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Dear
Fellow Citizens,
Spring
has finally arrived in beautiful Colorado,
and in our nation's capital, where
the cherry blossoms have made their
annual, glorious appearance.
Since
my last update to you, the Senate
has considered a variety of legislative
matters. We have tried to find
a new way forward in, and
eventually out of, Iraq,
so far without success. In March
I supported the Senate version of
an emergency supplemental appropriations
bill to continue funding our troops
in 2007. Significantly, the
bill also established a series of
benchmarks which the Iraqi government
must meet, encourages a more robust
international and regional diplomatic
effort to create a strategy for a
stable Iraq, and sets the goal of
redeploying by March 31, 2008 those
U.S. troops not engaged in training
Iraqi troops, and other narrowly-tailored
security activity. By the time
you receive this update, the President
may very well have followed through
on his threat to veto the emergency
supplemental because of the inclusion
of any proposed deployment timelines.
In my
own efforts to find a way to resolve
the impasse over Iraq, and because
of my concern over the extreme polarization
over the future of Iraq and the funding
for the war effort, in early April
I wrote to the President, calling
on Mr. Bush to set aside his partisan
attacks, seek out a new direction
in Iraq, and embrace the Iraq Study
Group's recommendations. In
my letter, I noted that "the Iraq
Study Group had no political or partisan
agenda to advance. Instead,
the elder statesmen who authored that
Report did so upon extensive study
and deliberation to advance a new
way forward in Iraq. That group
of respected and experienced leaders
represents some of the best America
has to offer." At a subsequent
private dinner with the President
at the White House, I continued to
push for a new direction in Iraq with
the goal of getting our troops out
as soon as possible. I will
shortly introduce legislation to adopt
those portions of the Iraq Study Group's
many recommendations as they relate
to operations in Iraq and establishing
an exit strategy for U.S. troops.
The Senate
in March also debated and passed its
version of the fiscal year
2008 budget resolution, with
my support, rejecting yet again much
of the President's efforts to cut
important education, health care,
and environmental protection programs.
In April,
the Senate passed, with my support,
legislation lifting existing restrictions
on federal funding of new embryonic
stem cell research.
It is unclear at this time whether
we have enough votes to override an
expected presidential veto.
The Senate also approved legislation
beefing up federal court and
judicial personnel security
and began consideration of an intelligence
activities authorization
bill for the first time in four years.
As a
member of the Senate Finance Committee,
I am fighting to lower prescription
drug prices for seniors. The
Committee approved legislation earlier
this month giving the Secretary of
Health and Human Services the power
to negotiate lower prescription
drug prices on behalf of
Medicare recipients, just as the Department
of Veterans Affairs can. However,
a vote on passage by the full Senate
was blocked by the Republican minority
amidst the President's opposition.
I believe that not only should the
HHS Secretary have the authority to
negotiate, the Secretary should be
required to negotiate. Savings
taxpayers and seniors money shouldn't
just be an option, it should be required.
The facts speak for themselves.
According to a survey released earlier
this year, the lowest cost of each
of the top 20 pharmaceuticals prescribed
to seniors under Medicare Part D was
always higher than the lowest cost
paid by the VA, by an average of 58%.
The end
of March also saw the horrible destruction
wrought by a powerful tornado
that hit the southeast Colorado community
of Holly. My office
contacted local authorities following
the tornado's strike to offer whatever
assistance we could, and was also
in contact with FEMA, urging rapid
aid and support to the extent allowed
by law. The citizens of southeast
CO have already endured drought, as
well as a devastating blizzard season
this past winter.
In the
next several weeks, the Senate will
take up consideration of the House-Senate
conference action on the fiscal year
2008 budget. It will also likely
take another run at passing an emergency
supplemental bill, assuming the President
vetoes the current proposal, as well
as try to take further action on forcing
a new direction in Iraq. The
congressional appropriations committees
will be busy acting on the annual
appropriations and program authorization
bills, as well as action on numerous
other bills requiring committee action,
in anticipation of early summer and
fall floor action. That activity
will hopefully include strong, comprehensive
renewable and alternative energy bills,
immigration reform, and a new farm
bill, among the many items before
Congress.
I want
to also take this opportunity to update
you on my other activities since the
March newsletter.
West Slope Visit.
In mid-April, I was able to break
away from my Washington work to visit
the West Slope, where in Grand
Junction I met with child health care
professionals to discuss the critical
issue of child health care access
and affordability. I also had
meetings with local fruit farmers
in the Palisade area to discuss matters
such as immigration reform and conservation
easements, local law enforcement chiefs
from the region to discuss law enforcement
funding and training needs, and with
the new superintendent of the Colorado
National Monument west of Grand Junction
to discuss possibilities for creating
a new national park for Colorado.
Immigration Reform.
I continue to be hopeful that Democrats
and Republicans can come together
to move forward with a comprehensive
immigration reform bill. I am
part of a bipartisan group of Senators
that meets almost daily to try to
craft a sensible reform bill.
The President recently solicited my
advice on what we should do on immigration,
which I gladly provided.
Rural Veterans Health Care.
