Representatives Salazar and Markey continue valiant efforts

Our US Representatives Salazar and Markey support Colorado legislation authored by Colorado State Representatives Sal Pace, Wes McKinley and Senator Ken Kester.

All are looking out for the interests of their constituents and for agriculture.


Here is the text of the letter to Governor Ritter:

The Honorable Bill Ritter, Jr.
136 State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203-1792

Dear Governor Ritter:

We write today to urge your signature into law of HB09-1317 which would prevent the Colorado State Land Board from selling any of its land around Piñon Canyon to the Army.

We write not only as the elected congressional representatives of the Piñon Canyon region, but also as concerned constituents of Colorado.

No one involved in this ongoing debate wishes to stand in the way of providing our armed forces and our men and women in uniform with the tools and facilities necessary to perform their duties. Nor is the struggle surrounding the Piñon Canyon area about “beating the Army.”

Quite the contrary, we believe that in a democracy, elected representatives must always weigh the needs of the government with the rights of private citizens. We also believe that when an action taken by the government will have substantial negative impact on a particular community, especially a community that has traditionally been overlooked and underrepresented, that we must take special care to prevent overreaching by politicians.

We understand that you recently received a letter from former Representative Scott McInnis urging you to veto HB09-1317. We take particular issue with several assertions that Mr. McInnis stated in his correspondence.

First, Mr. McInnis stated that the legislation would be “used as a tool to preclude any effort to reach a compromise by either party on this issue.” Both of us stand firmly with the landowners of Southeastern Colorado on this issue and have stated that position publically on numerous occasions. We continue to believe that there are other alternatives to the Army’s proposed expansion in the Piñon Canyon region that have not been adequately explored. Signing HB09-1317 will not change the efforts we are going to pursue on behalf of our constituents in Congress or significantly alter the political situation in Congress.

We do believe though that the people of Colorado have spoken through their elected representatives in the State House in opposing expansion in Piñon Canyon by passing HB09-1317 and the bill should be signed for those reasons.

Second, Mr. McInnis made the assertion in a follow up interview with the Pueblo Chieftain on May 7, 2009 that Army expansion into Piñon Canyon would mean significant economic development in Fort Carson and Colorado Springs. While we don’t want to stand in the way of economic development in any part of the state, we object to the idea that economic benefit for one area of the state should come at the expense of significant economic hardship for another area of the state.

Southeastern Colorado might not have the votes that the Fort Carson and Colorado Springs area has but we believe that their interests are just as important.

Finally, we believe that all due consideration should be given to the fact that the Army made a promise to the residents of Piñon Canyon in 1983 to seek no additional land. As elected representatives to Congress, we take that pledge very seriously and believe it is within the scope of our duties to make sure that promise is upheld.

The issue of the Army’s expansion into Piñon Canyon should not be used a political weapon. These are people’s lives and livelihoods at stake. HB09-1317 was debated and passed by the Colorado legislature. It should be signed into law.

We respectfully urge you to do just that as quickly as possible.

Sincerely,

Congresswoman Betsy Markey

Congressman John Salazar