Hello again and thanks for taking the time to read about what our team has been working on in D.C. 

During the week of February 3, two bills passed under suspension, which means there was no opposition to the bills and the House of Representatives passed them by a voice vote. Unfortunately, they received little notice in the news.The first was H.R. 4305 Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers for Veterans Therapy Act , which would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct a pilot program to provide grants to nonprofits to teach veterans with PTSD to train service dogs. The second was H.R. 3830 Taxpayers Right to Know Act, which would  create a federal program inventory that is centralized and available online to the public. 

This past week, the House passed H.R. 1980 the Smithsonian Women's History Museum Act, on a vote of 374-37. I was one of 60 Republicans to cosponsor this legislation, which will establish a comprehensive women's history museum within the Smithsonian Institution. 

I voted no on the Colorado Wilderness Act of 2019 last Wednesday. The bill would designate a total of 1.5 million acres of new wilderness, 843 miles of wild and scenic rivers, and expand national monuments by 100,00 acres, even though the National Forest System (NFS) did not recommend many of the areas for the designation.

The bill would cover areas in three states: California, Colorado and Washington and includes six pieces of legislation rolled into one. In addition to government over-reach, concerns were raised about the fact that procedure was not followed in the process to designate these lands. Read my press release here.

February is African-American History Month and I recognized Littleton Alston for his work in the community, as a sculptor and Creighton University professor, and as the artist of the Willa Cather statue that will grace the halls of Statutory hall in our nationa's Capitol. Watch the speech here. 

(Above picture: Littleton Alston with his wife, son and family friends)

We return to DC next week to work on legislation. Talk to you soon!

Don