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In 2013, Tea Party-inspired lawmakers shut down the federal government for 16 days. This year, the so-called Freedom Caucus (formerly the Tea Party) played chicken with the funding of the Department of Homeland Security. Most recently, a band of 47 Republicans undermined the president's nuclear negotiations with Iran. They wrote a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to let him know that any deal Iran signs with Obama is at risk of being chucked when he leaves office.

Last December, Friends of Browns Canyon met with White House officials to lobby for national monument status. Last week, the group visited the White House itself – this time in celebration.

Executive director Keith Baker and board president Bill Dvorak met president Barack Obama in the Oval Office on Feb. 24 to recognize the recent designation of Brown Canyon National Monument.

"It's not often that you get to meet the president of the United States," Baker said. "It's a pretty rare thing, so I was excited."

Representatives Diana DeGette (D, Colorado) and Fred Upton (R, Michigan) recently released a "discussion draft" of the 21st Century Cures Act.1 The stated intent of the almost 400-page bipartisan bill is to "accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of 21st century cures." The bill is subdivided into 5 major areas (see below).

Title I: Putting Patients First by Incorporating Their Perspectives Into the Regulatory Process and Addressing Unmet Needs

Title II: Building the Foundation for 21st Century Medicine, Including Helping Young Scientists

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-01) published a BuzzFeed community post to encourage people to get vaccinated. Concern over low vaccination rates has grown in light of a measles outbreak that originated at Disneyland and has spread across the country. Several cases have been confirmed in Colorado.

"With measles spreading, Colorado and the country face an urgent public health problem, and we need to do everything possible to get the word out about vaccinations," said Rep. DeGette.

At the urging of Colorado U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a House committee on Tuesday stressed the need for vaccinations.

DeGette had asked the Committee on Energy and Commerce to hold a meeting on the issue after a measles outbreak centered in California sickened more than 100.

"For the 42 patients for whom vaccination status is known, 34 were unvaccinated and three received partial vaccinations," DeGette co-wrote in a letter to the committee. "Public health officials have emphasized that vaccination is the most important strategy to prevent measles."

Republicans on a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Tuesday used a hearing on the flu season to debunk claims that vaccines are not safe for children as fear continues to grow over the country's measles outbreak.

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) asked four of the country's top infectious disease experts if they believed that parents should have their children vaccinated.

"Definitely," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "To me it's really a slam dunk what the decision should be."

Increased understanding between different communities and races will be the key to healing the racial divide in Denver, a faith-based group agreed Saturday. A collection of community members, pastors, civil rights activists and political figures gathered at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church to discuss ongoing discrimination around the state, tied into larger race issues being played out on a national stage.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) announces today a discussion, Producing "21st Century Cures"—2015 U.S. Legislative Outlook, with U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R - MI), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D - CO), Chief Deputy Whip, to take place on February 9, noon to 1 p.m. at the 17th annual BIO CEO & Investor Conference. The event, to be held in New York City, February 9-10, 2015, is one of the largest investor conferences focused on established and emerging publicly traded and select private biotech companies.