Last week, you heard from our local Democratic leaders about our accomplishments in the state legislature this year. Below, please find information about what our United States Representatives have been accomplishing.

***From Representative Diana DeGette***

Castle-DeGette Stem Cell Bill Gaining Wide Bipartisan Support

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO), co-author with Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) of H.R. 810 the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, thanked Republicans for their strong and growing support of the plan to expand federal government oversight of stem cell research.

"I appreciate the hard work by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and the Republican Main Street Partnership to help pass the Castle-DeGette stem cell bill. This just reinforces the fact that embryonic stem cell research is backed by a wide and deep coalition of pro-choice and pro-life Republicans and Democrats," said Rep. DeGette. "In my eight years in Congress, the only other legislation that received such broad and bipartisan support was the Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform plan. Today, similar support appears to be building in Congress for stem cells."

The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act was introduced earlier this year to expand the current federal policy. It has 198 cosponsors, including 23 Republicans. Last year, Reps. Castle and DeGette sponsored H.R. 4682 the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act in the 108th Congress and authored the bipartisan letter urging President Bush to expand his stem cell policy, garnering 206 signatures in the House and 58 signatures in the U.S. Senate.

***From Representative Mark Udall***

EXIT FROM IRAQ REQUIRES A SECURITY STRATEGY
Rep. Mark E. Udall

I just returned from my second trip to Iraq - this time as a Member of the House Armed Services Committee. As a critic of the Bush administration's policy in Iraq, I did not go there to confirm my opposition to the war, but rather, to gain knowledge based on face-to-face conversations with our military leaders, the Iraqi leadership, an extraordinary group of Iraqi women, and most important for me, with our troops on the ground.

My sense from this trip is that our troops are anxious to leave security responsibilities to the Iraqis and return home soon. But no one I spoke to believes this will be easy, or that the job is finished. There is deep concern in our military ranks about a prolonged occupation and even greater concern about the toll this war has taken on our reserves and our ability to respond to other global threats. And our failure to build an international effort in Iraq, faulty intelligence about WMD and tagically avoidable missteps in planning continues to exact a dreadful price in lives and resources. Other than the Iraqis, we are still largely alone in this effort, and I continue to believe that invading Iraq has made the struggle against Islamic radicalism harder, not easier.

The most positive news is that a National Assembly has been elected, and although Sunni Arabs have not fully embraced participation in the new government, there is hope among Iraqis that Kurds, Sunnis and Shiite factions will unite to adopt a new constitution later this year.

The political momentum created by January's elections has accelerated our efforts to train Iraqi army and police forces, and focus on rebuilding the country's schools, roads, hospitals, and water-treatment facilities. Two years after the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in Baghdad, and a year after Abu Ghraib, the Bush Administration has finally settled on a plan that many of us who opposed the war thought was lacking in the first place - namey - CDP Week in Review.ems a strategy for peace after the inevitable decapitation of Saddam Hussein's regime.

We sorely need an exit strategy in Iraq, but there can be no successful exit strategy without a plan for Iraqi security. Both critics and supporters of the war should agree that turning more of the security burden over to Iraqi forces makes sense. So we need to supply our troops and support the administration's efforts to accelerate training Iraqis.

There are some who confuse the need for an exit strategy with immediate withdrawal of our forces. But an immediate departure is neither strategic (in the best sense of the word) nor would it result in peace for Iraq. If I thought for a moment that an immediate withdrawal would result in peace, I would vote to bring our troops home, but the situation in Iraq is more complicated than that. The awful dilemma of this war, and one of the reasons I opposed it, is that I knew we could not easily extricate ourselves from the country once we invaded.

If we leave Iaq

***From Representative John Salazar***

Rep. Salazar Defends Landowner's Right to Know

Responding to several complaints from constituents that the BLM was not forthcoming about the potential of drilling on their land, Congressman Salazar put pressure on the BLM last week to postpone it's auction. As a result of Salazar's pressure, the BLM decided to remove 17,500 acres of split-estate lands from the scheduled auction.

"The idea that the government can drill in someone's backyard with such little notice is simply unacceptable," said Salazar. "People deserve to know how the BLM's plans will affect their land and water. Clearly, the BLM needs help reaching out to rural communities."

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Rep. Salazar Leads Democrats' Effort to Protect Social Security

Earlier in the session, Congressman Salazar introduced legislation to protect Social Security - H.R. 1330: The Social Security Trust Funds Protection Act - to make sure that Social Security payroll contributions are used only for paying out Social Security benefits. Support for Salazar's bill is growing and Democrats are working to bring it to the House Floor for a direct vote.

"My Democratic colleagues and I are committed to keeping our promises to American workers - we will fight to strengthen Social Security so that American workers get the benefits they were promised.

"Creating private accounts will only hasten the demise of Social Security by draining trillions of dollars from Social Security trust fund.

"We cannot forget the lessons we learned from Enron. A retirement fund that relies on the stock market is simply not a secure benefit.

"The proposal to privatize Social Security would mean a 40% cut in benefits. Privatization - changing the program to cut benefits - is simply not an option."

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Rep. Salazar Promotes Renewable Energy Legislation

Salazar has been an outspoken advocate for using ethanol and bio-diesel as clean, homegrown energy sources that will decrease our nation's dependence on foreign oil while driving Colorado's rural, agricultural economy.

"Renewable energy offers a strong substitute to our dependence on fossil fuels," said Salazar. "Promoting production and use of renewable fuels will benefit rural economies, keep the environment clean, and improve our national security. Congress must enact a comprehensive energy policy that maximizes production and use of domestic renewable fuels."

Salazar promoted the following three principles:

-Boost production. Increase renewable energy production by creating a renewable fuels standard increasing the use to 8 billion gallons by 2012. The bipartisan legislation has also gained the support of Governors from 33 states. (H.R. 1608)

-Provide incentives to farmers. Provide improve rural economies by providing an additional tax credit to farmers who dedicate part of their farming operations to the production of renewable energy sources. (H.R. 36)

-Restore funding for DOE programs. Salazar is working with his colleagues to restore the Department of Energy's budget for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.