We need to protect our kids
Dear Friend,
The American people should be outraged with the U.S. Senate's decision this week to turn a blind-eye to President Trump's misconduct. None of us came to Congress to impeach a president, but every one of us – when we got here – took an oath to defend our Constitution above all else.
The evidence showed that President Trump abused the power of his office, obstructed Congress, put our national security at risk and should be removed from office. But, instead of holding the president accountable, Senate Republicans chose to put party politics above the good of the country.
While many of us in the House are clearly frustrated with the Senate's decision, we have not let it deter us from continuing the other important work we are doing to help the American people – including our efforts to protect our young people from the dangers of vaping.
With the number of teens vaping across the country continuing to rise, no state has a higher percentage than right here in Colorado. On Monday, I met with a group of students at South High School in Denver to discuss this vaping epidemic and they told me the problem is actually much worse than recent government studies show.
Hearing these young people talk about this issue and tell me that more than half of their classmates are using these dangerous products was deeply concerning. And it only spurred me further to confront the companies that make these products.
As chair of the House oversight panel that oversees the nation's health care industry, I convened a hearing Wednesday with CEOs and senior executives of the nation's five largest makers of e-cigarettes. I wanted to know what they were doing to market their products, how these products were harming people's health and what they were going to do to help end the epidemic.
These companies are making billions of dollars by luring our kids into a lifetime of nicotine addiction. And at this week's hearing, I made clear that we're not going to sit idly by and allow that to continue. As Colorado Public Radio wrote in an article afterward, the hearing "echoed the iconic tobacco hearings of the 90s." If you missed it, you can watch my questioning of these executives below:
As we look ahead to next week, I wanted to share with you some exciting news on our ongoing effort to protect more of our nation's public lands.
On Monday, I will be meeting with the House Rules Committee to discuss the need to bring a massive new wilderness-protection bill I sponsored to the House floor for a vote next week.
This new bill will permanently protect over 1.3 million acres of public land in Colorado, California and Washington – including 600,000 acres here in Colorado.
It will be the largest wilderness-protection package Congress has considered in more than a decade – and would be a huge win not only for our state's environment but also for our economy as well.
If you're interested, you can visit our website to learn more about our Colorado Wilderness Act. Or you can watch this video on why I believe this legislation is so important to our state:
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 you can visit my website at DeGette.house.gov to learn more about all of the different ways that my staff and I are available to assist you.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Sincerely,
Diana DeGette
Member of Congress