Dear Fellow Citizens,
Whether or not you are a baseball
fan, the historic end-of-season
and post-season run of the Colorado
Rockies has got to put a smile on
your face and a spring in your step.
Regardless of the outcome of the
World Series, the Colorado Rockies
have provided a little magic to
our lives this fall. So, with due
respect to the Boston faithful,
GO ROCKIES!
In October, the Senate continued
its work on approving the FY 08
appropriations bills. We passed
the Defense, the Commerce-Justice-Science,
and Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations
bills, and as of the writing of
this newsletter are debating Amtrak
reauthorization.
And the Senate Agriculture Committee
approved its version of the 2007
Farm Bill reauthorization. I will
you update more on the Farm Bill
in my next newsletter.
Looking ahead, there are a few
remaining FY 08 appropriations bills
the Senate has to pass. We will
also likely turn to Indian Health,
FAA, FDA, and Trade Adjustment Assistance
reauthorization bills, as well as
consider foreign surveillance (wiretapping)
reform and the U.S. Attorney General
nomination.
The following is an update on some
of my other activities in October.
Colorado Travels.
During the Columbus Day-week Senate
recess, I traveled around Colorado
meeting on various issues. I keynoted
the closing session of the National
Land Conservation Conference, the
largest land conservation conference
in the country (1,600 attendees).
I met with community and military
leaders in Colorado Springs to update
them on military issues affecting
the Pikes Peak Region, including
my work on the Defense Authorization
and Military Construction and Veterans
Affairs appropriations bills, as
well as my work regarding the Pinon
Canyon Maneuver Site. I met with
Southern Colorado leaders in Pueblo
to also update them on my work regarding
Pinon Canyon. I hosted my fourth
meeting this year with representatives
from organizations involved in the
Arkansas River Basin to try to address
ongoing water use and supply in
that Valley. I met with the mayors
and other representatives involved
in the Northeast Greenway Corridor
Project, a Denver metro regional
cooperative effort to promote and
protect remaining open space, wildlife
habitats, river corridors and recreational
facilities. At a meeting and news
conference in Aurora, I highlighted
the need for our military facilities
in Colorado to plan for and protect
against urban development encroachment
that could hinder or render inoperable
their missions or future use.
I traveled to the West Slope, where
I met with Gunnison area community
leaders and elected officials, Grand
Junction elected officials, spoke
at the Montrose Rotary Club luncheon,
met with the Delta-Montrose Electric
Association staff to discuss renewable
energy ideas, and toured the Delta-Montrose
Technical College's innovative state-of-the
art miner safety training center.
I hosted a farm bill meeting attended
by representatives of Colorado agriculture
industries and Colorado's Commissioner
of Agriculture to update them on
work on the farm bill and to get
their latest input on its provisions.
And I visited Cripple Creek where
I met with Teller County elected
officials and toured the new Pikes
Peak Regional Hospital, and met
with employees of the Cripple Creek
& Victor Gold Company.
Iraq. In
another attempt to push for a change
in our operations in Iraq, I introduced
S. 2134, a bill requiring the Department
of Defense to report to Congress
on the status of redeployment planning
for our soldiers in Iraq, including
a draw down to a more limited mission.
The bill is the companion to House
legislation that passed in October
by a vote of 377-46. Senators joining
me in introducing S. 2134 are Senators
Alexander (R-TN), Pryor (D-AR),
Collins (R-ME), Clinton (D-NY),
Voinovich (R-OH), Dole, (R-NC),
and Webb (D-VA).
National Security.
I joined a bipartisan group of Senators
in introducing S. 2088 by Senator
Feingold (D-WI), legislation to
place reasonable restrictions on
the use of so-called "National
Security Letters" and to curb
the misuse that has been highlighted
by recent government disclosures.
Other Senate supporters include
Senators Hagel (R-NE), Murkowski
(R-AK), Sununu (R-ME), Tester (D-MT),
and Obama (D-IL).
Cyber Command HQ.
The nine-member Colorado delegation
joined together in urging the U.S.
Air Force to consider Colorado Springs
as a potential site of the headquarters
for the newly established Cyber
Command (AFCYBER). Cyber Command
plays a critical role in protecting
our Nation and the military's cyber
networks and communications from
infiltration and attack. Locating
Cyber Command in Colorado Springs
makes sense due to the close proximity
of the Air Force Space Command and
United States Northern Command,
both also located in Colorado Springs.
Law Enforcement Assistance.
As part of the FY 08 Commerce,
Justice and Science Appropriations
bill, I secured $2.9 million to
help fund 10 drug task force and
meth intervention programs around
the state to combat the ongoing
meth scourge plaguing many of our
communities. I also secured funding
for the CU's Colorado School Safety
Program, Denver Police Department's
Gang Bureau, and for CU's Health
Sciences Center's National Center
for Audio/Video Forensics. I also
included critical language urging
the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to provide
the funding necessary to address
safety and staffing issues at the
federal Supermax facility in Florence,
CO.
