In 2024, a pipeline ruptured just outside of Durango, releasing at least 97,000 gallons of gasoline. That’s 2,300 barrels!

The spill seeped into groundwater and wells nearby – posing a serious public health risk to everyone who lives here.

The standard for an accident like this should be “zero.”

But the immediate focus has been on resolving the ongoing threat.

We met with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, local, state, and federal officials and heard how the cleanup efforts – led by Enterprise Products, the company responsible for the spill – were going. We also heard about the damage already done to local water resources.

Here’s the bottom line: the cleanup must stay ahead of the spread and this should never happen again.

We’ll keep supporting the Tribe and these communities and pushing for accountability to protect public health and the environment.

While in the Southwest, we also stopped by Agile Space Industries, one of Colorado’s incredible space companies, to check out their expanded facility and celebrate their growing footprint in Durango.

Later, we went to the opening ceremony of the Durango Powerhouse’s brand new WonderLab Early Learning Childcare Center. We highlighted the importance of funding childcare in Colorado at a time when slots are at a premium.

We also met with the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council (UMUT) to hear about the Tribe’s priorities, including their water infrastructure projects, law enforcement needs, and the recently terminated Bears Ears Commission. They gave us an update on how the federal funding we secured for multiple UMUT projects is helping their community as well.

Next, we convened water managers, county commissioners, farmers, and other experts at the McPhee Reservoir outside Dolores and Cortez to discuss how the extreme drought is affecting the surrounding community.

McPhee has dropped an additional 15 feet in one year and now stands at 42% capacity. That’s 65 feet below the reservoir’s capacity!

Unfortunately, it’s just one extreme example of the impact this record 1,200-year drought is having on everyone in the West.

On Friday, we made it over to Ouray to highlight federal funding we secured to reduce wildfire risk. West Region Wildfire Council will use the funding to remove dead wood, brush, and dense trees to improve forest health and help keep the City of Ouray safe.

Ouray County officials also showed us the damage from the Gold Mountain Fire and subsequent flooding and debris flows. We’re continuing to push for federal relief to help the community recover from these disasters.

We wrapped up our Southwest stops by meeting with local business owners and leaders to discuss how the warmer winter, which forced them to cancel their Ouray Ice Festival, and the Gold Mountain Fire has impacted their business. But, their doors are still open and they’re ready for people to come up to enjoy this beautiful part of our state!

Thank you to everyone who came out to meet with us and say hello. Thank you to everyone who came out to meet with us and say hello. We’re committed to lowering costs, protecting Coloradans’ public health, helping families rebuild after natural disasters, and fighting climate change, which is making droughts and wildfires so much worse.

More to come!

And so far, Colorado has been one of his top targets.

Since my first day in office, President Trump’s agenda has been to punish our state.

Among other things, President Trump has announced the relocation of Space Command from its rightful home in Colorado Springs to Alabama. He has denied disaster assistance to Colorado communities, vetoed a bipartisan bill to bring clean drinking water to 50,000 Coloradans, and frozen funding for child care, food assistance, and other services for vulnerable families. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

We’ve all speculated that these moves weren’t purely coincidental. Now we have proof.

Earlier this month, a court document revealed that the White House coordinated all of this political retribution against Coloradans.

I’ve called for an investigation into the administration’s targeting of our state. Because you deserve answers and our country needs to know how federal resources were manipulated to punish innocent Coloradans.

Political retaliation isn’t the only way President Trump is hurting Colorado. His policies are hitting Coloradans right in their pocketbooks.

Wherever we travel across the state, we hear the same things: Groceries are too expensive. Rent is sky high. Health insurance premiums are through the roof. Families are working hard, doing everything right, and still feel like they’re drowning.

While the White House is busy focusing on ballrooms, bombs, and billionaires, Colorado families have watched their bills soar. The Joint Economic Committee Minority estimates the average Colorado household has paid $3,700 more since President Trump returned to office.

Reversing this damage won’t be easy. But we’re fighting back with everything we have to stand up for Colorado. We’ve fought back against this administration’s efforts to waste your taxpayer dollars, sell off our public lands, and reward election criminals like Tina Peters who break the law.

Coloradans want their elected leaders to focus on lowering prices and runaway healthcare costs. Instead, this White House continues to fixate on everything except your needs.

Enough is enough.

You shouldn’t bear the burden of this administration’s petty grievances and failed policies.

You can read more about my thoughts in our Denver Post op-ed. But here’s the bottom line: No matter what this administration throws at Colorado next, we won’t stop fighting for transparency, accountability, and lower costs for working families.

We stopped in Golden and in Blackhawk to meet with emergency responders and hear about how they’re responding to the increasing threats of wildfire. Our emergency service officials highlighted how they’re using innovative ways to keep our communities safe in the face of a historic drought and devastating wildfire season.

Next, we stopped in Frisco to talk about the impacts of Trump’s cruel immigration agenda on our communities. We heard stories about the terror families and businesses felt during ICE raids and about the death of a Summit County resident in ICE detention. Employees were taken away. People were scared to come to work. Businesses shuttered out of fear.

We also sat down with outdoor recreation leaders and local elected officials in Beaver Creek to highlight the impact of the extreme drought and wildfires. Small businesses, workers, and the entire community were already feeling the pinch after this winter’s poor snow conditions tanked their winter tourism. Now, low-water levels and wildfires have exacerbated the pain.

Addressing climate change isn’t just about saving our climate, it’s about protecting these mountain towns and their way of life.

In Edwards, we toured Vail Health’s Edwards Community Health Campus and Precourt Healing Center to check out how the more than $2 million in federal funding we secured is helping them support the community. Afterwards, we sat down with regional healthcare leaders to discuss how the community is struggling after MAGA’s One Big Ugly Betrayal Act ripped a trillion dollars out of the healthcare system.

In Eagle, Latino small business leaders highlighted how they’re surviving the cost-of-living emergency caused by Trump’s reckless tariffs, illegal war with Iran, and healthcare cuts. We also discussed how the president’s extreme immigration agenda has spread fear in their community and disrupted their business.

The best part of my job is getting to meet Coloradans across the state. Yet, more and more often, we’re hearing that people can’t keep up with what’s become a cost-of-living emergency.

People are beyond frustrated that each time they read the news, they don’t see this administration helping. Instead, they’re seeing this administration drag us deeper into an unwanted war, kick back more favors to the president’s Epstein class buddies, and reject federal disaster relief for communities trying to rebuild their lives.

