OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. James Lankford says it will take years to trim the U.S. debt level that is nearing $16 trillion.
Lankford discussed the nation's budget issues Tuesday during a citizens' forum in Oklahoma City.
Lankford says the U.S. budget deficit this year will be about $1 trillion, roughly $300 billion less than last year. He says House Republicans have developed a plan to dramatically reduce the debt over 10 years.
Lankford was first elected in 2010 to the open 5th District seat that includes nearly all of Oklahoma County, along with Seminole and Pottawatomie counties to the east.
Lankford was the only one of Oklahoma's four incumbent Republican congressmen who did not face a primary challenger this year.
He will face Democrat Tom Guild and two independents in November.