In the News
This month, millions of talented students will graduate during the nation's biggest challenge since the Great Depression. In the last eight weeks, over 36 million Americans have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. At the same time, health care systems across the nation are struggling under a once-in-a-century pandemic that has claimed over 86,000 lives.
Harmful Trump administration policies, like the global gag rule—a U.S. policy that blocks U.S. federal funding for organizations that provide abortion counseling or referrals—have stood as obstacles preventing the delivery of reproductive care.
Now, in the throes of a pandemic, the coronavirus has only made access to and the availability of sexual and reproductive health care more difficult worldwide.
"I was a little offended when President Trump said Congress was on vacation," Congresswoman Diana DeGette said in a recent interview with The Denver North Star. DeGette, who represents Denver, said she wants constituents to know that congressional offices are working and available, even though most staff are working from home.
House Democrats have fired the opening salvo in what could be a long and contentious battle over the next coronavirus relief effort.
The $3 trillion, 1,815-page coronavirus relief package unveiled Tuesday called the HEROES Act has little chance of passing the Republican-controlled Senate. But it gives the party a chance to set out its priorities. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said "we must think big for the people, now, because if we don't it will cost more in lives and livelihood later. Not acting is the most expensive course."
It hardly feels like campaign season with no rallies and debates. While most of the country has slowed down, Coloradans are more politically engaged than ever.
Congresswoman Diana DeGette, who's served for more than 20 years, says she's never seen so many emails, letters and calls.
"It has been overwhelming."
She says before COVID-19, her town halls averaged 250 people. Now, her telephone town halls draw 8,000.
Colorado Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette and Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton have been working on updating the 21st Century Cures Act since the fall. But with the country facing an unprecedented public health crisis, the bipartisan duo is hoping some elements of their upcoming bill are included in the next relief package Congress passes.
"We realized a number of the things we wanted to do could help us right now with the research that we're doing on COVID-19," DeGette said.
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette released her blueprint for a "Cures 2.0" bill, an update to the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 that would address clinical trials, modernization of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, and pandemic preparedness in the future.
"We've seen a record number of new drugs approved, including new generics, which have helped lower health care costs for millions of Americans. And we're on the cusp of finding a cure for sickle cell," said DeGette and her co-sponsor Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich. "But despite these successes, there's still much more work to be done."
The HHS would have to develop a national strategy for beefing up the nation's ability to spot and test for Covid-19 as well as future outbreaks, under a proposal from two lawmakers looking to follow up on their landmark biomedical innovation law.
Second to eliminating the coronavirus altogether, one of the most important things we, as a nation, can do to improve the public health during this unprecedented pandemic is improve air quality.
Nearly a million Americans have now tested positive for coronavirus – a respiratory disease that is wreaking havoc on the lungs of those infected.
But that's not all. Early evidence suggests that people with damaged lungs may be more vulnerable to the disease. Doctors also fear that coronavirus may have long-term negative impacts on our lungs.
Donning masks and voting in small groups to avoid close contact, most members of Colorado's congressional delegation voted Thursday to approve a nearly half-trillion-dollar bill in response to the coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn.
The bill was approved in the U.S. House by a vote of 388-5, with one "present" vote. Within the Colorado delegation, all four Democrats voted in favor, along with two Republicans. Rep. Ken Buck was the lone Coloradan to vote nay on the bill.