Coloradans deserve so much better. We’re a state filled with resilient communities that come together in the face of extreme threats – like wildfires, drought, and economic hardship.

We’ve gotten through the worst hard times. We’ll get through this as well.

We’ll take the stories we heard this week back to Washington to help lower costs, secure federal relief for Coloradans, and stop the corruption.

We’ve seen their agents terrorize our communities and kill people in the streets.

Now, Colorado public health officials are being stonewalled as they investigate a positive tuberculosis (TB) case and potential spread.

In June, the Adams County Health Department was notified of a suspected case of TB at the Aurora ICE facility, triggering a routine investigation. However, GEO Group, which operates the Aurora facility for ICE, has since refused to let Colorado’s public health officials fully investigate the case and the possible spread.

On Monday, we visited the ICE detention facility in Aurora to press for answers. What we saw was really disturbing.

We asked important questions about the confirmed case of tuberculosis – and other potential cases.

They rebuffed us.

Just like they’ve been ignoring Colorado public health officials who have been pressing for answers, too.

Ahead of the visit, we met with those public health officials from Adams County and the state. They emphasized that what they’re asking for is standard. In fact, none of them had ever heard of an entity in Colorado refusing to work with public health officials to address a potential spread of an infectious disease.

Never – until ICE and GEO blocked them out.

Public health officials are asking for information to keep Coloradans safe. Yet, GEO and ICE have ignored orders from both Adams County and now the state.

That’s totally unacceptable. We’ve never seen such a disregard for public health.

This week, after GEO refused to comply, Colorado filed a lawsuit against them. We applauded the lawsuit and will continue pressing GEO and ICE to come clean.

All of this is just another example of the enormous costs President Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda is imposing on Colorado.

The latest estimates show Colorado taxpayers are paying $5.4 billion for the administration’s detention and deportation efforts. That’s about $2,400 per taxpayer.

Think about what that money could do for Colorado families: provide healthcare, put food on the table, pay rent, or make child care more affordable.

And, that’s on top of the rising gas prices from Trump’s war in Iran and higher health care costs driven by his cuts to fund tax breaks for billionaires. None of this makes sense. American families are getting crushed by this president’s extreme agenda.

We need an immigration system built on decency and the rule of law – not one that wastes taxpayer dollars and jeopardizes public safety.

We’ll keep demanding answers and fighting to hold ICE and GEO accountable.

“It’s just for a few years,” I promised my mother back home in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Welp, it turns out a few years became a lifetime!

I fell in love with Colorado almost immediately, with its history, its people, and its charm. We still think it’s the most beautiful state in the country, no matter the season. But there’s something particularly special about Colorado in the summertime.

The days are long, the nights are cool, and there’s no shortage of reasons to get outside. So, whether you’re lucky enough to call this place home or you’re just visiting, here are a few of our favorite ways to enjoy a Colorado summer.

Get Outside

Sometimes the best thing you can do is simply go for a hike or walk.

Between 43 state parks, 13 national parks and monuments, and 39,000 miles of hiking trails, Colorado gives us plenty of great places to do it.

If you’re looking for a more casual walk, two of our favorites are the Riverwalk in Pueblo and the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. There’s no better way to appreciate this state than getting outside and exploring it on foot.

Listen To Live Music

There’s something magical about live music under the stars, and Colorado has some of the best venues around.

We’re lucky to have Red Rocks, the greatest natural music venue in the world, right in our backyard. Another one of our favorites is the Mishawaka, or “The Mish,” along the Poudre River outside Fort Collins.

This May, my friend Ketch Secor invited me up there to perform with Old Crow Medicine Show. My banjo skills were a little rusty, but The Mish certainly wasn’t.

Onstage at The Mish with Old Crow Medicine Show, trying not to ruin Ketch Secor’s beautiful rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.”

Soak in the Hot Springs

As a former geologist, I have a particular affinity for Colorado’s natural hot springs.

These geological wonders are one of the great perks of living in a state shaped by mountains, volcanoes, and millions of years of geological activity. From Glenwood Springs to Salida to Steamboat Springs, there are plenty of places to spend the day soaking in the incredible scenery.

Taste Colorado

My days tending bar at the Wynkoop in Denver are long behind me, but we still love visiting breweries across the state.

Colorado’s craft beer scene has become part of our culture, and some of the most interesting places aren’t necessarily the most well known. The Post Brewing Company in Lafayette, for example, transformed an old VFW building into a gathering place where you can enjoy good Colorado beer and a good meal. We also recently visited Down Valley Brewing in New Castle and loved how they converted a 1950s Texaco gas station into a uniquely cool space.

Colorado’s food scene is also unmatched. Palisade peaches (the annual Peach Festival is coming up later this month). Olathe sweet corn. Rocky Ford cantaloupe. Farmers markets, roadside stands, and restaurants serving locally grown food.

One of the places we can’t wait to visit again soon is Maria Empanada. We recently got to spend time with their founder Lorena Cantarovici in D.C., where we talked about her journey starting a business as an immigrant.

Check out my conversation with Lorena here.

Summer is the perfect excuse to get out and taste everything that Colorado has to offer.

Ride the Rails

My three-year-old son, Jack, likes trains. Luckily for him, and for me, Colorado has some spectacular ones.

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad carries passengers 64 miles through a landscape with two billion years of geological history, from ancient volcanic fields to glacial deposits. Then there’s the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which offers an unforgettable trip through some of the most beautiful scenery in the country, the Rocky Mountains.

You can tell yourself, “It’s for the kids.” But we all know the adults have just as much fun, if not more.

Go Explore

There you have it, a few of our favorite ways to spend summer in Colorado. But the truth is, wherever you wander, you really can’t go wrong.

Pick a place you haven’t visited. Take a walk. Enjoy some live music. Eat some good food. Between the brutal winter and wildfires, local businesses that depend on tourism have had a rough stretch. We need to show up for them.

So get outside. Explore somewhere new. And support our communities along the way.

This August, we have plans to visit the I-70 Mountain Corridor, southwestern Colorado, and the Eastern Plains.

We hope to see you out there!

The Attorney General (AG) is one of the most important positions in our government. Not only does the Attorney General serve as a trusted member of the president’s Cabinet, but he or she also leads the Department of Justice – the agency responsible for enforcing our laws impartially.

That’s a difficult job in any administration. Under this president – who values obedience above all else – it may very well be impossible.

