Diana DeGette
Last week, the House acted to pass a strong, bipartisan budget agreement. This agreement, which the Senate is expected to pass this week, will advance our country’s interests. It will also ensure we avoid another government shutdown.
In addition to funding our government, we continued our work to protect immigrants. Last week, I again visited the ICE detention facility in Aurora, Colorado. What I saw is unacceptable. 48 women were crammed into what looked like a crowded gym. One of the women I spoke to told me that she had been there for a year and a half. That’s absurd.
These private, for-profit detention centers were never meant to house people for long periods of time. In fact, I don’t think we should have private detention facilities at all in the U.S. In Aurora last week, I again called for them to be shut down.
To ensure our government is providing the thousands of immigrants in its custody with the care and respect they deserve, the House last week passed a bill I sponsored to set strict new standards of care that these facilities must adhere to.
We also continued work to better protect our environment – including our nation’s water supply. I introduced legislation last week to close a notorious loophole in the law that has prevented the federal government from regulating fracking companies.
Some of the chemicals that these companies are pumping into the ground are highly toxic and could cause real harm to people’s health if they get into our water supply. My bill would close the so-called Halliburton loophole that has blocked the EPA from regulating this controversial drilling technique – and finally give the agency charged with protecting our environment the authority it needs to do its job.
Finally, as I’m sure you know, Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress last week.
Throughout his testimony, Mueller made clear that his report does not exonerate the president and I believe it’s beyond time for Congress to act. We need to launch an impeachment inquiry and we need to do so now.
If you haven’t RSVP’d already, I wanted to remind you that I am holding a community forum on Saturday, August 3, from 12:00 pm-1:30 pm at the Washington Street Community Center located at 809 S Washington Street in Denver.
If you’re available, I hope you will join us for this event. You can RSVP at: https://iqconnect.lmhostediq.com/iqextranet/EForm.aspx?__cid=CO01DD&__fid=100045.
And as always, if you have any questions, or need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to contact my office at 303-844-4988, or visit my website at https://degette.house.gov where you can learn more about the some of the issues that are most important to our community, and all of the different ways that my staff is available to assist you.
Diana DeGette is a Congresswoman representing Colorado’s District 1.
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