United States Senator James M. Inhofe visited Pryor Monday afternoon.

His visit started at Labinal Inc. Senator Inhofe is an aviation enthusiast and pilot, and wanted to see the plant. He said he has driven by the plant many times, but never been inside. He was amazed at the size of the plant, which looks much smaller from the outside.

Senator Inhofe’s next stop was the MidAmerica Expo Center. He fielded questions from the audience which included students at the Thunderbird Youth Academy, and many other residents of Pryor.

He talked about the current state of the military. He asked the students how many were considering a career in the military, and was glad to see that so many raised their hands. He also shared he has visited Iraq eleven times, and been there for every election. He is pleased with the progress of Iraq, and insists the United States needs a strong military presence to insure the Iraqi citizens succesful transition to democracy.

During the question and answer session, Senator Inhofe got a page saying that the Capital Building in Washington D.C. was being evacuated. He explained that in one previous evacuation, he stayed on the floor to finish his speech, even when the rest of the building had been evacuated. Once he was finished, he walked out, and Ted Kennedy was having trouble getting down the stairs because of leg problems. He told the audience that recently, Kennedy has been voted the most liberal Senator, while Inhofe himself has been voted the most conservative. Inhofe helped Kennedy down the stairs, Kennedy’s arm draped over his shoulder, and a reporter took a picture. Inhofe told the audience at the Expo Center, “and they say we (conservatives) are not compassionate,” which drew a big laugh.

Senator Inhofe finished the session with his feelings on global warming. He said the science proves that global warming is not happening, and Al Gore was using his new movie, An Inconvenient Truth, as a ticket to the White House. He said that every piece of evidence that Gore uses in the movie is not true, and can be countered with evidence.