Always Great to Be Home!
Dear Friends,
It was so good to be back in Colorado last week and visit with so many of you! We held four more town halls, spoke with labor leaders and mobile home owners at two round tables, visited with children at the Boulder Public Library, toured local schools and farms, hosted a Women's History Month luncheon, and visited The Academy in Boulder for our third "Senior Saturday." It was quite a whirlwind!
10 TOWN HALLS AND COUNTING
Since taking office, I have held 10 town halls across the district. These discussions are so important to keep me informed about your concerns and questions and to update you on what has been going on in Washington. This past week, I met with constituents at town halls in Nederland, Superior, Fort Collins and Boulder. Many of you shared your concerns about the growing student debt crisis, how we address the existential threat of climate change and the work that urgently needs to begin to make our communities more sustainable for this effort. We also spoke about the importance of bipartisanship and working across the aisle, something that I believe is essential to our work in Washington.
OUR FIRST COMMUNITY SERVICE TOWN HALL
In Boulder, we launched a new initiative, a first-of-its-kind community service town hall at Bridge House. I've always wanted to make town halls a service activity. As we gather together to discuss policy and advocacy in our communities, it is so important to also put our energy and activism to work by serving others in our community. Saturday's town hall was our first community service event, and we plan to hold many more in the future!
For more information about upcoming town halls, follow along with our Facebook page. We post each event as soon as they are scheduled.
A VISIT TO BOULDER PUBLIC LIBRARY STORY TIME
On Monday, I was able to make a special visit to Boulder Public Library story time. I read books that pointed towards ways we can create a better world, shared the story of Martin Luther King Jr., sang songs and was even joined by a special guest: my daughter Natalie!
This week, as we celebrate Public Schools Week, I am reminded of the hard work of all of our parents and educators who serve our young people, and the importance of equipping our students with the resources they need at every level of their education. As a product of Colorado public schools myself and the father of a future public school student, I understand the importance of investing fully in our public school system and ensuring that every child regardless of zip-code, ability, race or language can access a quality education through our public schools, from those in early childhood programs like those I met at the library to those trying to afford a quality college education.
CELEBRATING WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
We also celebrated Women's History Month with a luncheon at the studio of Loveland Mayor Jacki Marsh. It was incredibly inspiring to have Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold as our keynote speaker and to be joined by many female leaders from Larimer County. We also were able to speak about the '"Every Word We Utter" statue, crafted by local artist Jane DeDecker. One of my first bills in Congress was legislation that would authorize this statue to be placed in D.C. as a national monument to celebrate the women's suffrage movement.
Today, I am back in Washington (and already missing the Colorado mountains.) We are preparing for a mark-up of the Equality Act in the House Judiciary Committee and before Natural Resources, I am preparing for an exciting hearing on legislation introduced by myself and Senator Michael Bennet—the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act—which will preserve approximately 400,000 acres of public land across our state. Also this week, we will hold our first meeting for the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, and I will join a few of my colleague to introduce legislation to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education (IDEA) Act. There is a lot of work to be done and I will be sure to send more updates next week!
Best,
Congressman Joe Neguse