During his confirmation hearing, Mr. Blanche was asked about his relationship with President Trump. He responded, “I’m his lawyer,” before quickly correcting himself to say he previously was his lawyer.

That wasn’t a slip. It was a tell.

Mr. Blanche will not be an impartial check on the president.

And here’s another tell.

For months, Mr. Blanche has insisted the Department of Justice slush fund is dead. Yet as recently as this weekend, President Trump was saying the exact opposite. He defended the fund.

So when Mr. Blanche says the slush fund isn’t moving forward, don’t believe him. Not for one second.

His word is worth about as much as the Trump Meme Coin.

During reconciliation, we introduced an amendment to permanently end the Department of Justice slush fund. Despite bipartisan support, it ultimately failed. That means taxpayers could still be on the hook for people who attacked our democracy.

At a time when working families are struggling with rising costs, the last people the federal government should subsidize are those who assault our elections. People like election criminal Tina Peters, who tried to undermine Colorado’s free and fair elections. People like the January 6 rioters, who stormed this very chamber in an attempt to tear apart our democracy.

The DOJ slush fund isn’t dead. It’s dormant.

Until Congress permanently closes this avenue through legislation, we shouldn’t rely on assurances alone. The Department of Justice released a letter promising to end the slush fund. But that isn’t law. It isn’t binding. And it isn’t enough.

To be clear, we don’t believe Mr. Blanche will break all of his promises.

When he says behind closed doors that he wants the Dobbs v. Jackson decision to become, in his words, “permanent in every state,” we should believe him. Whether it’s abortion access or access to the ballot box, we should have little confidence that he will not target Colorado—or other blue states—because that’s exactly what his boss wants.

We cannot allow a fox to guard the henhouse. This Saturday, Republicans did just that.

We need to keep pushing to stop the administration’s lawlessness and restore the public’s trust in the Department of Justice.

Nearly one million Coloradans rely on Medicare. Yet too many still struggle to afford the prescriptions they need. Nearly one in four seniors have trouble paying for their medications, and 7% skip or ration them because of the cost.

We live in the wealthiest country in the world. Our seniors shouldn’t be forced to ration their medications or choose between their prescriptions and making ends meet.

That’s why in 2022, we created a program that would cap how much prescription drug costs could increase to help seniors better afford their prescriptions. In that same law, we also capped the price of insulin at $35 a month for seniors.

Yet, just last week, the Trump administration announced it would end our program that lowers the cost of prescription drugs. They’ll force about half of the Americans who depend on the program to pay more for their meds.

Trump’s latest decision is beyond frustrating.

It isn’t an isolated decision either. It is the latest in a long series of disastrous decisions by the president that are increasing the cost of healthcare for everyone, including our seniors and children.

Last year, they gutted the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid all to help pay for lavish tax cuts for billionaires. As a result, tens of millions of Americans will be forced to pay more for their health insurance. Millions more are set to lose their insurance altogether.

These aren’t just numbers on a page. These are parents who are now deciding what they have to sacrifice to keep their kids’ insurance. They’re small business owners struggling to afford health coverage for themselves or their employees. They’re our friends and our family members.

Earlier this year, I met TJ who started his own businesses and has relied on the ACA tax credits to afford his healthcare. After Republicans gutted the ACA, he received a letter notifying him that his insurance would go up from $40 a month to nearly $550 a month!

None of this is what Americans voted for. Many of the people who voted for Trump believed his promises to lower prices.

As a member of the Senate committee overseeing healthcare, I’m going to keep fighting to protect Medicare and lower prescription drug costs so every senior – every American – can get the medicine they need.

President Trump appears to see it differently.

Last summer, one of the largest wildfires in Colorado history tore through Rio Blanco County. President Trump should know this county well because they overwhelmingly voted for him. Now, there are a lot less campaign signs than there were in 2024.

When Colorado filed a disaster declaration to help these people rebuild and prevent future tragedies, the Trump administration denied their request.

These are people who did everything right their whole lives, only to lose it all in a disaster. They paid their taxes, believing that if the worst ever happened, their government would be there for them.

President Trump broke that promise.

Disasters should never be political. This administration has politicized them.

If you’re a Republican living in a blue state, you’d better hope disaster never strikes. Otherwise, relief could come late – or never.

President Trump has approved 80 percent of disaster requests from Republican governors, and closer to 60 percent from Democratic governors. That is not normal. Under prior administrations, the approval rate was roughly the same, no matter how a state voted.

That’s the way it should be. Politics should never decide whether you can rebuild your house after a fire.

But, you don’t need to take our word for it. The Trump admin admitted it themselves. Trump admin officials acknowledged that they terminated federal funding for blue states “solely” because of how those states voted.

The Aspen Acres fire has already destroyed over 300 houses. Colorado is slowly getting that fire under control thanks to the brave firefighters who are working day and night. It is the 7th-largest wildfire in state history, and I’m grateful that FEMA has authorized Fire Management Assistance Grants for that fire – as well as the Gold Mountain Fire and Willow Fire.

The Aspen Acres Fire will likely require a Major Disaster Declaration. If it does, we will push this administration with everything we have to make sure Colorado gets the relief it needs.

We’re also fighting to take politics out of disaster relief. Congress should pass our bipartisan Disaster Declaration Transparency Act. It gives Congress the power to review disaster relief denials driven by politics.

In the meantime, it’s important that every single Coloradan do their part to help reduce wildfire risks: follow local restrictions, practice campfire safety, and create defensible space around your property.

On a recent trip to Beulah, I saw firsthand the devastation that wildfires leave behind. Block after block, all that remained was heavy smoke and heartbreak.

Bedrooms where parents tucked their children in at night had been reduced to ashes. Dining rooms where families once gathered were barely recognizable.

Drought and wildfires aren’t going away. Unless we act, they’ll only become more frequent, more destructive, and more expensive. That’s why we need to work together on common-sense solutions that make every community safer.

That’s what we’re fighting for here in Washington.

You aren’t alone.

Here in Colorado, one man received estimates from several providers that an operation would cost $1,448. After his operation, he received more bills that pushed the total operation price to over $6,000. In another case, a Coloradan got charged $99 for blood work that should only cost between $8 and $61 according to the hospital’s public price data.

This gaming and confusion in our health care system drives the American people crazy - and we can put a stop to it.

