"Especially good for our state is the election of J.C. Watts, Jr. to the influential position of House Republican Conference Chairman. As well as serving as an excellent spokesperson for the party and the U.S. House as a whole, J.C. will continue to have the welfare of Oklahoma in mind as he works within the leadership team to shape the legislation that will govern our nation.

"I congratulate my other fellow Oklahoman Steve Largent, who made it to the last ballot for Majority Leader in a three ballot voting process. It would have been extraordinary for the state of Oklahoma to have had two Oklahomans sitting in House leadership positions. However, our leadership within Congress remains unbelievably strong for a state of our size, with Senator Don Nickles as the Assistant Majority Leader in the Senate and J.C. now as Conference Chairman-elect.

"I also look forward to working under the leadership of Bob Livingston of Louisiana as Speaker of the House. I could not be more confident that he is the right man for the job. Having been close to Bob over the past year while serving on the Livingston for Speaker steering committee, I know he is a friend of agriculture and the oil and gas industry and has had a very open ear to other issues of importance to Oklahoma.

"We have come out of these elections with a very effective leadership team, and I look forward to hitting the ground running in January with my new and old colleagues of the 106th Congress."