Welcome to DC Doings, a weekly look at the Colorado congressional delegation’s activity.
Both houses of Congress were out of town this week for the Fourth of July recess. The Senate returns on July 12, and the House of Representatives returns on July 19 following a district work week.
BUILDING A BRIDGE BACK
Sen. John Hickenlooper and Rep. Joe Neguse joined fellow Democrat Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera to celebrate the opening of a new 2nd Avenue Bridge in Lyons on July 8. The bridge was rebuilt after washing out in the 2013 Little Thompson River flood.
“This bridge symbolizes the Lyons community’s resilience and strength,” said Hickenlooper, who was governor eight years ago when the state was hit with devastating fires and floods through the summer. “We built back better. Now we need to make all of our roads and bridges stronger as we fix our nation’s infrastructure.”
Echoing the phrase made popular by Joe Biden’s presidential campaign last year, Neguse praised the community for working hard to “build back better and more resiliently.”
Added Neguse: “I’m abundantly grateful for the dedicated collaboration of the town of Lyons and the Boulder commissioners in this rebuilding project. The new bridge will connect our community and make local travel more safe and efficient.”
Primavera picked up the same theme in a statement.
“The Polis-Primavera administration is laser-focused on building back stronger. I can’t think of a better moment to have unveiled the completed project. Today’s unveiling will serve as a reminder of where we’ve been and as a symbol of our community connections in the future.”
Primavera’s office said the bridge was paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program.
THE BULLY PULPIT … Republican Reps. Doug Lamborn and Michelle Steel of California led a July 8 letter with 29 colleagues calling on the Department of Labor’s inspector general to conduct an audit to determine what fraud occurred in pandemic-related unemployment programs.
While the department’s inspector general has determined that nearly $89 billion in unemployment assistance has been paid fraudulently, the lawmakers said, a security company estimates that the sum could be substantially higher, possibly involving half the federal unemployment funds paid to assist workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We must determine the total amount of money that has been fraudulently distributed throughout the last two years,” Lamborn said in a statement. “I am deeply concerned that American taxpayer dollars have even gone to overseas foreign nationals posing as American citizens. It is past time that the Department of Labor determine the total amount of taxpayer dollars that have been wasted.”
“The widespread fraud in pandemic unemployment assistance is a gross abuse of taxpayer dollars, and we still do not know the full amount that has been paid out to fraudsters and criminals. We should all be on the side of good governance and protection of taxpayer money,” Steel stated. “We need a full audit to ensure something like this never happens again.”
IN THE HOPPER … Rep. Lauren Boebert co-sponsored a bill with fellow House Republicans to forbid certain nonprofits from providing direct funding to official election operations.
The End Zuckerbucks Act, introduced on July 2 at a press conference by lead sponsor Rep. Claudia Tenney of New York, takes aim at 501(c)(3) organizations in response to a large donation made last year by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to a group that encouraged voter turnout in what Tenney describes as predominantly Democratic precincts.
According to Tenney, Zuckerberg’s $350 million donation to the Center for Tech and Civic Life paid local election boards for get-out-the-vote efforts, mailings to register voters and online voter registration drives, rather than the personal protective equipment the funds were originally described as funding.
“Zuckerbucks are screwing with our elections by funneling private dollars in a partisan way to government agencies,” Boebert said in a statement.
“You want to know why many from across the country have serious questions about the integrity of our elections? It starts with shady crap like this, where billionaires funnel money through nonprofits to Democrat areas to influence election results.”
• Neguse introduced bipartisan legislation on July 6 to increase the maximum loans available to homeowners recovering from natural disasters.
The Rebuilding Communities After Disasters Act is also sponsored by Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia and Republican Reps. Maria Salazar of Florida, Dan Crenshaw of Texas and Garret Graves of Louisiana.
The bill would double the cap on Small Business Administration physical damage disaster loans for home repair Fromm $200,000 to $400,000 and increase the limit on loans to replace household and personal belongings from $40,000 to $75,000. The maximum amounts haven’t been adjusted since 1994, the lawmakers said.
The bill would also require that the SBA market the loans to homeowners in declared disaster areas and report to Congress on the program.
“As wildfires, flooding and other extreme weather events become more frequent, it is critical that our communities have what they need to recover, rebuild and repair,” said Neguse in a statement.
“As our communities continue to face the Herculean challenge of these disasters, we will continue to do all we can to find creative solutions, expand resources and equip Colorado.”
TWEET OF THE WEEK … Lamborn cheered news that the U.S. Space Force has agreed to enter into a partnership with the University of Colorado system in a July 3 tweet.
This academic partnership is great news for @UCCS and @SpaceForceDoD! I appreciate the leadership of Gen. DT Thompson and Mark Kennedy for establishing this academic agreement under the Space Force’s University Partnership Program. #SpaceSaturday https://t.co/ZZbz0nSehe
— Rep. Doug Lamborn (@RepDLamborn) July 3, 2021
Linking to an article in Air Force Magazine announcing the news, Lamborn called the partnership “great news” for the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and the military branch.
“I appreciate the leadership of Gen. DT Thompson and Mark Kennedy for establishing this academic agreement under the Space Force’s University Partnership Program,” Lamborn tweeted, naming Space Force’s vice chief of space operations and the outgoing president of the CU system.
The magazine reported that Thompson said around 10 universities will be part of the program, which is intended to help Space Force recruit personnel with more technical expertise. He said formal agreements should be set up this fall.
Lamborn tagged the tweet #SpaceSaturday, marking it as one in a series of tweets he’s been posting this year to highlight news involving space security and exploration.
