A message from Senator Michael Bennet

Hello everyone, 

Moments after we shared last week’s newsletter, we learned of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing. This morning, I had a chance to pay my respects to the late justice as she lies in state in the U.S. Capitol.

The days since Justice Ginsburg’s passing have tested our democracy. Earlier this week, President Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power. This is so dangerous, and Americans of all parties have to stand against this clear attack on our democracy. At the same time, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has pledged to ram through Justice Ginsburg’s replacement -- the opposite of what he did in 2016 when he blocked President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland. The Senate has never confirmed a Supreme Court nominee this close to an election, and to do so now would risk profound damage to our country.

As I said on the floor this week, when President Trump and Senator McConnell attack our institutions, they are attacking our ability to meet our challenges as a country -- from the pandemic to health care to climate change. This week I kept working to break through the dysfunction by standing up for our democratic institutions, pushing for additional relief for the ongoing crisis, and taking action on Colorado priorities from supporting local news to expanding access to care to protecting our communities from wildfires.

You can learn more about our efforts below, and as always, please do not hesitate to reach out to our office with questions.

Best,

Michael

HONORING JUSTICE GINSBURG AND DEFENDING OUR DEMOCRACY

On Tuesday night, I spoke on the Senate floor about the life and legacy of Justice Ginsburg. For more than a quarter century on the court, Justice Ginsburg authored rulings that promoted fairness, advanced equality, and secured hard-won rights. Because the young Joan Ruth Bader knew America would be worse off without her talent, Justice Ginsburg fought hard to make America more democratic, more fair, and more free.

Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for Majority Leader McConnell and President Trump, who now seek to ram her replacement through the Senate. On Wednesday, I returned to the Senate floor to describe the profound damage Senator McConnell has done to our institutions. On Thursday, I also spoke with Colorado Public Radio about President Trump’s dangerous refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power. Going forward, I will do everything I can to defend our democracy and delay filling the Supreme Court vacancy until after inauguration day in January 2021.

SUPPORTING LOCAL NEWS

Local news is foundational to our democracy, but a convergence of forces – from consolidation to social media to COVID-19 – has pushed newsrooms across America to the brink. I worry deeply about an America without local reporters on the beat to hold officials accountable and engage citizens in the events shaping their communities. On Thursday, I introduced a bill with Senator Brian Schatz and Senator Amy Klobuchar to help reinvigorate local journalism across the country while preserving the independence vital to the free press.

PUSHING FOR NEW COVID-19 RELIEF

For months, I’ve called on the Senate to pass a new relief package to help our communities struggling with the ongoing public health crisis and economic crisis. Nationwide, as many as one in four small businesses are at risk of failure. Unless we pass relief along the lines of my bipartisan RESTART Act, many small businesses will close their doors and never reopen. We can’t let that happen. The ongoing crisis has also blown a huge hole in state and local budgets, and without action from Washington, we risk more layoffs and cutbacks in critical services. At the same time, we have to extend unemployment benefits until the economy recovers, so that families struggling to find work can still make rent and put food on the table. Continued gridlock is unacceptable in this moment of crisis, and I will keep doing everything I can to push Congress to act.

EXPANDING ACCESS TO VITAL CARE 

This week, we also introduced two bipartisan bills to help Americans access the care they need. Nationwide, over 20 million adults in the U.S. have an opioid or substance use disorder, yet many providers aren’t required to complete training to effectively prevent, treat, and manage it. On Tuesday, we introduced a bipartisan bill with Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), the MATE Act, to expand substance use training and better equip our health care system to tackle the epidemic of addiction that still rages across Colorado and the country. Yesterday, we also introduced the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act, a bipartisan bill with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to help families access life-saving care for children with complex medical conditions, building on the ACE Kids Act we passed into law last year. 

URGING THE ADMINISTRATION TO TAKE ACTION ON WILDFIRES

This week, we wrote to the Trump Administration calling for a much greater effort to help communities affected by wildfires across the West. The pandemic has left resources at the local level stretched thin, and Washington can do a lot more to provide support. For example, we called on the administration to mobilize FEMA, USDA, and other federal agencies to strengthen local efforts to fight fires and help communities recover. Going forward, we will keep up the pressure on the administration to act.

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