Congress
LIVE BLOG: Fired FBI director James Comey testifies on Trump-Russia in front of Senate intel committee
Replay former FBI director James Comey’s testimony in an open hearing of the Senate intelligence committee regarding the Russia probe and his firing. Click here for the full wrap-up. Continue reading
Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison Eid nominated to fill Gorsuch seat on 10th Circuit
DENVER – President Donald Trump has nominated Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison H. Eid to fill the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals seat vacated when Neil Gorsuch was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Washington Times first reported Eid’s nomination, saying the judge was also on the president’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees. The Denver Post was able to confirm that was the case shortly afterward, citing two congressional sources. Continue reading
What does the Paris climate pullout mean for US, and why do Republicans insist it’s a treaty?
DENVER – When President Donald Trump announced Thursday he was pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate accords, his plan was widely met with blowback from most business owners, Democrats, America’s closest allies, and even energy company executives.
Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, including some from Colorado, said little of the ramifications of Trump’s decision, instead deriding the previous administration for not taking the accord—an executive agreement—to the U.S. Senate for approval. Continue reading
Why is Sen. Cory Gardner touring Asia and shaking hands with Rodrigo Duterte?
DENVER – What exactly is Sen. Cory Gardner doing in the Philippines shaking hands with under-fire president Rodrigo Duterte?
That was the question many in Colorado asked Thursday when Filipino president’s press office put out photos of the two shaking hands in a meeting that happened Wednesday. Continue reading
Coffman, Polis bill would force VA study of veteran suicide, overmedication for behavioral disorders
DENVER – As we honor the American service men and women who have lost their lives in combat on Memorial Day, two Colorado congressmen are working to help stop veterans from dying in the war against drug addiction and suicide back home.
A bill introduced last week, which is co-sponsored by Reps. Mike Coffman (R-CO06) and Jared Polis (D-CO02), along with other House Democrats and Republicans, aims to put the Veterans Affairs Secretary into an agreement with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a full review of veterans’ suicides and drug use over the past 5 years.
The House version of the bill is called the “Veteran Overmedication Prevention Act of 2017.”
If passed and signed by President Donald Trump, the VA and national academies would, within 90 days of the bill’s enactment, undertake a full review of every suicide, violent death, or accidental death of a VA-covered veteran over the past 5 years—regardless of whether the death was covered by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting methodology.
The team would create a list of every medication prescribed to the veteran, as well as any legal or illegal drug the veteran was taking prior to their death.
It would also review every VA diagnosis that led to a doctor describing medication for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, traumatic brain injuries, sexual abuse and other anxiety and depression-related disorders.
The review would also be tasked with covering the number of times a veteran was concurrently put on different medications and why, as well as the number of veterans who died after not being prescribed with any medications.
The review would have to make a distinction between whether or not a veteran was also given behavioral health treatments, in addition to prescription drugs, and review protocols in plays in the VA system for pain scoring and prescribing painkillers.
The VA’s staffing levels for mental health professionals would also be reviewed, and an analysis of the VA locations prescribing the highest number of painkillers would also be done.
The program the bill aims to create is similar to a Senate bill sponsored by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced in that chamber.
Both hope to address an alarming increase in the number of veterans’ suicides, which has jumped to around 20 per day in the U.S.
“This bill will enable us to better identify the links between prescription drugs overdoses and veterans’ suicide,” Coffman said. “The VA’s drug-centric culture is not only something we are looking to change, but also we seek to better understand this growing epidemic of opioid use. Our goal is to ultimately avoid veterans’ and their families’ unnecessary suffering.”
“I’ve long believed that we owe our nation’s heroes alternatives for pain management and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder treatment other than narcotic and opioid pain medications. This study is a step in a positive direction toward heading off the tragic epidemic of veterans’ suicide by understanding how traditional systems of treatment may be undermining some veterans’ ability to pursue healthy, happy lives,” Rep. Polis said.
CBO: GOP’s AHCA leaves 23M fewer insured; dangerous risk for those with preexisting conditions
WASHINGTON – The House-passed GOP health care bill would leave 23 million fewer people insured by 2026 than would have been under Obamacare, and costs could soar for older Americans and people with pre-existing medical conditions in some states, according to new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released Wednesday.
House Republicans forced a vote on the revised American Health Care Act late last month before the CBO could re-score the bill with its added amendments. It passed by a 217-213 vote. Continue reading
3 Colorado district attorneys join U.S. prosecutors in opposition to Sessions’ maximum sentence memo
DENVER – Three of Colorado’s district attorneys are among dozens of local and state prosecutors from across the country who have signed on to a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions discussing their concerns over a new directive calling for maximum sentences for low-level offenders.
Last week, Sessions sent a memo to U.S. attorneys requiring them to “charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense” that alleged criminals are accused of, and to pursue cases that “carry the most substantial guidelines sentence, including mandatory minimum sentences.”
His directive immediately set off a storm in the criminal justice world, as it stands in direct contradiction of Obama-era policies aimed at reducing prison populations by exonerating low-level drug offenders. Some said Sessions was trying to bring the U.S. back to the “war on drugs” policies of the Reagan and George W. Bush presidencies.