There’s a major lack of transparency in the health care industry that is egregious and unique. When you go to buy milk at the market or a car from a dealership, you can easily compare the prices. But it’s nearly impossible when you need to schedule a surgery.

In 2025, Americans spent $5.7 trillion on health care. Roughly four in ten Americans – about 100 million – owe a staggering $220 billion in medical debt, including 700,000 in Colorado.

In the last 25 years, health care costs have risen by 121%. In the last 5 years alone, those costs have risen by 27.3%.

But we don’t know where all that money is going. Americans deserve to understand why the cost of their health care is soaring. Instead, more often than not, they’re kept in the dark while corporations and shareholders profit.

180 million Americans whose health insurance plans are sponsored by their employers also don’t have access to critical information.

Even some of our nation’s largest employers aren’t able to see what they are paying for health care. These employers can’t fight for lower prices for their employees because they aren’t even able to access the health care cost data for their *own* covered employees.

180 million Americans have the purchasing power to break the monopoly. Yesterday, we took a major step toward delivering that power back to the people.

We advanced our bill, the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, out of the Senate Committee on Health, Labor, Education, and Pensions (HELP) and onto the Senate floor.

Our bill allows patients to know in advance what their health care will cost and shop for the best care at the best price. Employers would finally have access to the data they need to negotiate the best coverage for their employees.

Like we’ve said before, you can’t fix what you can’t see. Our health care system is broken, and we believe health care is a right.

Our push for radical transparency is not a substitute for systemic reform. It’s a precondition for it.

Our bill is stronger than previous attempts at creating transparency and puts real teeth into the penalties if companies don’t comply.

It makes sure Americans know exactly what they are paying for and who they are paying.

It gives Americans the right to a detailed, itemized bill with plain-language descriptions and billing codes of each item or service they receive and requires health care providers, plans, and third-party administrators (TPAs) to publicly share who owns them and what their investment structure.

No more blind payments to unknown investors.

Hospitals that don’t comply will face civil monetary penalties. Fines become steeper the longer the provider is not in compliance and it has the force of law.

If a hospital isn’t following the price transparency rules, it’s barred from going after patients with aggressive debt collection tactics.

Preliminary estimates show that our bill will achieve $75 billion in additional tax revenue through increased transparency and auditing measures. Imagine how many more people could have access to the care they need with these savings.

We need to ensure that Americans can seek medical care without the risk of becoming bankrupt.

We know there is a better future for health care – and sunlight is the best disinfectant.

That’s what I saw last week in Beulah, one of the communities hardest hit by one of America’s largest wildfires. The Aspen Acres Fire, now the seventh-largest in Colorado history, has burned roughly 100,000 acres.

Block after block, all that remained were charred buildings. The heartbreak was as heavy as the smoke that hung in the air.

Devastating view inside the iconic Horseshoe Lodge in Beulah, Colorado, recently burned down by the Aspen Acres Fire

Bedrooms where parents tucked their children in at night had been reduced to ashes. Dining rooms where families once gathered were barely recognizable. Over 300 homes have been destroyed in this fire alone.

Walking through the burn scar, I thought about the families who lost nearly everything, the firefighters and first responders risking their lives to protect others, and the long road ahead to help this community recover—and prevent more tragedies like this one.

Read my latest op-ed in the Colorado Sun here.

The hard truth is that wildfires aren’t going away.

As one veteran firefighter recently said of the Aspen Acres Fire: “I’ve been a firefighter in Colorado for 40 years, and I have never seen conditions like we’re seeing out there right now.”

Climate change is making our worst drought in 1,200 years even more dangerous, fueling larger, more destructive wildfires.

Beulah Fire Chief Bryan Ware leads me and Senator Bennet on a survey of the burn site

Meeting this challenge will require all of us, local, state, and federal governments, along with every Coloradan, working together.

We know what works: treating climate change like the emergency it is, better forest management and investments in cutting-edge firefighting technology.

I wrote more about those solutions in a recent Colorado Sun op-ed here. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read it, and join us in the fight against wildfires.

Colorado has always come together in times of hardship. We can do it again. If we work together now, we can build a safer, more resilient future.

The lesson is simple: a man who mistakes gold for greatness will end up with neither.

President Trump never learned that lesson. He corrupts everything he touches.

Take his gold-plated ballroom, whose costs have ballooned beyond $300 million of YOUR taxpayer dollars. His reckless tariffs and war in Iran have pushed inflation over 4% – its highest level in three years. He stripped health care from millions to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Even a pool renovation has turned into a $16 million algae-infested bird killer.

To top it all off, last week, Congress passed the ROAD to Housing Act – the biggest bipartisan housing reform bill in decades. It’s designed to build more homes, expand loan support for veterans, and lower costs by stopping Wall Street from buying up single family homes.

Then President Trump touched the bill. Right now, he’s refusing to sign it unless Congress also passes his SAVE America Act, a voter suppression bill that doesn’t have the votes. Instead of taking the win, President Trump has taken our housing bill hostage.

This president has had every opportunity to lower costs. To help Americans. He chooses not to.

The Coloradans I meet on the Front Range and Western Slope aren’t looking for more ballrooms, bombs, and billionaires. They’re looking for help.

There’s a better way.

First, we must stop the bleeding from this administration. End this illegal war and these disastrous tariffs. Curb ICE’s lawlessness. Repair our social safety net — reversing the administration’s cuts to healthcare, SNAP, and student aid.

Then we must get back to making your life better: lowering the cost of living, creating more jobs, and protecting our public lands.

This work will not be easy. As we mark America’s 250th anniversary, many are questioning whether government is capable of meeting this moment:

A moment where technological revolution promises unthinkable innovation at unprecedented speed. But also leaves us more isolated and struggling to discern fact from fiction.

A moment when the consequences of climate change are impossible to ignore – with wildfires, drought, and destruction like we’ve never seen.

A moment when wealth is flowing to the wealthiest Americans faster than ever.

I’m not immune to skepticism, frustration, or despair. But a better and brighter tomorrow requires us to persist.

Despite all of our challenges, I remain optimistic about the future because of the character of the people I meet across Colorado.

People showing up for their neighbors. Families sharing whatever they can—meals, clothing, rides to school.

America’s true wealth has never been found in monuments or ballrooms. It’s found in our neighborhoods, our communities, in you.

Our charge has always been to help each other and to keep the American dream alive for the next generation.

That’s what it means to be a Coloradan.

That’s what it means to be an American.

And that is worth more than gold.

