In the News
The bacteria-tainted apple that probably killed Shirlee Frey traveled hundreds of miles from an orchard to a packinghouse and then to a factory that coated it in caramel. It never came anywhere close to being examined or tested by a food-safety inspector.
Throughout the intensely interesting and harrowing trial of James Holmes, there is one issue that has seemingly disappeared.
How did a man fantasizing of killing people have such easy access to guns and ammunition?
The issue was front and center after the July 20, 2012, massacre in an Aurora movie theater that killed 12 and injured 70.
Politicians, anti-gun advocates and opinion-shapers pounded the topic, outraged once again at the absurdity of American's lax gun laws.
WASHINGTON — By the standards of the modern Congress, Representatives Fred Upton, Republican of Michigan, and Diana DeGette, Democrat of Colorado, have no business writing health care legislation together.
Mr. Upton, the buttoned-up chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, is one of the House Republicans' go-to representatives on dismantling the Affordable Care Act. Ms. DeGette, a member of the Democratic leadership who leans decidedly left of center, counts herself among the central champions of the health care law.
With exquisite timing, House Republicans last week stepped into a public-relations debacle. The House was working to pass an appropriations bill for the Department of the Interior, but the longstanding bipartisan process on spending bills has been shattered, meaning that there would be no Democratic votes for the highly partisan bill. That, in turn, meant that Republican leaders had to corral the vast majority of their own members, including many who reflexively vote against spending bills.
WASHINGTON — Many have lamented the harsh and meaningless debates in Washington. As lawmakers and public servants ourselves, we all too often share in that frustration. That is why we are especially excited to have formed a bipartisan partnership to support innovation in medical research that helps deliver treatments and cures to the patients who need them.
Congresswoman Diana DeGette stood in the workout room Monday at Denver Indian Health and Family Services to announce legislation aimed at curbing the devastating rates of diabetes in communities of color.
"According to Centers for Disease Control nearly half – nearly half – of all minority children born in 2000 will develop diabetes at some point in their lifetime," said DeGette. "These disparities need to be addressed immediately."
Lunch visitors to the Humboldt restaurant today did a double take when they saw former President Clinton dining with Bono.
Among those lucky enough to be there and talk to the pair: Rep. Diana DeGette. The Denver congresswoman was catching up with the head of a nonprofit over lunch when the two celebrities walked in.
Clinton is in town for the Clinton Global Initiative, which started Monday at the Sheraton in downtown Denver. Bono is a singer with U2, which performed at the Pepsi Center Saturday.
The EPA on Wednesday finalized a long-anticipated rule that would ramp up protection against pollution of streams, wetlands and other waterways — winning praise but also igniting opposition.
This Clean Water Rule is meant to clarify federal jurisdiction, particularly in semi-arid western states such as Colorado, where thousands of waterways are seasonal.
The rule announced by EPA administrator Gina McCarthy does not create new permitting requirements, she said, but would give federal officials clear authority to investigate and prosecute polluters in "tributary" waterways.
Congresswoman Diana DeGette has plenty to crow about after the Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved her bill aimed at modernizing the federal government’s approach to biomedical research.
The committee on Thursday voted 51-0 to approve the 21st Century Cures Act, which is aimed at streamlining the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for new drugs.
A year-long bipartisan initiative to speed up the cycle of medical research culminated Tuesday in the filing of a bill called 21st Century Cures Act.
The bill, stripped of its most controversial provisions to accelerate drug approvals, which the FDA and critics had said could compromise patient safety, headed to the House Energy & Commerce Committee for debate and markup Tuesday and Wednesday.