Last year, I successfully sponsored
legislation to create the Office of
Rural Health in the Department of
Veterans Affairs to ensure the VA
maintains a specialized focus on the
unique challenges facing rural veterans.
This month, Senators Jon Thune
(R-SD) and Jon Tester (D-MT) joined
me in introducing S. 1146, the Rural
Veterans Healthcare Improvement Act.
Northwest Colorado Veterans Care.
Coincidentally, the VA announced that
Craig, CO will be the location for
a Community Based Outreach Clinic
(CBOC) that will offer medical treatment
to veterans in rural western Colorado.
For more than two years, my brother
Rep. John Salazar and I have worked
with community members in the area,
the VA, and veterans in pushing to
bring a clinic to the northwest part
of the state so that veterans would
not have to continue driving several
hours over hazardous mountain terrain
to the VA hospital in Grand Junction.
Colorado is home to two VA hospitals,
one in Grand Junction and one in Denver,
as well as 11 community based clinics,
none of which serve northwest Colorado.
This is a great victory for the 4,200
veterans living in this area of our
state.
Nurse-Family Partnership Program.
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) joined
me in introducing S. 1052, the Healthy
Children and Families Act to expand
access to the highly successful Nurse-Family
Partnership to all 50 states, providing
at-home nurse visits for up to 570,000
first-time mothers each year.
The Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP)
was first developed by Dr. David Olds
of the University of Colorado's Prevention
Research Center for Family and Child
Health, and provides home visits by
trained registered nurses to low-income
expectant mothers and their families.
Today, NFP operates 150 programs in
22 states, including Colorado.
Studies have shown that programs like
the NFP are cost-effective, generating
more savings in future costs than
expenses, and improve health quality
among children and their families
and reduce incidents of child abuse
and neglect, improve child cognitive
development and reduce children's
behavior problems.
Children's Health Care.
The federally-funded State Children's
Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)—which
provides health care to children from
families who earn too much money for
Medicaid, but can't afford private
health insurance—is set to expire
in September. Congress is expected
to reauthorize this vitally important
health program later this year.
As a member of the Senate Finance
Committee, which is holding hearings
on this program, my staff held a series
of meetings throughout Colorado in
early April to get input on ways to
make SCHIP more effective. Staff
from my Colorado and Washington offices
held these meetings in Fort Collins,
Greeley, Fort Morgan, Steamboat Springs,
Silverthorne, Colorado Springs, Durango,
Pueblo, Denver, and Alamosa.
I was able to personally participate
in the Grand Junction SCHIP meeting.
National Landscape Conservation
System. I joined
Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) in introducing
S. 1139, legislation to codify the
National Landscape Conservation System
(NLCS) which includes the collection
of national monuments, national conservation
areas, wilderness areas, wild and
scenic rivers and other landscapes
on public lands administered by the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
Because the NLCS was only established
administratively in 2000, it does
not have the permanence that it would
have if enacted by law.
The NCLS has taken a back seat in
our country's land conservation efforts,
getting shortchanged by the President's
budget year in and year out.
Places like Colorado's Canyons of
the Ancients National Monument, McInnis
Canyons National Conservation Area
and Gunnison Gorge National Conservation
Area deserve real protection from
vandalism, neglect and other abuses.
Water Conservation and Re-use.
Senators Bingaman (D-NM), Domenici
(R-NM), and Thomas (R-WY), joined
me in introducing S. 1116, legislation
to initiate a feasibility study on
recovering "produced water" and a
grant program to test technologies
that would convert it to "useable"
water. It is the Senate companion
to Rep. Mark Udall's (D-CO) H.R. 902,
which passed the House unanimously
in March. Each day, more than
two million gallons of useable groundwater
are wasted, turned into what is known
as "produced water," after becoming
contaminated beyond use as it is brought
to the surface during oil and gas
drilling or coal bed methane extraction.
Treating and using "produced water"
for use in irrigation of crops, livestock
watering, wildlife habitat, and recreational
opportunities increases the amount
of water available for all.
S. 1116 also includes provisions aimed
at improving the efficiency of water
use for energy production.
Wildfire Prevention and Fighting
Funding. Each year,
the Mountain West region is threatened
by wildfires that scorch thousands
of acres of National Forests and grasslands.
However, incredibly, earlier this
year the U.S. Forest Service cut funding
to Colorado's Region Two by $4.3 million.
The result could reduce on-the-ground
management of bark beetles, hazardous
fuels and forest health needs.
The entire Colorado congressional
delegation demanded in a letter to
the Forest Service that it immediately
restore the funds by drawing from
the (Forest Service) Chief's Reserve
Fund or excess Northwest Forest Plan
funding. USFS is well aware
of the fire hazard needs in Colorado.
Our congressional delegation has been
hammering away at this danger and
this need for the past two years.
Last year, barely one-in-five federally
approved acres in Colorado received
hazardous fuels treatment. Cutting
corners is not acceptable.
As always,
for more detailed information on my
Senate activities in Colorado and
in Washington, I urge you to visit
my Senate website at salazar.senate.gov.
Sincerely,
Ken Salazar
U.S. Senator
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