Instead, he created one – at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Take a look for yourself. Even Shrek would be embarrassed.

Here’s how we got here: Trump rushed this renovation under the banner of an “emergency” so the Reflecting Pool could be painted blue for a Fourth of July photo op.

Then it went south. Algae took over. Ducklings are dying. And over $16 million taxpayer dollars went down the drain – funneled through no-bid contracts to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago neighbor and political donor.

It’s a total disaster. One Americans shouldn’t have to pay for.

Today, I demanded President Trump foot the bill for the clean-up himself.

Americans are already drowning in high costs thanks to the president’s agenda. Groceries, housing, health care, gas, you name it. They’re already paying for this administration’s mistakes. The last thing they need is another bill.

I’m also calling on Congress to immediately investigate this disaster. Every single taxpayer dollar needs to be accounted for. We deserve to know why this bill ballooned so high.

This isn’t just about one algae-infested pool. It’s the same problem that’s plagued this entire administration: everything they touch costs more, and leaves Americans worse off.

Just look at housing.

Earlier this week, BOTH chambers of Congress passed the most monumental housing bill in decades with overwhelming majorities. A bill with one goal: to lower the cost of housing. But instead of signing this bill into law and delivering desperately needed relief, President Trump is holding this legislation hostage to pass a voter-suppression bill that does nothing to lower costs.

Look at Iran. Tens of billions wasted on a war with no end in sight. One that’s pushed us further from a nuclear deal, cost American lives, and sent gas prices through the roof. Trump even told Americans we’re too busy fighting wars to fund childcare. He’s right. We could be funding childcare. But this administration went to war instead.

He promised to fix health care. Then he gutted benefits for millions so he could bankroll tax breaks for big corporations and billionaires.

Then there’s his gold-plated ballroom. President Trump now wants $300 million MORE of your taxpayer dollars to finish it. Just like the reflecting pool, the price tag keeps climbing.

Americans are stretched beyond the breaking point. And this administration is making it much worse.

Trillions in tax breaks for billionaires. Billions in Iran. Millions for an unnecessary and failed photo op. Hundreds of millions for a gold-plated ballroom. All of it could have gone towards lowering costs. Making groceries affordable. Delivering universal child care. Helping Americans pay off student loans or credit card debt.

Colorado has the nation’s highest combined burden of child care costs and consumer debt. It means Coloradans are paying these high costs with money they don’t have.

Today, we’re demanding the President finally take accountability for his failures.

The Reflecting Pool belongs to the American people.

The bill for this mess belongs to one person: President Trump.

Everywhere I travel from the Front Range to the Western Slope, I keep hearing the same things over and over again:

“I can’t afford my rent.”

“I can’t afford to buy a house.”

“I can’t afford my mortgage.”

Since 1980, the average Colorado home price has increased by nearly 900 percent. The average home in Colorado now costs roughly $550,000. That’s insane!

President Trump’s policies have only made matters worse.

The administration’s illegal tariffs on everything from wood and power tools to fasteners and refrigerators have added nearly $11,000 to the price of a new home.

His disastrous war with Iran has sent mortgage rates skyrocketing. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed nearly half a percent to roughly 6.5% thanks to his war. That means new homeowners will pay about $180 a month more in interest payments to the bank or $63,000 over the duration of the loan. It’s completely unsustainable.

That’s why I worked with Senator Elizabeth Warren to stop Wall Street from buying up single-family homes. And now, Congress is about to pass the biggest housing reform bill in decades – the ROAD to Housing Act – legislation that will boost housing supply and lower costs.

Our housing bill is important because homeownership is one of the strongest pathways to economic mobility. But across Colorado, people are working multiple jobs and still struggling to afford a roof over their head. Not only does this bill help level the playing field by limiting Wall Street’s influence in the housing market, it also expands loan support for veterans, and makes the possibility of homeownership more attainable for millions of families.

The bill builds on the $500 million for affordable housing investments and $300 million in emergency rental assistance for low-income households that we helped secure for Colorado through the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Congressionally Directed Spending since I’ve been in office. Together, we delivered badly needed workforce housing in Alamosa, turned a Durango Best Western into apartments, and helped convert the Stay Inn in Denver into housing for the homeless.

The Road To Housing Act is major progress on affordability. But we’re not stopping there. We need to tackle the overall cost-of-living emergency that’s plaguing working families.

New data from MoneyLion shows that Colorado households face the nation’s highest combined burden of child care costs and consumer debt. Colorado families with two children pay an average of $37,832 annually for child care while carrying $155,945 in consumer debt, the highest combined burden in the nation.

Rather than addressing the child care affordability crisis, MAGA Republicans passed The One Big “Beautiful” Bill Act which reduced support for programs that help working families make ends meet.

President Trump has said before that the U.S. cannot afford child care because we’re fighting wars. I couldn’t disagree more.

Washington needs to get its priorities straight. And we need to create a state where everyone can afford care for their children, a place to call home, and a fair shot at the Colorado Dream.

According to a recent report, Colorado families have spent $3,300 more on goods and services since President Trump took office last year. That means:

• $416 more on rent and mortgage payments.

• $310 more for groceries.

• $1,000 more in average deductibles for people on Affordable Care Act plans.

• $347 more for gas since the start of the war.

And while you’re worried about rising costs, Trump is out here saying that he “loves the inflation.”

Not only did President Trump raise your bills, he broke another one of his campaign vows.

He repeatedly promised no more expensive, deadly, foreign wars. Now, we’re fifteen weeks into an illegal war of choice in Iran that Trump promised would be over in “four to five weeks.”

$100 billion later, 14 service members lost, and we’re all still waiting for it to end.

Earlier today, the administration finally released the details of a “memorandum of understanding” with Iran, which appears to kick the can down the road on the hard choices for another 60 days.

What’s clear is the deal he’s pitching comes nowhere close to limiting Iran’s ability to obtain a nuclear weapon. It isn’t as strong as the deal President Obama secured over a decade ago that meaningfully curbed Iran’s nuclear ambitions until Trump ripped it apart.

How are we supposed to celebrate a “deal” that gives Iran hundreds of billions of dollars sanctions in exchange for access to a waterway that was free and open before Trump took us to war in the first place?

The administration has spent all this money on the war, only to end up in a worse position than where we started.

President Trump was elected to bring down prices. He pledged to “end inflation” on day one. He promised a government that finally works for working people.

