Passing Legislation to Benefit Colorado’s Third District

FOUR BILLS THAT I COSPONSORED TO END THE COVID PANDEMIC PASS THE HOUSE

COVID is over—even Joe Biden admitted it. It is far past time to start undoing the harm that COVID hysteria caused our country, and it starts by reinstating our healthcare workers who should never have been fired for refusing to take the vaccine, requiring federal employees to actually show up to work, and cutting wasteful COVID spending.

This week, the House passed four bills that I cosponsored to end the COVID pandemic:

H. R. 382, the Pandemic is Over Act, orders the Secretary of Health and Human Services to rescind the public health emergency declaration and relinquish all emergency powers that the executive branch has assumed.
H. R. 497, the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, ends the Biden administration’s COVID vaccine mandate for healthcare workers and nullifies the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ vaccine rule.
H. J. Res. 7 declares the COVID national emergency is over. Biden has abused his self-declared emergency powers to justify his student loan scam and other unrelated liberal wish list items. This legislation will rescind the declaration of the COVID national emergency and terminate 120 special statutory powers only meant for times of actual emergency that are being abused by the Biden administration.
H. R. 139, the SHOW UP Act requires federal employees to show up to work again. According to one disturbing report by the Federal Times, just one in three federal workers has returned to their office full-time. Equally disturbing, a leaked memo from January 2021 to the then-chief of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services showed that between 20 and 30 percent of the Department’s employees did not log into work on any given day between March and December during 2020.

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THREE OF MY AMENDMENTS PASS THE HOUSE WITH BIPARTISAN SUPPORT

I passed three amendments to the Strategic Production Response Act through the House of Representatives: two by unanimous bipartisan consent and one via a recorded vote with bipartisan support and five Democrats supporting the amendment. These important legislative provisions will deliver big wins for Colorado’s Third District by increasing government transparency, helping reduce gas prices, increasing American energy production, and protecting Colorado energy jobs.

With the historic changes to the House rules that I helped secure, the House is now functioning as it should, with Members on both sides of the aisle debating and voting on policy issues that will help the American people. The American people want solutions, not just rhetoric, and that’s exactly what we accomplished with these three amendments.

My Amendment No. 32 passed the House with bipartisan unanimous consent. It will enhance congressional oversight and government transparency by requiring the Biden administration to submit its plan to increase oil and gas production on federal lands to the relevant congressional committees.

My Amendment No. 137 passed the House with bipartisan unanimous consent. It will require the Secretary of the Interior to identify areas for responsible energy leasing within Colorado’s Thompson Divide. This will provide a voice for local communities which were ignored and cut out of the process when Biden unilaterally locked up nearly 300,000 acres in Colorado—including the Third District—through the stroke of a pen. I have consistently opposed Biden’s decision to unilaterally lock up land in the Thompson Divide from energy development, and local stakeholders have spoken out about how this process unfairly failed to address their concerns.

Finally, My Amendment No. 33 passed the House with bipartisan support and five Democrats voting in favor. It will allow a 15% increase to responsible energy production on federal lands to help combat rising gas prices. On Biden’s watch, gas prices have increased by 40%, devastating families across rural Colorado. We need commonsense energy policies that work for rural communities, and my bipartisan amendment is a step in the right direction.

CONDUCTING CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT ON COVID FRAUD

The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability held its first hearing on government COVID waste, fraud, and abuse. Preliminary investigations estimate that at least $560 billion in federal funds were lost. About $400 billion in taxpayer money was stolen by fraudulent unemployment claims, with 70% of the money going to organized crime in China, Nigeria, and Russia.

Congress owes it to taxpayers to account for the money that was lost and to prosecute criminals who took advantage of the American people. I am working to ensure that federal agencies use all available resources to track down and recover the lost funds.

Read my editorial in The Hill and see my questions to Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, and Assistant Director for the Secret Service Investigations Office David Smith to hear more about the important work that the Oversight Committee is doing to protect American taxpayers.

DEFENDING FARMERS AND RANCHERS FROM GRAY WOLVES

Recently, I led 22 of my colleagues in introducing the Trust the Science Act to permanently delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List in the lower 48 United States. In 2020, based on the best scientific data, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List and declared that gray wolves are fully recovered since there are 3,000 gray wolves in the Rocky Mountain States.

The science is clear, the gray wolf is fully recovered. For far too long, activist judges and extremist environmentalists have weaponized the Endangered Species Act to lock up our lands. The gray wolf listing has also led to countless killings of livestock, leaving farmers and ranchers powerless to defend their animals. The Trust the Science Act empowers states and puts people ahead of violent predators. We need to actually analyze the data objectively instead of letting Endangered Species Act listing decisions be made by leftist activists.

FIGHTING FOR LOCAL COLORADO PRIORITIES LIKE WATER AND AMERICAN ENERGY ON KEY SUBCOMMITTEES

Water and American energy remain two of my top priorities, and I am thrilled to be a voice for rural Colorado as a member on two critical House Natural Resources subcommittees that deal with these issues: the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries, and also the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. On these committees, I will keep working on effective policies to unleash American energy, protect water rights, fight western drought, prevent wildfires, and steward our natural resources in a way that puts rural Colorado first.

Additionally, as a Member on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, I will serve on the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs and on the Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce.

I’m excited for what we are going to accomplish for the people of the Third District through these important committees and subcommittees.

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SERVING YOU

In addition to the legislation I am working on in the 118th Congress, I am also continuing to serve constituents. My team has successfully helped people in the District who weren’t getting answers from federal agencies, like veterans seeking to get the care they earned from the VA, travelers needing expedited assistance to receive a passport on short notice, taxpayers being harassed by the IRS, senior citizens having issues with the Social Security Administration or Medicare, and more. My office will continue serving Coloradans at my three district offices in Pueblo, Durango, and Grand Junction and at mobile office hours across every County in Colorado’s Third District.

My office and I have returned over $2,025,972.46 to constituents—many of whom were veterans having issues with the VA. From helping a veteran who had to wait 14 months for care cut through the bureaucracy, to helping another veteran get immediate open-heart surgery that saved his life, my team and I are always busy helping veterans receive the care they EARNED. If you or a veteran you know are having issues with the VA, please reach out to my office so we can get to work on your behalf.

My office will be hosting mobile office hours at the following times and locations:

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2023

Rio Blanco County Mobile Office Hours

Meeker Chamber of Commerce

710 Market St., Upstairs Conference Room

Meeker, CO

11:00am-12:00pm

Moffat County Mobile Office Hours

Craig Chamber of Commerce

775 Yampa Ave., Snowboard Room

Craig, CO
1:00-2:00pm

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2023

Montezuma County Mobile Office Hours

Mancos Community Center

130 Grand Ave.

Mancos, CO

3:00-4:30pm

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2023

La Plata County Mobile Office Hours

Ignacio Community Library, Community Room

470 Goddard Ave.

Ignacio, CO

3:00-5:00pm

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2023

Rio Grande County Mobile Office Hours

Court House – 2^nd Floor

925 6^th St.

Del Norte, CO

10:00-11:00am

Saguache County Mobile Office Hours

Town Hall – Town Trustees’ Meeting Room

294 Worth St.

Center, CO

11:30-12:30pm

Saguache County Mobile Office Hours

Road and Bridge Building

305 Third St.

Saguache, CO

2:00-3:00pm