Legislative Results for Colorado Veterans
Welcoming First Sergeant Daniel Wallace Home
It was a privilege to speak at the Homes for Our Troops Key Ceremony in Montrose, welcoming Army First Sergeant Daniel Wallace and his wife Kelly home.
Homes for Our Troops is a nonprofit organization focused on building and donating homes to our severely injured veterans.
I'm proud to be part of a community that works to support and care for our veterans. We owe a debt of gratitude to these heroes who have sacrificed so much for our country. God bless them, and may God bless America!
Serving Our Veterans
James Hamilton “Ham” Walker is a veteran from Grand Junction who reached out to my office for assistance with the VA. My team was happy to step in and help him get the rebate he earned in a timely manner. Watch him tell his story in his own words:
Helping Veterans by Leading Congressional Oversight Over “Teleworking” Federal Employees
Along with House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer and Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce Chairman Pete Sessions, I led a congressional oversight effort demanding transparency from federal agencies about their telework policies and their impact on serving the American public.
While many hard-working Americans were working through the pandemic, federal bureaucrats were lounging at home and not even logging on to their computers. Shockingly, more than three years past the start of the pandemic, numerous public servants are still teleworking and only going into the office one day per week, all at the expense of the American taxpayer. I have heard from countless constituents who did not get their tax returns back on time, who did not get their passports in a timely manner, and who did not get benefits from the VA because federal employees were teleworking. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee and I are demanding transparency from federal agencies on their secretive telework policies so that the American people know what exactly their tax dollars are funding and how their public servants are serving them.
The federal government’s flawed teleworking policies have had dramatic impacts on Coloradans. Shockingly, the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) built up a backlog of 18 months to fulfill simple records requests for veterans. This led to countless veterans being unable to access the benefits they earned in a timely manner. I led congressional oversight to get the NPRC back to work. I routinely help veterans with records requests, so if you or a veteran you know needs assistance, please reach out to my office.
Advocating for Colorado Veterans and Seniors During Postal Hearing
Veterans, seniors, and other citizens in Colorado’s Third District have routinely complained about the poor service they have received from the United States Postal Service. This is unacceptable, and in a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, I advocated for Coloradans having mail delivery issues. While things have improved in recent months, the Biden administration’s decision to eliminate 15,000 rural pharmacies from the Department of Defense Health Agencies Cigna/Express Scripts reimbursement plan has created a new prescription mail crisis. No veteran or senior should ever have to go weeks without important quality of life prescriptions, and I’ll continue to fight to ensure they receive their mail on time.
My office has consistently advocated for constituents having issues with the postal service. I have worked with constituents in Crested Butte, Colorado City, La Veta, and all across the District who were having postal delivery issues. See my full questioning of the Postmaster General here:
Introducing Legislation to Streamline Water Storage and Delivery Project Construction
I introduced the Western Water Accelerated Revenue Repayment Act to deregulate water users while also increasing the availability of funding for future water projects. My bill will allow some agriculture and municipal water users to prepay what they owe to the federal government. Just like homeowners can pay off their mortgage early if they want to, my bill allows agriculture and municipal water users to use a similar authority to prepay construction and other costs they owe to the federal government. This prepayment adds early revenue to the U.S. Treasury while also decreasing federal paperwork requirements and operating costs for water users. Additionally, it will generate millions of dollars that are designated to be used to fund new water storage and delivery projects.
This bill will help combat drought and benefit farmers and water users across Colorado. This legislation is moving through the legislative process and will receive a hearing this week.
Meeting Colorado Energy Producers
I enjoyed attending the first ever Northwest Colorado Energy Summit in Craig. Former Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, local stakeholders and I had a great discussion on the importance of an all-of-the-above energy strategy and also discussed different opportunities that could benefit Craig.
Transparency Amendment Passes the House with Bipartisan Support
I voted for the POLICE Act to deport illegal aliens that have assaulted a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or first responder. It is shocking that an illegal alien assaulting a law enforcement officer isn’t already codified as a deportable offense. Holding criminal aliens accountable for violence against law enforcement officers is just common sense. Rather than wasting time on the Democrats’ agenda to keep our southern border wide open while defunding the police, House Republicans are proud to back the blue and have proposed policy solutions to put an end to Biden’s border crisis. The POLICE Act passed the House with bipartisan support, 255-175.
I passed a bipartisan amendment to the POLICE Act through the House Floor with 303 votes. My 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 will promote accountability and transparency for the removal of these criminal aliens. The American people have a right to know if illegal aliens are attacking law enforcement officers and to what extent.
I have been an extremely effective legislator in the 118th Congress and have now passed two bills through the House of Representatives with bipartisan support and passed ten of ten amendments through the House, nine of which had strong bipartisan support.
Hosting Mobile Office Hours
In addition to serving our brave veterans, my office routinely helps Coloradans having issues with federal agencies, including travelers needing expedited assistance to receive a passport, taxpayers being harassed by the IRS, senior citizens having issues with the Social Security Administration or Medicare, and more. My team serves Coloradans at my three District offices in Pueblo, Durango, and Grand Junction and at mobile office hours across every county in Colorado’s Third District.
My office has hosted over 194 mobile office hours in every county in the District, helped over 2,016 people, and returned over $3,241,847.08 to constituents. From helping a veteran who had to wait 14 months for healthcare cut through the bureaucracy, to helping a traveler receive an expedited passport, my team and I are always busy helping Coloradans. If you are having issues with a federal agency, please reach out to my office so we can get to work on your behalf.
My office will be hosting mobile office hours at the following times and locations:
TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2023Huerfano County Mobile Office HoursHuerfano County Court House401 Main Street, Room 202Walsenburg, CO11:00 am -12:00Las Animas County Mobile Office HoursTrinidad City Hall135 North Animas StreetTrinidad, CO2:00 – 3:00 pmWEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2023Piedra Area Combined Mobile Office HoursArchuleta, Mineral, and Hinsdale CountySportsman’s Campground-Main Lodge2095 Taylor LanePagosa Springs, CO11:00 am – 1:00 pmTHURSDAY, JUNE 22, 2023Mineral County Mobile Office HoursMineral County Administration BuildingAdministration Conference Room1201 North Main StreetCreede, CO1:30 – 2:30 pm