In case you missed it, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper held a virtual town hall yesterday to provide an update on what’s happening in Washington and discuss issues that are top-of-mind for Coloradans, including climate change, immigration, USPS issues in rural cities, Space Command, and more.
More than 800 Coloradans tuned in live. Nearly 700 questions were submitted ahead of time, with more submitted live on social media.
On priorities for the 118th Congress:
“We’re also focused this Congress on continuing to implement all the bills we got done last year at the same time that we’re trying to work on issues that are top of mind for Coloradans right now. We’re looking at the problems with the Postal Service. USPS’ mail delivery in mountain towns is just falling apart in many places, and we’ve obviously got a lot of work to do there. There’s serious concerns about the Colorado River, with the aridification and the drought. It’s beyond a drought, it’s really a change in our climate. We’re also fighting to make sure that Space Command stays in Colorado. We’re also fighting to protect even more of our public lands, and we’re fighting to continue to lower health care costs.”
On the energy provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act:
“The key also with the Inflation Reduction Act was that it will make clean energy cheaper for families. We’re going to create almost 16 million jobs in the process, so there’s money coming into families. There’s billions in this bill to make sure that solar panels, wind turbines, and electric car batteries and all that stuff is going to be made right here in America.”
On coming together to combat gun safety:
“Last year we passed the bipartisan gun bill, the most significant gun measure to clear Congress in three decades. It expands background checks, makes major investments in mental health. When it passed on a bipartisan basis, it really did prove that gun safety can be addressed collaboratively on both sides. I’m a founding member of the Gun Violence Prevention Caucus. I continue to feel that we need to find a solution that doesn’t have winners or losers, that doesn’t pit rural versus urban or Republicans versus Democrats. We’re at that point where we need to take a bigger step.”
On Colorado’s rural communities:
“Rural communities are the very fabric of our nation. More often than not, rural America grows the food we eat, generates the power that drives our economy and our transportation system, manufactures the goods, and all those things… To overlook our rural communities would be a real mistake, and I think the federal government’s been doing that for too long… That’s part of why we’ve worked so hard to secure this Congressionally Directed Spending that we’ve been using for rural health clinics, bridges, treatment plants, affordable housing programs, long overdue updates and expansions for our libraries or police and fire stations, and much more. These communities are seeing federal funds for the first time reach projects that need it the most, and not getting caught up in the federal or state red tape, or just only getting to Colorado Springs or Denver.”
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