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Letter to Governor Ritter
from
Representatives Salazar and Markey 5-14-09:
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 Piņon Canyon
to the Army.
We write not only as the elected
congressional representatives of the Piņon
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 Piņon 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 Piņon
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 Piņon 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 Piņon
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 Piņon
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 Piņon 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
