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Supporting Colorado’s Defense Community
Joined by Senator Hickenlooper and Representative Crow to discuss our meeting with stakeholders at Buckley Space Force Base
What I’m doing: This week, I attended a meeting at the Buckley Space Force Base with Representative Jason Crow, Senator John Hickenlooper, and Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera, among other state, local, and military leaders. The Future of Buckley Task Force brings together the defense community and base leaders to discuss and coordinate efforts to support Buckley and its vital Space Force, National Guard, and intelligence community missions.
What I believe: Buckley is a critical component of the community and our state’s defense ecosystem, and we must do everything we can as a state to support the servicemembers and their families who are part of this collective. From my position on the Intelligence Committee, I know that everyone at Buckley – the intelligence community, Space Force, National Guard, and others – is doing crucial work daily to guarantee our national security. I will continue to fight to ensure that our military and intelligence personnel have the resources they need to succeed and protect our nation.
2. Pressing Trump Officials on Plans for Wildfires Ahead of Fire Season
What’s happening: According to experts, 2026 has been the worst year for Colorado’s snowpack in recorded history. Communities across the state and the nation are likely to face a potentially historic wildfire season. These conditions, coupled with staff vacancies across the Department of the Interior (DOI), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and U.S. Forest Service due to President Donald Trump’s mass terminations and forced staffing reductions, have created significant risk across the West.
What I believe: There is no denying that record-high average temperatures and devastating drought conditions spell a heightened risk of wildfires this year. With these worsening conditions, we need to focus on better preparing for this fire season and mitigating risk on the front end instead of being forced to recover on the back end. As we approach the summer months, I’ve pushed the Trump Administration to take immediate action to better prepare for these risks.
What I’m doing: On Monday, Congressman Joe Neguse and I pressed the USDA and DOI for answers regarding their agencies’ efforts to ensure the federal government is ready to prepare for and respond to wildfires. It’s time to get serious about addressing this wildfire crisis and take immediate action to increase preparedness and cooperation with state and local agencies.
3. IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK
- I attended the University of Denver’s Daniels School of Business Sustainable Business Symposium to discuss efforts to make Colorado the best place to grow a sustainable business. For Colorado to become a national model, we need to focus on costs of living, responsible growth, and cutting red tape. Colorado's future depends on all of us working together to build a growing economy in a way that protects our quality of life.
- Last week, I joined U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) to introduce the Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections (HELP) for Separated Children Act. Coloradans must be assured that ICE is subject to the same common-sense practices we expect from well-functioning local law enforcement, especially when it comes to the best interests of children. The HELP for Separated Children Act will bring dignity back to families and ensure proper safeguards are in place to hold ICE accountable. We cannot allow the Trump Administration to tear families apart.
- On Tuesday, I led 14 of my Senate colleagues to demand that the Trump Administration fully resume sanctions on Russian oil and use every available tool to cut into Russia’s war windfall profits. President Trump paused these sanctions in an ineffective attempt to lower gasoline and oil prices – which are spiking because of his reckless war with Iran. I believe the Administration must resume Russian oil sanctions and put more pressure on the Kremlin to ensure Vladimir Putin does not profit from Trump’s Iran war as Russia wages its own war of aggression against Ukraine, aids Iran, and threatens our NATO allies.
- Last Friday, I attended the groundbreaking for the East Colfax Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line in Aurora, made possible by a $150 million investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This line is the final stretch of the BRT, which will now run from Denver through Aurora. Transit projects like this are vital to connect Coloradans to jobs, schools, homes, and opportunity. I will continue to fight for public transit that creates opportunities for all.
- Last week, I led Senator John Hickenlooper and Representatives Jeff Hurd and Joe Neguse in sending a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner and U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Board of Governors Chair Amber McReynolds, sharing ways to improve the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in Colorado’s mountain communities. We have continuously worked with community leaders from Vail, Frisco, Dillon, Keystone, Crested Butte, and Gypsum to highlight opportunities for USPS to partner with local municipalities and find solutions that benefit everyone. Many of these opportunities are centered around redeveloping current USPS facilities to accommodate population changes, creating workforce housing to combat recruitment and retention challenges, and providing space in municipal buildings to address PO box shortages, among others. Colorado’s mountain communities deserve swift and simple USPS services, and I will continue to work to make this a reality.
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