Over the summer, the Inflation Reduction Act became law. Should Coloradans support this law? Why or why not?
I supported passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, and join many Coloradans who are excited about the impact the legislation will have on our state. As the only member of the House Climate Crisis Committee from the Rocky Mountain region, I was proud to help shape the bill, which is the most significant investment in climate action in history. The bill invests resources for clean energy production in our state, wildfire response and recovery, drought resiliency, and scientific research at Colorado’s renowned laboratories. From reducing the costs of prescription drugs to supporting domestic manufacturing, I believe the legislation will benefit Coloradans for years to come.
What is something unique you bring to the Congress?
As a son of immigrants, I’ve seen powerful proof of the American dream at work. Over 40 years ago, my parents immigrated from East Africa, and because of the incredible freedoms and opportunities the United States gave our family, we’ve been able to live the American dream. It has been the honor of my life to serve our community in Congress and work to ensure that that dream remains attainable for all Coloradans. And as an attorney, former state cabinet official, and civic leader, I’ll continue to utilize my public-policy experience to advance Colorado’s priorities in Congress.
If your party holds the majority in your chamber next session, what should be its top priority?
I believe the House’s top priorities should be focused on addressing the consequential challenges facing our state and country — tackling the threat of climate change and the consequences of the same (including through wildfire mitigation and drought resiliency), keeping our community safe, protecting our public lands, supporting small business growth and innovation, and lowering costs for Colorado families. As a vice chair of the House Gun-Violence Prevention Task Force, I believe we also must do more to keep our communities safe by enacting common-sense gun violence prevention measures. And there is likewise much more we must do to lower costs for working families, including reducing prescription drug prices.
What, if any, action should Congress take on abortion?
I disagree with the Supreme Courtap recent decision in Dobbs, which departed from nearly 50 years of legal precedent. I believe the Congress should pass legislation to codify Roe v. Wade — which the House did earlier this year — and ensure that women’s fundamental right to make reproductive health decisions is protected under federal law.
The chambers may be split between Republican and Democrat control next session. Where do you see actionable, common ground with the opposing party?
I’ve long believed it is critical for us to work collaboratively and find common ground. As the founder of the Bipartisan Wildfire Caucus, and through our nationally recognized “Service Town-Halls,” I’ve worked to bring together folks from across the political spectrum to build consensus. I’m proud to have been recognized as the most bipartisan member of Colorado’s delegation multiple times, evidenced by my legislative record of having 18 bills — each bipartisan —signed into law, by presidents of both political parties. And I believe there are a myriad of issues, from wildfire mitigation to infrastructure investments, on which we can find common ground.
What is the biggest threat facing the integrity of our elections?
As one of the lawmakers selected by the Speaker of the House to lead the electoral college certification proceedings, and as a House Manager during the impeachment trial that followed, I remain deeply concerned about efforts to undermine and subvert our elections, the rule of law, and the peaceful transfer of power. I believe we must advance legislative efforts to protect our republic, including reforms to the Electoral Count Act, and will continue to do so.
Over the summer, the Inflation Reduction Act became law. Should Coloradans support this law? Why or why not?
Naming this law the Inflation Reduction Act was dishonest. Raising taxes and increasing spending won’t reduce inflation but instead will make costs rise. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the new law will take $20B from the pockets of lower and middle income families. No, Coloradans should not support such a harmful piece of legislation.
What is something unique you bring to the Congress?
I have private sector experience of developing solutions to challenging problems, both in large corporate environments and in small business. Having grown up on a farm, and understanding rural concerns, I am the better choice to represent both the Front Range and the Western Slope areas of CD2.
If your party holds the majority in your chamber next session, what should be its top priority?
We’ll face many priorities but here are two we can address if we have the political will.
Until Congress gets serious about developing a budget and prioritizing spending decisions, we will continue seeing harmful economic effects caused by government. Congress needs to exhibit some discipline in budgeting, the same way all Americans must.