Regaining Our Leadership
in Space. I joined
Senators Mikulski (D-MD), Hutchison
(R-TX) and Landrieu (D-LA) in offering
an amendment added to the FY 08
Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations
bill that would help NASA recover
from the loss of the space shuttle
Columbia and ensure America's leadership
in space technology. The $1 billion
amendment offsets the costs incurred
as a result of the Columbia loss
and will allow NASA to continue
to work with space and Earth science
programs, aeronautics research and
critical development of the next
generation of human space flight
programs. Colorado has the third-largest
space economy in the U.S. as measure
by employment and ranks second in
the nation for private aerospace
employment concentration.
Addressing Global Climate
Change. In an effort
to address concerns over global
climate change by seeking carbon
dioxide emissions, Senator Coleman
(R-MN) and I introduced S. 2144,
the CO2 Pipeline Study Act. Our
bill directs the Departments of
Energy, Commerce and Interior, and
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
and EPA to prepare a report and
offer recommendations to Congress
on the development of a CO2 pipeline
infrastructure. The purpose of such
infrastructure is to capture, transport
and sequester a major contributor
to global warming-carbon dioxide.
Renewable Energy Incentives
and Agriculture Assistance.
The Senate Finance Committee approved
the Heartland, Habitat, Harvest,
and Horticulture Act, a package
of agriculture-related tax provisions
that will complement the upcoming
Farm Bill reauthorization and includes
several conservation, energy and
agriculture provisions. Provisions
added to the bill I fought for or
sponsored are (1) establishment
of an ag disaster trust fund to
cover what are known as "shallow
losses" not covered by crop
insurance; (2) a 30% small wind
tax credit for taxpayers for their
home, farm, ranch or small business;
(3) a first-of-its-kind tax credit
for the production of cellulosic
biofuels; and (4) language clarifying
that exchanges involving shares
of stock in mutual ditch companies
should be tax-free. Mutual ditch
companies are unique corporations,
organized as non-profits solely
for the convenience of their members
in managing a joint water distribution
system. The shareholders are generally
farmers and ranchers who have an
exclusive right to use the ditch
company's water.
Rocky Mountain Wildfire
Funding. Colorado delegation
members joined with our counterparts
from Wyoming and South Dakota in
a letter to the U.S. Forest Service
calling on that agency to take all
necessary steps to ensure that the
national forests in the Rocky Mountain
Region are funded to their full
capabilities for hazardous fuels
and forest management programs in
FY 08. Nearly all of the region's
national forests are facing epidemic
levels of bark beetle infestation,
which makes the potential for catastrophic
fires in our own state even greater.
Clearly federal firefighting resources
need a boost, regardless of the
cause of western wildfires, as the
horrifying fires that ravage southern
California once again demonstrate.
National Parks Education.
I introduced S. 2194, legislation
to establish a pilot grant program
to help low-income schools team
up with our National Parks so that
children, teachers and park rangers
can make better use of our parks
as outdoor classrooms. While director
of the Colorado Department of Natural
Resources, I developed a similar
"Youth in Natural Resources
Program" to provide our youth
with a better understanding of and
greater appreciation for Colorado's
natural environment. This bill has
the same goal.
Ensuring Continued Traumatic
Brain Injury Research.
I successfully added an amendment
to the FY 08 Labor, HHS Appropriations
bill to increase funding for the
Nationwide Traumatic Brain Injury
Model System of Care (TBIMSC) Program,
preventing the closure of two of
the 16 TBIMSC research centers in
the country. The TBIMSC Program
funds research at 16 centers across
the country, including the world-renowned
Craig Hospital in Englewood, CO,
on how certain models for traumatic
brain injury treatment affect long-term
outcomes. This network of research
centers allows for the monitoring
of a large number of patients in
a national database, in order to
allow for long-term, longitudinal
studies of various treatment outcome
questions. Craig Hospital is the
National Database and Statistical
Center for TBISMC.
Health Care-Related
Funding. The FY 08
Labor, HHS Appropriations bill also
includes funding for 10 Colorado-specific
health care programs included at
my request. Those requests include
funds to allow Mercy Health Foundation
in La Plata County to expand its
primary care and prevention services
for the elderly, children, and the
underserved; to help Denver Health
to expand and upgrade its major
trauma facility; for help Denver's
St. Joseph's Hospital mobile mammography
program; and funds for Northwest
Colorado's Visiting Nurse Association
to help pay for capital improvements
for primary care facilities in Walden,
Hayden and Craig.
As always, for more information
on my Senate activities in Colorado
and in Washington, I urge you to
visit my website at salazar.senate.gov.
Sincerely,
