Back the Blue

Rural law enforcement officers exemplify unwavering courage, often standing as the first line of defense with limited backup. These dedicated heroes rush toward peril while others retreat. Every day, our law enforcement personnel labor tirelessly to safeguard our communities, and they have my full and unwavering support.

The escalating crime rates afflicting our great American cities find their fuel in calls from the Left to defund our police. Democratic-led cities, such as Minneapolis, Seattle, New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Washington D.C., have all reduced funding for law enforcement, and the consequences are painfully evident. Shootings, homicides, and other violent crimes are on the rise. Regrettably, crime has also risen in Colorado, with our state leading the nation in car thefts, cocaine use, and bank robberies.

We need to provide proper funding for our police. I'm working to make sure they have the resources they need to protect our communities and return home safely. I won't let career politicians in D.C. leave behind rural Colorado law enforcement officers. My MORE PILT Act ensures that rural law enforcement, search and rescue, and firefighting operations are supported by the federal lands they help protect. In legislation signed into law, I successfully secured $515 million for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program to provide critical resources for rural law enforcement.

In May, the House passed an amendment of mine that will promote accountability and transparency for removing criminal aliens. Specifically, Congresswoman Boebert’s amendment requires the Department of Homeland Security to annually report to Congress and publish on its website how many illegal aliens are deported for assaulting law enforcement officers. This amendment had bipartisan support and passed by a vote of 303-126.

Last year, over 100,000 Americans, including over 900 Coloradans died from fentanyl. This drug, mostly imported from China and continuously smuggled through our southern border, is desolating families across the country, and it's now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18-45. Fentanyl harms drug users, and it also harms first responders and good Samaritans who attempt to rescue overdose victims. Earlier this year, a police officer in Colorado was taken to the hospital after being exposed to fentanyl while searching a drug user’s car. Law enforcement officers need more resources to respond to the fentanyl crisis.

I introduced legislation to designate fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction. This designation will increase interagency cooperation and allocate additional federal resources. I’m also working with Montezuma County to receive a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program designation and receive federal funding to combat the growing fentanyl and drug problem.

I am a tireless defender of law enforcement. When federal bureaucracy threatened to impose excessive fees on law enforcement communications towers, I stood up for public safety agencies. When the Biden administration promised to give criminal aliens $450,000 while firing Border Patrol agents at the same time, I introduced legislation and successfully pressured the Biden administration to scrap its plan. When the Biden administration invited the UN to study systemic racism within American police departments, I stood in strong opposition.

In short, I back the blue, and I will never apologize for it. I reject policies that seek to deprive the American people of their safety and liberty. I reject the myth that police are racist. Now more than ever, they deserve and need our support. The people of rural Colorado want more and effective policing, not less.