Jared Polis RSS Articles

Polis: Immigration Reform is Critical to Saving Money in Healthcare

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT

On the eve of the historic healthcare reform vote, Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) issued the following statement after attending a rally with tens of thousands of supporters of comprehensive immigration reform in Washington, DC.

“The passage of healthcare reform today only highlights the need for comprehensive immigration reform. Undocumented Americans will not be allowed to buy insurance through the health insurance marketplace, making it more critical than ever before for the U.S. to normalize immigrants’ status, so that they pay their fair share and buy insurance like everyone else.

I hear from concerned cities and counties across Colorado about the costs of providing healthcare to a large undocumented population, but only the federal government can fix our broken immigration system. That’s why both opponents and supporters of healthcare reform agree that comprehensive immigration reform is critical to saving money in healthcare. I am encouraged by the bi-partisan efforts of Senator Lindsay Graham and Senator Charles Schumer as well as President Obama’s recent remarks about the importance of comprehensive immigration reform. For the health of our people and our budget, we must reform our broken immigration system now.”

Floor Speech in Support of Passing Healthcare and Immigration Reform

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Floor Speech in Support of Passing Healthcare and Immigration Reform
U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO)
Sunday, March 21, 2010

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This has been a long process writing this bill. I have been honored as a new member of Congress to be at the table. Along the way, scoring some wins and some losses with regard to the final product and where I’d like to see it. Overall I think it's a very strong product. I’m excited that we have the real ability to bend the cost curve with a strengthened IMAC over the House version. I’m also thrilled that this new version will reduce the deficit by over $150 billion. We really can't afford not to do it.

With regard to taxes and the impact on business, there have also been some very positive developments since the House version. The initial House version would have raised the tax rate that S-corps and LLCs—many small businesses—pay. I’m happy to say that did not survive this process; we were able to get that out of the bill. This bill is extremely beneficial for small businesses to help them save money. I think there's great potential going forward to reduce the need for tax increases, and in fact allow for tax cuts, if we can pass comprehensive immigration reform. One of the baseline assumptions in this bill is that there will be 50% more undocumented immigrants after 10 years.

This nation can't afford to have 20 million undocumented immigrants. This nation can't afford to have 10 million undocumented immigrants. This nation needs to have zero undocumented immigrants. And that will have substantial savings in healthcare and make sure that taxpayers are not forced to subsidize the care of an undocumented population that should not be here.

That’s why I’m a proud sponsor of a comprehensive immigration reform bill here in the House, and there are also efforts underway in the senate, between senator graham and senator Schumer, that can mean substantial savings for healthcare and return that money to the American people.

That’s why I’m proud to support this rule and this bill to build the momentum with hundreds of thousands of people in town this very week advocating for comprehensive immigration reform.

Polis Hails Passage of Historic Healthcare Legislation

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) issued the following statement today after joining a majority of the House of Representatives in passing comprehensive healthcare reform legislation.

“For nearly a year now I have listened to my constituents about the need for healthcare reform, and heard from seniors, students, and small business owners in my district—all of whom are struggling to find quality and affordable healthcare—and devoted my efforts to find a solution,” said Polis. “Healthcare should make our lives better, not worse. After months of discussion and debate, I am proud to say the bill we passed today will improve the lives of 30 million uninsured Americans, and immediately help millions more by closing the Medicare Donut hole, allowing students to stay insured under their parents, and reducing our federal deficit by $138 billion over the next ten years.”

Congressman Polis personally took on the cause of ensuring that healthcare legislation boosts small businesses—the economic engine of the American economy and job growth—many of which cannot afford to provide coverage and desperately need affordable access to healthcare insurance.

Under today’s legislation, small businesses with 100 employees or less will be able to join the health insurance exchange, benefiting from group rates and a greater choice of insurers. Additionally, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $50,000 will qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. In Colorado’s second Congressional district, 23,400 small businesses would benefit by joining the health insurance exchange and up to 22,300 small businesses would qualify for health insurance tax credits.

“Jared Polis has worked hard to ensure that the final health insurance reform package benefits Colorado's working families and small businesses,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “Jared's leadership was crucial to our Caucus achieving consensus on key provisions of this historic legislation.”

Benefits for the second Congressional district of Colorado include:

Improve coverage for 505,000 residents with health insurance.
Give tax credits and other assistance to up to 145,000 families and 22,300 small businesses to help them afford coverage.
Improve Medicare for 65,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole.
Extend coverage to 64,500 uninsured residents.
Guarantee that 14,100 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
Protect 1,400 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
Allow 65,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents’ insurance plans.
Provide millions of dollars in new funding for 18 community health centers.
Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $29 million annually.

A fact sheet on the benefits for the second Congressional district of Colorado is available at the Energy & Commerce Committee’s website: http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/health_care/districts/new/CO2.Polis.pdf.

Keynote Remarks at the National Association of State Boards of Education Legislative Conference

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO)
Keynote Remarks
National Association of State Boards of Education Legislative Conference
L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, Washington, DC
Friday, March 19, 2010

Having served for six years on the Colorado State Board of Education and then as Superintendent of charter schools serving at-risk older immigrant youth, I know firsthand the many difficulties that schools, districts and states have faced under No Child Left Behind: From the unfunded mandates, to the punitive approach towards the schools that needed the most help, and from its flawed accountability system to the narrowing of the curriculum and overemphasis on testing. Of course NCLB also represented a major step forward by focusing on results, bringing to light the enormous achievement gap experienced among subgroups of students through data disaggregation, and seeking to hold schools accountable.

