rural abortions. In the floor debate, one of the veterinarians had a bottle of a common reproductive drug used in cattle and said that he had gotten it from the internet which flies in the face of his own argument because somehow they want us to believe that by allowing people to work in animal reproduction that those drugs would become more available. I vehemently disagree and am offended that someone would suggest that I would carry any legislation that would increase chances for abortions to occur. I am pro-life, PERIOD.

The other issue was some of the mild sedatives that are sometimes used in things such as equine dentistry and even horse shoeing might be used as date rape drugs. As a father of two girls, a 13-year ag teacher, as well as the director of the page program in the state House, I fight for and protect kids and have my entire career in one way or another. Those common sedatives such as Acepromazine are carried in almost every show box at almost every stock show and have been for years. Why don’t we hear about date rape at the stock shows? I will tell you why; because it is a bogus claim again aimed at protectionism. So, really, this is a bill aimed at a government agency that went a little crazy and tried to put people in jail for pursuing their calling.

I guess in politician years, I am an old man. With term limits that allow 12 years of service in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, I am in year eight. When I ran for office, I signed on to fight for rural Oklahoma. That is where I live and if you are in my district then it is where you live. My goal has been to defend and encourage our way of life and I take that very seriously. In the brutal floor battle last Thursday morning on the final passage of HB3202, some tried to belittle the issue by saying that it was less important than the budget or many other issues that were being examined in the legislature. I begged to differ. A good friend of mine had a great quote. It was: “fighting for liberty to pursue one’s calling can be more tiring than dispersing money to government employees in a budget process, but it is also more important.” In fact, liberty is really what this is about. This is more about the freedom for people to work and to pursue the American dream and to do that without undue government regulation standing in their way. This is a fight for freedom and, no matter how anybody spins it, that is the issue. It has come at a very high cost for me personally but because of what we are doing, I would do it again. It is not about catering to special interest groups or calling in favors or any of that. It is about clearing a path for regular people to go out and work and feed their families by doing what they love in a tough economy. Nowhere in this bill did we guarantee anybody a living, we just guaranteed them a chance. Their proficiency is up to them. It is kind of like the harder you work, the luckier you get. It is an attempt to move the government out of the way. I would even call it a right to work.

I have a favorite saying that I have used over the years. It says “it never is as good or as bad as either side says”. Under HB3202, good veterinarians that want to work on horses’ teeth can still do so. Skilled vets who want to do reproductive work can still do so. It also opens opportunity for other animal scientists who may specialize in some of these things, to provide that service to Oklahoma agriculture, free from overzealous government. Again, it is a freedom issue.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the capitol, please do not hesitate to send an email to donarmes@house.gov or call me at 1-800-522-8502.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

“Men fight for freedom, then they begin to accumulate laws to take it away from themselves.” –Author Unknown