Furthermore, Congress should retake its full authority as a legislating body and reduce the amount of rulemaking abdicated to the executive branch. Elected representatives must be willing to stand for or against the policies affecting their constituents and not defer blame to bureaucrats. Government exists to protect individual rights; not to micromanage citizens and not to coerce personal decisions as we’ve seen from the Biden administration.
What, if any, action should Congress take on abortion?
Roe v. Wade bitterly divided this country for nearly 50 years. … The Dobbs decision allows the U.S. to have 50 conversations within the states, and hopefully that allows us to conclude when life begins and to assign a value to that life. In my own conversations, it seems that many Coloradans aren’t aware that our abortion laws are some of the world’s most extreme. But no, Congress should take no action on abortion. It is best left to the states to decide.
The chambers may be split between Republican and Democrat control next session. Where do you see actionable, common ground with the opposing party?
All of Colorado’s members of Congress should aim to serve on the Natural Resources Committee; thankfully, most Coloradans are aligned on the need to protect both our public lands and water rights. There are solutions to problems that both parties should support.
I am also hopeful we can set aside political gamesmanship and solve pressing problems affecting so many Americans, like the fentanyl overdose crisis and school safety.
What is the biggest threat facing the integrity of our elections?
Elections must never be centralized. Any Congressional efforts to nationalize elections will disenfranchise Coloradans and foster deeper divisions.
More locally, transparency is a key ingredient for confidence in election integrity. We should vote for secretaries of state and county clerks who advocate for, and fully support, bi-partisan election judge teams and poll watchers. And, concerns of fairness, illegalities, and accuracy need to be addressed directly and openly.
Finally, in the spirit of confidence and transparency, I make this pledge. Should my opponent demand an audit or manual recount, I will fully support his request both verbally and monetarily if necessary.
Over the summer, the Inflation Reduction Act became law. Should Coloradans support this law? Why or why not?
No. This law is not about reducing inflation. It was purposely misnamed and 87,000 new IRS agents do not reduce inflation. Do we need some more agents? Sure, maybe 5,000. Let’s increase the number each year by a modest amount and see how they do before committing to a huge increase. The spending on climate change in this bill is misguided because it doesn’t directly increase the amount of renewable energy or improve the electric grid. Hiring people to monitor environmental justice doesn’t actually fix any problems, it’s just a political game.
What is something unique you bring to the Congress?
As a member of the Colorado Center Party I will not be coerced by the corrupt leadership of the two major parties. As a former computer chip engineer, I understand the needs of this critical employment to our economy and national security. It also gives me the analytical background to understand the increasingly complex nature of the challenges facing Congress.
If your party holds the majority in your chamber next session, what should be its top priority?
Since I am not a member of one of the major parties I can’t be in the majority, but the election is expected to result in a very small majority in Congress for whoever wins, making my swing vote very critical for both sides. Addressing inflation should be the top priority for Congress, which must use fiscal policy restraint to bring down the deficit which will in turn cause the Federal Reserve to stop its destructive path of interest rate hikes.
What, if any, action should Congress take on abortion?
Congress should pass legislation to protect women’s reproductive rights, although this may be limited constitutionally. At a minimum Congress must stop any states that seek to interfere with women crossing state lines to seek reproductive health options.
The chambers may be split between Republican and Democrat control next session. Where do you see actionable, common ground with the opposing party?
Legislation affecting crime and the funding of police should be bipartisan. Some stop-gap measure to relieve the immediate border crisis might receive bipartisan support although a comprehensive solution is not likely because both sides like to use the border crisis as political football.
What is the biggest threat facing the integrity of our elections?
Our state level election systems have been shown to count the votes accurately. Ballot harvesting is a potential physical threat to the casting of ballots that individuals did not intend to cast. Bigger than that is the media outlets on both sides that filter out real news to serve their own bias, of which the biggest example is the squashing of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal which was proven to be true.
Efforts to contact Gary L. Nation and Tim Wolf were unsuccessful.