Yet, President Trump’s agenda can be summed up in just three letters. A.B.C.

Anything But Costs.

The cost of diesel.

The cost of fertilizer.

The cost of food, housing, and healthcare.

President Trump has plenty of time to host a UFC fight on the White House lawn. He’s been laser focused on refurbishing the reflecting pool on the National Mall. And he’s been unrelenting in his desire for a Department of Justice slush fund for election criminals like Tina Peters and January 6 rioters.

But he’s not helping YOU.

While working families worry about the cost of groceries, housing, healthcare, this administration is focused on ballrooms, bombs, and billionaires.

This isn’t why the American people sent us to Washington.

So while the White House focuses on their Anything But Costs agenda, we’re showing up every day to build a country that works better for you, your family, and your neighbors.

That’s what President Trump said yesterday. Out loud. In response to data showing inflation is at its highest level since 2023.

The cost of living emergency isn’t coming. It’s here.

And the president’s focus? Bombs. Ballrooms. Billionaires.

$3,300 – that’s how much Coloradans have spent on increased goods and services – energy costs, housing, groceries, and healthcare – since Trump took office.

The president promised no more expensive, deadly wars. Instead we’re stuck in an expensive, taxpayer-funded war with Iran. And every time you fill up your tank or buy your groceries, you’re paying the price.

He promised lower costs on day one. A year and a half later, household debt has hit a record breaking $18.8 trillion. The average American household has $105,444 in consumer debt. And families are spending money they don’t have on necessities they can’t go without.

The president promised a government that worked for Americans. Instead, he gutted Medicaid. Slashed food assistance. He dismantled programs designed precisely for this moment – when families are already underwater.

President Trump started a wildfire – then took away every bucket of water.

Meanwhile, we’ve been working. Not on tax cuts for billionaires. On the actual problems Coloradans tell us about everyday.

Coloradans told us they couldn’t make rent. So we got to work. We secured over $500 million from the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Congressionally Directed Spending for affordable housing in Colorado. That money turned a Durango Best Western into apartments. It delivered badly needed workforce housing in Alamosa. And helped convert the Stay Inn in Denver into housing for the homeless.

Coloradans are risking their lives to afford health care. So when we wrote the Inflation Reduction Act we allowed Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices for the first time EVER, and capped the cost of insulin at $35. We expanded the Affordable Care Act tax credits, cutting health care costs by $2,400 a year for millions of Americans.

Our communities are being ravaged by drought and wildfire. So we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, the single largest climate investment in human history. $4 billion for the Colorado River Basin. Hundreds of billions in clean energy that created jobs and lowered costs. And we created the Colorado River Caucus in the Senate to help conserve the West’s most significant and scarce resource.

This is what governing looks like. It’s putting Coloradans at the center of everything we do.

And when Trump tried to take it all back? We fought.

When they slashed $1 trillion from Americans’ health care to pay for tax cuts for billionaires, we refused to fund their corrupt government.

When they moved to sell off three million acres of our public lands to pay for tax breaks for billionaires, we stopped them. Colorado’s public lands are not for sale. Not now. Not ever. Just last week, when they tried to pass a tax-payer funded slush fund for election criminals like Tina Peters, we got them to back down.

We fight because your pain should never be their profit.

Here’s how we get out of this mess.

End the tariffs. End the war that’s driving up your costs. Restore the health care this administration cut. Then go further – universal health care.

We need a clean energy economy that lowers your bills and keeps Colorado’s farms, forests, and rivers healthy for the next generation.

Here’s my promise to Colorado, and to our country.

If we’re willing to take on the tough fights, there’s no peril, no problem, no president we can’t overcome.

Last night, Republicans blocked our amendment to make sure election criminals like Tina Peters don’t see a dime of your taxpayer dollars from Trump’s slush fund.

President Trump wants to hand out nearly two billion of YOUR taxpayer dollars to January 6 rioters, his wealthy business partners, and people who have attacked democracy.

The acting Attorney General says they’ll no longer pursue this slush fund.

I don’t believe that for one second. The only promises this administration has seemed to keep are to billionaires and President Trump’s cronies.

The president calls it the art of the deal: Americans pay in. His allies get payouts.

This administration isn’t just trying to give your tax dollars to criminals. They’re spending trillions on ballrooms, bombs, and tax breaks for billionaires.

And what do Americans get in return?

Higher bills, gutted benefits, and a tab they never agreed to pick up.

We need to put an end to the slush fund. And we need to put it in writing so the Trump administration can’t change their mind later.

We put forward an amendment that prohibits the federal government from distributing taxpayer dollars to individuals convicted of election-related crimes. Yet, Senate Republicans voted it down.

When will MAGA Republicans finally draw the line?

They’d rather give taxpayer-funded bailouts to criminals who sow distrust in our elections or to insurrectionists who attacked police officers on January 6th.

Not only did they protect Trump from our amendment, but MAGA Republicans stopped our other amendments to help lower prices, stop ICE, and protect your health care.

That’s right. Republicans voted against sending Americans refunds for Trump’s illegal tariffs. They voted against providing families relief for the high gas prices that the president’s illegal war with Iran have created. They voted against making sure kids detained by ICE get the essential care they need.

Why? Because MAGA Republicans wanted to send ICE and CBP another check for $70 billion.

I voted NO on their ICE funding bill because we need to stop ICE’s violence, not fund it.

They had already given Trump’s secret police $75 billion for their extreme immigration crackdown. His agents have pulled people from their cars, shot, and killed people. They are separating families and throwing due process to the window.

All while working families are struggling to pay for gas, health care, and rent.

Just talk to Leah, a young woman, who I met recently at a health care roundtable in Colorado Springs. She’s the full-time medical caregiver for her daughter Victoria, who was diagnosed as a baby with spina bifida. Victoria is paraplegic, fed through a tube, and requires a ventilator. Leah works around the clock to keep her child alive.

This year, Leah’s income will be cut by 40% as a direct result of this administration’s Medicaid cuts. That cut puts her daughter’s life at risk.

Or, Brittany who I met at a nonprofit in Denver. Her daughter recently had a severe asthma attack. Brittany watched her daughter gasp for breath and then begin turning blue. In that split second, she faced a second fear: should she rush her daughter to the hospital herself and risk the drive, with no one to care for her daughter, or call an ambulance, which she knew she couldn’t afford.

It’s a fear that no parent should have to live with.

