Mark Udall9,563 likes · 386 talking about this
9,563 likes · 386 talking about this
- AboutMark Udall is the senior United States Senator from Colorado. If you are looking for the official source of information about Senator Mark Udall, please visit his homepage at http://markudall.senate.gov/.
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- As a Coloradan who had school-age children during the Columbine shooting and grieved alongside the victims of the Aurora tragedy this past summer, I have been shaken to the core by last week's mass shooting at the Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school. Families across our state have been deeply affected in a profound way, and it is an emotional time for us as a country. It is also a time that we... must come together and have a serious discussion about concrete steps we can take to help prevent mass gun violence from happening ever again.
A number of my colleagues in Congress have proposed ideas already, including banning assault weapons. We all recognize that Colorado and our nation have a long and storied tradition of gun ownership for hunting, outdoor recreation and self-defense. However, I am not convinced that combat weapons are necessarily part of that heritage. There are legitimate questions about the effectiveness of a ban on military-grade weapons, but I believe that a multifaceted approach, including a ban on such weapons, can be crafted that works for Colorado sportsmen, preserves our heritage, and can and will help save lives. But the details matter, and I intend to work with law enforcement, sportsmen and anyone else who agrees that we must respect the Second Amendment while also keeping our children out of harm's way. We simply must do everything we can to ensure these military-grade weapons are never in the hands of those who would turn them against their community.
I believe President Obama's plan to create a wide ranging set of recommendations makes a lot of sense, because no single policy is going to be adequate in preventing gun tragedies in the future. We need comprehensive — not piecemeal — solutions that examine our culture's glorification of violence, the effectiveness of our laws and our ability to enforce those laws. And as a baseline, we should all agree that we must do more to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from obtaining guns, and ensure responsible gun ownership consistent with the Second Amendment. For instance, we can follow Colorado’s example and require background checks for all gun purchases; improve the background check system by reporting state mental health records more completely; and crack down on illegal actions such as straw purchases.
I also believe Gov. Hickenlooper is taking the right approach by seeking to do more to improve background checks and bolster mental health services. The Governor's proposal is a good example of the type of common-sense policies that we need to curb future gun violence, and I plan on doing everything I can to support him in that effort.See More Mark Udall shared a link.
While wildfires are part of life in Colorado, this summer's season was unprecedented in its devastation, costs and scale. But the effects of wildfires linger long after the final embers are extinguished. In Larimer County, damage from the H...igh Park Fire threatens the watershed supplying municipal water to Fort Collins and Greeley with water quality degradation, flood hazard and road washouts. Similarly, Colorado Springs is struggling with serious damage to its watershed including the exposure of a major utility pipe in the aftermath of this summer’s Waldo Canyon Fire.
That's why I fought to secure $125 million in an emergency Senate appropriations bill for watershed remediation – and plan to keep fighting to ensure Colorado’s burn areas are not forgotten. The Emergency Watershed Protection Program would help these communities improve these watersheds, protect critical infrastructure and prevent future catastrophic damage from fires and floods.If we don’t quickly confront the roughly $20 million of watershed damages in Colorado, taxpayers throughout Colorado, not only in Larimer and El Paso, could face hundreds of millions of dollars in ongoing costs to deal with this wildfire damage.
LIKE this post if you agree Congress must help El Paso and Larimer counties. And SHARE this post to get the word out.See More- LikesSee All
- Senator Tom UdallGovernment Official
- Mark WarnerGovernment Official
- Senator Jay RockefellerGovernment Official
- Senator Jon TesterGovernment Official
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Please join me today at 2 p.m. MT / 4 p.m. ET as I join U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu for a live-streamed discussion about the wind Production Tax Credit, renewable energy and our pursuit of an all-of-the-above energy strategy. We need to continue to nurture industries that will create jobs. Tune in to http://energy.gov/live. And submit your questions by tweeting @ENERGY or @MarkUdall using #AskEnergy.
