Democratic Party Chair challenges Inhofe to stay away from Copenhagen

Oklahoma City, OK (December 15, 2009) – With negotiations over important details of a Senate health care plan in full swing, Oklahoma Democratic Party Chair Todd Goodman today challenged Sen. Jim Inhofe to drop his planned trip to Copenhagen and instead read the pending bill and its amendments.

“Sen. Inhofe has gotten a lot of attention over his announced trip to Copenhagen, calling it a ‘truth squad’ interested in spreading his skewed notions about the environment to world leaders,” Goodman stated.

“Since the Senator has been harping on these issues for years and years, trying to stop others from addressing global environmental concerns, I think the leaders meeting in Copenhagen are pretty well aware of his position. I think they can address these concerns just fine without him there to grab more of the media spotlight.”

Goodman suggested that Inhofe, who in August vowed not to read health care legislation before voting on it, instead remain stateside and read the bill currently being debated in the Senate.

“So far, over 1,000 Oklahomans have signed a petition asking Inhofe to read the health care legislation before voting on it,” Goodman said, noting that the Democratic Party has been collecting signatures and comments since Inhofe declared that he would not read the bill.

“I think Jim Inhofe needs to begin to listen to Oklahomans and prioritize our needs over his ego. He needs to stay here and use the time he would have spent on his personal crusade to instead take a serious look at this pending legislation,” he added.

Goodman also noted that if Inhofe still refuses to read the bill, he could at least read the comments Oklahomans have made about his stubborn refusal to look at the legislation.

“I’d be happy to deliver the petition to Sen. Inhofe’s office this week if he’d like to take a look at the comments his constituents have made. If he stays, he’s free to read them. If he still wants to go to Copenhagen, maybe he can take the petition along and read some of them on the plane,” Goodman proposed.

Either way, he added, Inhofe’s time would be better spent fulfilling his duties to Oklahoma voters than gate-crashing a global conference.

“Regardless of how he votes on the health care bill, I think Oklahomans at the very least expect our U.S. Senator to carefully consider the issues and thoroughly inform himself of the details of the legislation – as well as of the opinions of his constituents,” Goodman said. “I think the best way for him to do that is to skip his trip to Copenhagen and focus on the issue at hand.”