The Trump administration made it a reality because they chose these tax breaks for these billionaires over health care for working people.

Enough is enough. Americans deserve better than this.

Yesterday morning, the former Colorado county clerk left La Vista Correctional Facility in Pueblo, after serving less than a quarter of her sentence. She was incarcerated for her role in a data-breach scheme that stemmed from false claims about the 2020 election, having used her office to help leak data from Mesa County’s voting system. She left unrepentant, still selling a lie that puts our elections and their law-abiding officials at risk.

She immediately jumped at the chance to join Steve Bannon and spread more of Trump’s election lies.

And Peters may receive another big break.

The Department of Justice recently announced an unprecedented $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate people whom the administration has said were harmed by the justice system. At a May press conference, Vice President JD Vance defended the idea of compensating Peters with this fund.

“Is it reasonable for her to get some compensation for the fact that she was treated unfairly? I think the answer is yes,” he said.

Some people believe Peters was sentenced too harshly and deserved clemency. I couldn’t disagree more. But whatever you may think of her commutation, taxpayers should never pay people who subvert our elections.

Of course, Peters is not alone.

Potential beneficiaries of this fund include hundreds who stormed the Capitol and assaulted police officers on Jan. 6. The leader of the Proud Boys is hoping for a payout of up to $5 million. Another Jan. 6 defendant is planning to seek $30 million. That is your money — money that could be spent on healthcare, childcare or affordable housing.

On Friday, a Virginia judge temporarily stopped the DOJ from taking further action to create the fund or disburse money. Yesterday, the Trump administration said they would drop the plans… for now.

But we must end it permanently.

Right now, the Republicans are plotting another bill that will give ICE billions of dollars to continue their lawlessness. We’re going to introduce an amendment that will stop Tina Peters and other January 6 rioters from profiting off Trump’s slush fund.

Soon, every senator will have to choose a side.

My concerns with this fund go beyond just who could profit from the payouts.

The fund’s structure raises serious questions about abuse, accountability and transparency. According to the DOJ, a five-member panel, four of whom would be appointed by the administration, gets to decide the payouts.

Remember Trump’s promise to release the full Epstein files? How about his day one promise to lower prices or not start unwanted wars?

The only people this administration keeps their promises to are billionaires and Trump’s friends.

The administration’s proposal has already drawn some bipartisan ire. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., recently warned that “your taxpayer dollars and my taxpayer dollars could potentially compensate someone who assaulted a police officer, admitted their guilt, got convicted, got pardoned and now we are going to pay them for that. That’s absurd.”

He’s right.

At Peters’ sentencing, State District Court Judge Matthew Barrett did not mince words, telling Peters, “You’re a charlatan who used and is still using your prior position in office to peddle snake oil that’s been proven to be junk time and time again.”

If only this were merely about snake oil.

Our nation was founded on the idea that citizens have the right to challenge authority.

But the same spirit that created “Don’t Tread on Me” also created a republic built on the rule of law, election integrity and the peaceful transfer of power. When people who attack those institutional pillars in bad faith are recast as victims and patriots, we dishonor the generations who defended this republic and fail the generations that will inherit it.

As America marks its 250th anniversary, we should remember Benjamin Franklin’s warning when asked whether the founders had created a republic or a monarchy: “A republic, if you can keep it.”

That starts with defending free and fair elections and refusing to reward those who attack them with your taxpayer money.

Caroline’s story is a powerful reminder that immigration policy isn’t some abstract political debate. It affects real people, our neighbors, and our communities. And when government agencies like ICE abuse their power, the consequences are devastating.

America has always been a nation of immigrants. But too often our immigration system fails to live up to our values. Instead of creating a system that upholds basic decency and the rule of law, President Trump and MAGA Republicans continue pouring billions of dollars into these failing agencies while refusing to fix the underlying problems. Rather than demanding accountability, Republicans are pushing to dramatically expand ICE’s detention capacity.

That’s what brought me to Hudson, CO.

Keep up with our fight for a better immigration system on our Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Bluesky, and TikTok accounts.

By now you’ve probably heard about Trump’s disastrous “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which slashed nearly $1 trillion from health care programs that help millions of vulnerable Americans to help pay for more tax cuts for billionaires. But buried in that same bill was a massive expansion of immigration detention and enforcement: $45 billion for detention facilities and billions more for ICE and deportation operations.

We fought that bill every step of the way. And when ICE announced it was awarding a $39 million no-bid contract to a private prison operator to convert the dormant Big Horn Correctional Facility in Hudson into a massive detention center, we started demanding answers.

For weeks, my team and I have been asking ICE for basic information about this facility. At every turn, we’ve been stonewalled.

Congress has a responsibility to conduct oversight of ICE detention facilities. And you – the public – deserve transparency from agencies that hold enormous power over your lives and your taxpayer dollars.

We tried to conduct congressional oversight – ICE said no. When we showed up anyway, they refused to let us into the Hudson facility.

If you ever want to know whether something is above board, follow the sunlight. There can be no accountability without transparency.

Which raises a basic question: What is ICE hiding?

Unfortunately, this kind of obstruction is becoming all too common. Just this week, a fellow United States Senator was tear-gassed while attempting to conduct congressional oversight at an immigration detention facility in New Jersey. That’s unacceptable.

It’s why I won’t send ICE or CBP one more cent as they continue violating our fundamental rights.

We know this fight won’t be easy. Still, it’s impossible not to be inspired by Dreamers like Caroline. After her wrongful detention, Caroline joined a lawsuit that successfully challenged unlawful ICE arrest practices in Colorado.

Caroline was my guest at this year’s State of the Union address. Watch our full conversation on Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Bluesky, and TikTok.

Caroline’s courage helped secure a major legal victory requiring ICE to retrain agents and curb unlawful arrests in Colorado. But the responsibility shouldn’t fall on her.

Republicans need to join with us in ending ICE’s lawlessness and fixing our broken immigration system – now.

The Hudson facility is not open yet, but if it does, we will be back. We won’t stop demanding answers and fighting to hold ICE accountable.

President Trump wants that to change.

Yesterday, Republicans voted to confirm Steve Pearce to lead the Bureau of Land Management — the agency that manages nearly a quarter-billion acres of our land.

I came out as the first Senator to publicly oppose Pearce’s nomination. And yesterday, I voted against him. Here’s why every Coloradan should care.

This vote is the latest move in a years-long campaign to turn our public lands into a profit center, and ultimately, to auction them off completely.

