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Hello everyone,
Our Founding Fathers understood the risks that endless wars pose to democracy. That’s why they wanted to make it hard to declare war, and why they gave Congress that power – a power they expected us to oversee on behalf of the American people. But for the past two decades, Congress has fallen short of fulfilling this responsibility.
Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has been fighting a perpetual war on terror with serious consequences for our global credibility and leadership. In the name of spreading freedom, we instead spread images of chaos and violations of the values we claimed to serve. And to pay for it all, we borrowed trillions of dollars from the next generation of Americans.
This week, I voted to end two authorizations for the use of military force against Iraq – authorizations that Congress first passed more than thirty years ago. I was grateful for this long-overdue debate and urged my colleagues to vote to end these wars that have taken far too many lives and damaged our global credibility and leadership.
I hope this vote will mark the beginning of a new commitment by Congress to fulfill our constitutional responsibility and reassert the interests of the American people in our foreign policy. We don’t have another thirty years to wait, and the world is watching.
– Michael
FOCUSING ON THE FUTURE OF OUR FORESTS
Over a third of American land is covered by forests – from the tropical rainforests in Hawaii to the aspen groves in Colorado. And while most Americans might think of our forests for their wildlife and natural beauty, their value goes far beyond that.
Our forests are also the largest source of freshwater, a cornerstone of our Colorado economy, and a valuable resource to capture carbon emissions. But they are under threat from a changing climate and shortsighted federal policy.
This week, I held my first hearing in this Congress as Chair of the Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry, and Natural Resources to shed light on the importance of our forests, the risks they face, and how Congress can protect them.
We heard from scientists, conservationists, foresters, and businesses that depend on our forests about how the federal government can be a better partner to local communities and develop smarter, more flexible policies. I look forward to continuing this work to invest in our nation’s forests and protect them for the future.
DEFENDING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS FOR WOMEN IN OUR MILITARY
When women volunteer to serve in the U.S. military, like any other servicemember, they don’t choose where they serve. But until the Supreme Court decided to overturn Roe vs. Wade, they at least had some assurance that they would be able to access reproductive care, no matter the state they are stationed in.
Since the Supreme Court stripped women of this fundamental right, I’ve called on the Biden Administration to defend women’s rights, and this week, I wrote an op-ed for CNN urging the administration to safeguard access to reproductive care for our women in uniform, including by considering access to reproductive care in their major basing and personnel decisions.
PREVENTING AN ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER IN COLORADO
In the last few weeks, we’ve witnessed train derailments in Ohio, West Virginia – and just this week in Minnesota. As these accidents are growing more common, I am increasingly concerned about the proposed Uinta Basin Railway Project in Utah, which if completed, plans to transport five trains of heated oil across Colorado and along the Colorado River each day. A derailment along the river would be disastrous not just for our state, but for the entire American West.
When the Environmental Protection Agency conducted an environmental review of this project, it only considered its risks to Utah – and not to Colorado. That’s why this week, I called on the EPA to conduct an additional review that addresses the project’s risks to Colorado. I’ll keep up the pressure to fully consider the risks posed by this project and support communities who oppose it.
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