Sessions had said numerous times as a U.S. senator that getting rid of mandatory minimum sentences harmed law enforcement efforts, which defense attorneys and other members of Congress disagreed with.
But Friday, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann, Breckenridge District Attorney Bruce Brown and Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett signed on to the letter opposing Sessions’ directives, along with 28 other current or former district attorneys, city attorneys and attorneys general.
They wrote that the directive “marks an unnecessary and unfortunate return to past ‘tough on crime’ practices that we now know simply don’t enhance or promote the safety of our communities.”
“There is no empirical evidence to suggest that increases in sentences, particularly for low-level offenses, decrease the crime rate,” they wrote, adding that the idea that long-term sentences served as a deterrent for future criminal action was “questionable at best.”
The letter says that not only will there be “definitive and significant” actual costs to imprisoning more people, the “reinvigorated…failed ‘war on drugs’” would have a “human cost as well.”
“Instead of providing people who commit low-level drug offenses or who are struggling with mental illness with treatment, support and rehabilitation programs, the policy will subject them to decades of incarceration,” the letter says.
The prosecutors also pointed out that a February paper by Law Enforcement Leaders says that officers “need not use arrest, conviction and prison as the default response for every broken law.”
The prosecutors wrote that they would continue to use “innovative approaches” to prosecuting crimes in their respective jurisdictions.
“It is through these priorities that prosecutors can best advance public safety and fortify trust in the legitimacy of our criminal justice system,” they wrote.
Sessions’ directive puts no exact timeline in place for the changes to happen. A bipartisan group of congressmen have introduced a bill seeking to counteract Sessions’ directive.
Bipartisan bills to protect marijuana from federal crackdown introduced by Colo. members of Congress
DENVER – Efforts to protect states with legal marijuana programs from any possible federal crackdown are gaining bipartisan momentum in Congress, and several of Colorado’s lawmakers are playing a big part in trying to get legislation passed.
U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette (D) and Mike Coffman (R) introduced a bill Thursday that revises the federal Controlled Substances Act to keep Congress or any federal entities from interfering in legal state marijuana markets.
The two introduced a similar bill in 2012 after Colorado voters first approved the constitutional amendment that legalized recreational marijuana in the state, but it ultimately failed.
“This bill makes clear that we’re not going back to the days of raids on legal dispensaries, of folks living in fear that they’re not going to get the medical marijuana they need, or that they might get jailed for using it,” DeGette said.
“While I have opposed the legalization of marijuana, the people of Colorado voted for an initiative in 2012 that legalized marijuana and placed it in our state’s constitution,” Coffman said.
“Since it this is clearly not a matter of interstate commerce, I believe that the people of Colorado had every right, under the U.S. Constitution, to decide this issue for themselves and as their representative in Congress, I have an obligation to respect the will of the people of Colorado and that’s why I’m reintroducing this bill with Congresswoman DeGette,” he continued.
Their bill comes a day after U.S. Sens. Cory Gardner (R) and Michael Bennet (D), along with a bipartisan group of senators, introduced a bill that would ease regulations on how marijuana businesses are allowed to deal with banks.
It would bar federal regulators from stopping or penalizing a bank from working with legal marijuana businesses or taking away FDIC approval from the bank. It would also stop banks and regulators from barring loans to people operating legal marijuana businesses.
While some Colorado marijuana businesses now allow people to use debit or credit cards, many still operate on cashless ATM or cash-only systems.
“The lack of access to banking services for marijuana businesses is a key issue in Colorado,” Bennet said. “It raises significant public safety concerns for both employees and customers of these businesses and creates compliance and oversight challenges.
Rep. Jared Polis (D) introduced a bill earlier this year that aims to have the feds regulate marijuana like alcohol.
Also introduced in recent weeks was a bill by Virginia Republican Rep. Thomas Garrett, which lifts federal restrictions on medical and recreational marijuana programs and allows states to operate their own. The bill also has support from both sides of the aisle.
Some Colorado Republican congressmen back away from Trump amid concerns over Russia conduct
DENVER – Two of Colorado’s most-scrutinized Republican members of Congress said Tuesday they have grave concerns about President Donald Trump sharing highly classified information with two high-ranking Russian officials last week.
The responses from Sen. Cory Gardner and Rep. Mike Coffman came after the Washington Post reported the information sharing, which included details on ISIS operations and plans the U.S. had obtained from a sensitive Middle Eastern ally and had yet to share with other close allies, according to the report. Continue reading
Trump allegedly leaked classified info to Russians: How Colorado’s members of Congress are reacting
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump shared highly classified information about U.S. operations involving the Islamic State with two high-ranking Russian officials in a meeting last week, according to a story first published by the Washington Post and later corroborated by multiple other news organizations on Monday.
The White House has called the report false, but news outlets are standing by their stories. In Congress, most members have been cautious in their reactions, but many say if the stories are true, that Trump’s actions are concerning. Continue reading