Enter Steve Pearce, a man with a clear plan. Back in 2012, he urged Congress to sell off federal lands to pay down the national debt, arguing that “most of it we do not even need.” Then, at his confirmation hearing, when asked if his views had changed, he said: “I’m not so sure that I’ve changed.”

Pearce won’t be coming in as a caretaker or a steward. He’ll enter office as someone who has long believed these lands are more profitable in private hands.

We now have someone who wants to sell our public lands running the agency that protects them. It’s exactly what the Trump administration wants – Pearce is a key piece of their larger puzzle.

It started last year when the Trump administration fired thousands of federal employees who manage our national parks and prevent wildfires, just as we stared down a year of record-breaking drought and extreme wildfire risk. Then, last summer, a group of Congressional Republicans quietly tried to sell off more than three million acres of public land to help fund $4 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

The American public was furious. And together with Western Senators, hundreds of organizations and local governments, we forced Republicans to pull the provision and keep our lands off the auction block.

But the game of whack-a-mole isn’t over. Last week, the Trump administration struck again – rescinding BLM’s Public Lands Rule and gutting protections that put conservation on an equal playing field with mining and grazing interests on our national lands.

That brings us to yesterday’s vote. A turning point.

Ultimately, this fight is about one thing: the Trump administration believes that protecting our public lands is at odds with economic prosperity. Steve Pearce will lead that campaign.

But Colorado has shown that’s a false choice. One that deeply undervalues Americans’ love for sacred outdoor spaces.

Our outdoor economy supports 1 in 8 jobs and generates billions for the state. It’s an issue that unites Americans across the political spectrum. 74% see the value in our public lands and oppose closing or selling them.

Our public lands are not for sale. Period. We’ll be watching every move Pearce makes, and Americans will join with us to fight land sales to the bitter end.

Public lands are part of our shared Colorado heritage. If we fail to protect them now, future generations will lose something money can’t buy.

This administration won’t give us a straight answer. But Coloradans can.

They are paying $4.50 a gallon for gas. That’s $25 more every time they fill their tank.

Shoppers are seeing their grocery bills go through the roof. Today, the average family of four now spends over $1,000 a month on groceries – and that number keeps climbing the longer this war drags on.

Mortgage rates jumped half a point in two months — costing homebuyers over $100 more every month.

Just yesterday, President Trump admitted he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation” when making decisions on the war in Iran.

Finally, the truth!

The American people know this. They’ve seen how this administration’s policies are costing lives overseas — and exaggerating a cost-of-living emergency here at home.

And while the White House can’t even track what it’s spending on the war, American families are struggling to budget for the basics.

To the administration, these are just numbers on a spreadsheet. To the rest of us, these are our family members, our neighbors – all of you.

Keep up with our fight for affordability on our Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Bluesky, and TikTok accounts.

Last week, I met an Uber driver named Kareem. It costs him $68 every day to fill up his car. Kareem’s expenses now exceed his take-home pay. He had to find a second job to make ends meet. He told me he worries every day about having enough money to feed his children.

Watch Kareem tell his story on our Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Bluesky, and TikTok accounts.

And it’s not just the president’s war that’s increasing costs. This comes on the heels of Republicans’ efforts to gut health care and slash the social safety net.

Last week in Denver, I met TJ. He told me his marketplace premium went from $30 a month to over $500 a month – right when he was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer.

TJ couldn’t afford it – so he dropped it and moved in with his parents to stay afloat.

Watch TJ tell his story on our Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Bluesky, and TikTok accounts.

I also met a Denver resident living with a rare neurologic condition from COVID. Last year, in the middle of her endless health battle, her husband was diagnosed with cancer.

Their marketplace premium doubled. They couldn’t afford for both of them to have health care at the same time. So, her husband put off chemotherapy so she could get a badly needed treatment.

Let me say that again.

In the wealthiest nation on earth, a man with cancer was forced to go without health care, just so his wife could have it.

That is shameful.

Her words will stay with me. This woman told me she’s come to terms with death and her husband’s cancer diagnosis.

But what she can’t accept is the daily battle to afford her health care – when the cost of staying alive is bankruptcy.

Watch her tell her story on our Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Bluesky, and TikTok accounts.

These Coloradans aren’t outliers.

Over one million Americans had to drop their health insurance plans in January after Republicans refused to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. Of the Americans who decided to stay on their insurance, over three million missed their monthly payment in January.

How long before they too lose their health insurance?

And it’s not just the people in big cities.

Farmers across Colorado were already being crushed by the cost-of-living emergency. Now soaring fuel and fertilizer costs are making a grave situation critical.

One sweet corn farmer in Montrose told me that fuel normally takes up 15% of his operating costs. Now, it’s 65%.

Watch him and other Coloradans tell their stories on our Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Bluesky, and TikTok accounts.

Farmers are now paying 40% more for Nitrogen-based fertilizer, 60% more for diesel. And with just weeks remaining in the planting season, 70% of them can’t afford their operating costs.

Add in tariffs and drought conditions caused by worsening climate change – and it’s no wonder so many Colorado producers are choosing to fallow their land instead of farm.

You don’t need a crystal ball to know what comes next. Fewer crops means higher prices.

And as one farmer told me, “A country that can’t feed itself, can’t survive.”

We’re hearing stories like these all the time. It doesn’t matter if we’re meeting with farmers, teachers, or restaurant owners. Rural or urban. Republican or Democrat. We hear the same thing:

Costs are too high. Americans need help.

This cost-of-living emergency didn’t start with this war. But the war is making it worse. Far worse.

And the president’s response has been to spend more. Not on you, but on the war itself.

The president recently requested $1.5 trillion to fund the Department of Defense.

To put that in perspective, that’s equivalent to borrowing roughly $18,000 for every American family.

And that doesn’t even cover the full cost of the Iran war. The White House Budget Director told Congress that a separate funding request is coming.

We’re expecting up to $200 billion more – just for the operations in Iran.

$200 billion. With that money, we could fully fund pre-K for every kid in America. We could have free community college for every American. We could get closer to universal health care.

Our president’s priorities are completely backward. We have money for ballrooms and bombs — and tax breaks for billionaires – but very little for hardworking Americans.

It’s just plain wrong.

We need to end this war and stop asking the American people to carry costs they never agreed to bear.

The president treats billions like a rounding error.

Coloradans don’t have that luxury.

Every dollar counts.

And hardworking families are paying the price.