Sen. Lankford discusses Israel-Iran clashes, progress on One Big, Beautiful Bill

With Israel and Iran exchanging retaliatory airstrikes, roughly 600 people have been killed as tensions continue to rise in the Middle East.

RELATED: Iran launches drones at Israel as Israel attacks Iranian nuclear sites and top commanders, IDF says

While President Donald Trump meets with his national security team to discuss next steps, Oklahoma lawmakers are stepping in to guide policy in the coming days.

News 9 spoke with US Sen. James Lankford on Wednesday to learn more about the latest from Washington, D.C.

SEE ALSO: Israeli strike on Iran sparks concern from Oklahoma delegation, Lankford emerges as key voice

Q: We are hearing reports that the President is weighing options, whether the US could strike Iran, calling for an unconditional surrender. Can you give us some insight into what's happening?

A: Obviously, as the President meets with his team, he has to look at who we are and what we're going to do. This is our ally, Israel, and this is the country that chants "Death to America" constantly. Their focus is on how many Americans they can kill, how many Jews they can kill, and they have done that for years. Now, we don't want a war with Iran, the President is very, very clear. He's not interested in having a war with Iran, but this regime and their tactics and their pursuit of a nuclear weapon destabilize the entire region and cause great harm to the entire world. So this is a very serious set of issues that the President has got to be able to weigh out. He's taking his time to be able to go through this and get lots of good counsel on it. 

Q: There are calls that the president wants a regime change in Iran, and saying that there could be a huge surprise coming. What can you tell Oklahomans?

A: That is the challenge. This regime has been very focused on how many Jews they can kill and how many Americans they can kill, as I've said before. They are a constant threat to us. [Qasem] Soleimani, the general who was [leading]what they call the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), was planning a major attack on American forces when he was killed. We have the Houthis, who are supplied by the Iranians, they're attacking American warships in that region. So this is not just hypothetical at this point. This is Iran attacking Americans over and over again, and so the challenge is, how do we make them stop? This regime is oppressive to its own people. Our beef is not with the people of Iran; it's with the regime that is also oppressive to them. We would long to be able to have the people of Iran not have to live under this regime, and for the people in the entire region not to have to live in fear of them constantly, as they're constantly challenging us and all of their neighbors. 

Q: What is your message to military families living here in Oklahoma? 

A: Thank you for the sacrifice that they make, and for the work that they do, and the professionalism with which they carry it out. They're a great asset to the United States, and allow us to have strength, which brings peace when we stand strong. When we're prepared, when we have the best weapons and the best forces in the world, don't challenge us. That helps bring some peace and stability, so that's a very positive thing. I was just in Iraq three weeks ago, and in Lebanon and Beirut and in Amman, Jordan, and in Israel to be able to meet with senior leaders there. To be able to talk about how we can bring some calm into this situation, but also all of them have a concern about Iran and that nuclear program that they have, and what that really means, so there are real threats that we face. The best thing that we can do is to be able to not have someone pointed a gun at us constantly, but to figure out a way for them to be able to put that down and then to be able to have opportunities for us to be able to have a lasting relationship with an Iran that is not threatening and bringing terrorism to the world. 

Q: You also sit on the Senate Finance Committee. I want to focus on the "One Big, Beautiful Bill." The House narrowly passed a version, but some Senate Republicans are not really happy with what they're seeing. What are some of the major holdups on this bill? Do you think it will get passed by that July 4 deadline? 

A: We need to get it passed, and so that's our focus. This is incredibly important; if we don't act, there is a major tax increase that happens just based on the calendar early next year. So the importance of this is we don't want to have a major tax increase, and that's kind of the back-and-forth Democrat and Republican fight. Now, they would say if they're looking for a major tax increase to automatically occur, we're trying to stop that from automatically occurring. There's also some important things that are in this as well. For instance, air traffic control modernization that is in this bill, that's very important to all Americans, but to all of us in Oklahoma City, we're the home of air traffic control, it's very important to us as well. There's border funding in this to try to keep the long-term border numbers low, then the child tax credit, which is very important to a lot of families, is increased in this bill. There are a lot of important things that we just need to be able to get done to bring some stability to our economy.