Colorado’s Democratic congressional delegation vowed Saturday to clamp down on President Bush, work for the withdrawal of the United States from Iraq and improve conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
“It’s good to be in the majority and good to be in the Senate where we can put a lock on George Bush,” Sen. Ken Salazar said to state Democrats meeting at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in Denver.
Rep. Mark Udall said that while Democrats are attempting to find ways out of Iraq, they are making sure that troops who serve there are taken care of.
Udall singled out problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as a national embarrassment that must be corrected.
A Washington Post series exposed squalid living conditions for some outpatient soldiers at Walter Reed and bureaucratic problems preventing them from getting the care they need.
“What is happening at Walter Reed hospital is unconscionable, and we are going to take care of that,” Udall said.
The Democrats’ meeting was topped off by the appearance of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who addressed party members at the annual Jefferson Jackson dinner. Pelosi also noted the problems at Walter Reed, characterizing them, along with issues surfacing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as indicative of the Bush administration’s “pattern of neglect.”
She also criticized the president’s handling of the war in Iraq, including the deployment of additional troops to the region. The president’s focus on Iraq, she said, has resulted in the administration ignoring Afghanistan.
“The situation is urgent; the opportunity for success is there, but the president is focused on the wrong war,” she said in her prepared statement.
Throughout the day, it was clear that Democrats were enjoying their success in the November elections and were ready to flex their newfound political muscles.
“It is fun to be a Democrat in Washington right now,” said Rep. Diana DeGette of Denver. “We accomplished more in our first 100 hours than the Republicans did in the last 10 years.”
Rep. Ed Perlmutter, elected to Congress in November, said he was elated to be in Washington, even though he was working harder than he had at any preceding job.
“We changed the way the state is being run; we are going to change the way the nation is going to be run,” Perl mutter said.
Pat Waak, the chairwoman of the state party, was re-elected at the event.
Staff writer Karen Crummy contributed to this report.
