Mullin discusses issues during Mustang/Yukon visit
Sen. Markwayne Mullin tours Mustang Fire Station No. 2 when he visited Mustang at the end of August. (Photo by Jacob Sturm)
By Jacob Sturm
news@mustangpaper.com
Markwayne Mullin listened intently as Mustang Fire Chief Craig Carruth showed the U.S.
Senator for Oklahoma around Mustang Fire Station No. 2 on Aug. 31.
The visit was one of multiple stops Mullin scheduled during his time in Canadian County, which
also included an organized discussion at Trinity Baptist Church in Yukon. Mullin also asked a
plethora of questions and seemed to take a genuine interest in the design of the new fire
station when taking the tour.
As for the discussion at Trinity Baptist Church, Mullin provided county residents with insight on
the happenings at the national level.
Mullin spoke about his maiden speech not happening since he became a Senator.
“I still haven’t done my maiden speech on purpose,” Mullin said. “I think it sounds funny, but I
don’t think I’ve earned it yet. I don’t think I’ve earned the ear of people to be able to speak… If
they don’t have respect for you yet, are they going to listen to a word you say? No. Not a word.
So, I’d rather be impactful than be heard.”
He said he wants to be the senator who has credibility and can be impactful.
Mullin addressed the audience’ questions, with one coming about veteran’s healthcare. He said
veteran’s healthcare is always going to be an issue, but asked what would make it less of an
issue. Mullin had a solution.
“The proposal that I said was (to) put members of congress in there and make members of
congress use the VA system,” Mullin said. “There’s only 535 of us. There’s not that many. As big
as the system is, it’s the biggest healthcare system in the world, …why wouldn’t we just put 535
other members there. Force them to use it while they’re in office. You think some of those
issues would get fixed?”
Mullin also said he would support term limits to those serving in office.
He mentioned some hurdles to address, including inexperienced members of the senate and
house serving in leadership roles.
“It took me four years just to figure out really what I was doing, and feel comfortable with what
I was doing,” Mullin said. “If you set it at 12 years, who ends up running it isn’t the members.
It’s the staff that ends up making all the decisions because the staff is who ends up having all
the knowledge, and if the staff doesn’t like your idea they’re just going to slow walk you because you’re going to eventually be out. So, I think if you did that, you’re almost going to
have to term limit everybody including staff.”
He also said age isn’t the issue, as much as mental capacity to handle the information.
Mullin also serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He addressed the conflict in
Ukraine, and mentioned an agreement with Ukraine that has the United States defending the
country due to Ukraine giving up nuclear weapons earlier in the 2000’s.
“We can’t afford to allow him (Vladimir Putin) to win, but also it’s just as scary if Ukraine
actually were to win because Putin will use nuclear weapons,” Mullin said.
“So, the update is really that not a lot has changed, but everybody is looking for an exit,” Mullin
said. “An exit that will keep Putin in place, we’re not going to try removing him, keep him at bay
and still fulfill some of our promise that we said we’d defend them (Ukraine), because if they
(Russia) were to use a nuclear weapon we will be forced at that point to have an all-out war
with troops.”
Mullin also addressed questions about immigration and border related issues before wrapping
up his discussion.