Today, we have a historic opportunity to overhaul our federal education law by building on the progress made and addressing its serious flaws. I strongly agree with those who argue that education is the one issue on which we can rise above ideology and politics. No one can argue – from the left or the right – that we can strengthen America’s economy and democracy without an educated citizenry and workforce. As a businessman and entrepreneur, I can tell you that we’re losing ground to other countries and our long-term prosperity and global competitiveness are threatened as a result of the weaknesses of our education system, especially at the elementary and secondary levels. If we are to meet the President’s goal – which I hope all of us share – to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020, then we must act now, with a sense of urgency. Some Democrats, some Republicans….Rise above.

This reauthorization is long overdue. As Secretary Duncan reminded Congress when he testified Wednesday before the House and Senate education committees, the more than 8 years that have passed since No Child Left Behind Act is the longest gap between reauthorizations in the 45 year-history of ESEA. Our nation cannot afford to wait any longer. That is why I’m so pleased that Chairman Miller and Ranking Member Klein announced their plans for a bipartisan, open and transparent effort to rewrite No Child Left Behind. And of course, I was even more pleased that the reauthorization hearings were kicked off with a hearing on my legislation, the All Students Achieving through Reform or All-STAR Act, which I’ll talk about later.

The reason I’m optimistic is because President Obama and Secretary Duncan are pushing a reform agenda that reflects some of the best ideas from both sides of the aisle. While they support increased resources for education – from the $100 billion in the Recovery Act to the 6.2% increase in education funding requested for next year – they are also endorsing ideas that challenge us as an education community to come to terms with the simple fact that some of what we’ve been doing is not working, or in other words that business as usual is simply unacceptable. By building on what works and fixing what is not, we can get our schools back on track and replace the vicious cycle of poverty and ignorance that binds far too many families with a virtuous cycle of enlightenment and opportunity.

This approach is reflected in the blueprint that the Department released last weekend, which puts forward a bold vision for education reform and innovation. The blueprint’s framework offers a roadmap for overhaul that can help us create a world-class education system that serves the needs of all children and raises the bar to the level needed for global leadership in college graduates, not merely competitiveness. It challenges the status quo and asks for us to cease this unprecedented opportunity. Its key three principles are:

1.   Raise standards.
2.   Reward excellence and growth.
3.   Increase local control and flexibility while maintaining the focus on equity and closing achievement gaps.

First, let’s talk about the often-controversial, but highly misunderstood call for states to adopt career and college readiness standards. This is not about federally mandated national standards. It simply states the obvious: that we must have meaningful standards in place to ensure that our high school graduates are fully prepared with the skills and knowledge needed to either pursue a career or go on to college without the need for remedial education. NCLB created an incentive for a race to the bottom with regard to standards. Now we want to replace it with a race to the top. Governors and chief state school officers of 48 states are already setting standards in reading and math. Now states should also adopt college and career-ready standards – and here is the important part - either by working with other states or by working with their higher education institutions to ensure that their standards meet those common-sense expectations that students and parents have from our education system. States may choose to upgrade their existing standards or work together with other states to develop and adopt common, state-developed standards.

Second, we must get accountability right this time around and the blueprint proposes a credible accountability system that will recognize when progress is being made and reward excellence when achieved. NCLB was a great step forward at the time by providing transparency and visibility into our public schools. But its accountability metric, AYP, is superficial and not a good indicator of whether a school is good. For those making no or insufficient progress in improving outcomes and closing the achievement gap – the lowest-performers – we will help them turn around through tailored, yet dramatic, interventions that best fit the unique needs and challenges of each school and its students. The rest of the schools will enjoy broad flexibility to determine how to meet performance targets working under their state and local accountability systems. In sum, rewarding districts that meet or exceed their goals instead of penalizing underperformance is a smarter and more productive approach to accountability.
Third, we all know that teacher quality is the most important factor affecting student outcomes. The blueprint places a major focus on effective teachers and principals by supporting the evaluation and support systems that will inform professional development and help them improve their performance and student learning, especially in high-need schools where it’s needed the most. I will soon introduce legislation, the Great Teachers for Great Schools Act. To ensure that teachers and principals engage in professional development that improves student achievement, the Great Teachers for Great Schools Act advances a new definition of professional development that is based on research and best practices and builds the capacity of teachers and principals through high-quality, data-driven, systematic, sustained, and job-embedded professional development.

The blueprint also tackles the critical issue of teacher preparation programs by encouraging the development of more effective pathways and practices for preparing, placing, and supporting beginning teachers and principals in high-need schools. As for the teacher evaluation systems, we must design a fair, honest and useful way of assessing effectiveness that includes multiple measures. These systems will help those teachers that must improve and reward excellent teachers for advancing student learning, especially when working in high-need schools.

Another important aspect of the blueprint is its focus on providing students with a complete, well-rounded education that they need in order to contribute as citizens in our democracy and to thrive in a global economy. Among other things, it proposes strengthening instruction in literacy and STEM. I strongly believe that literacy is the cornerstone of all learning. Yet about seventy percent of 4th graders and 8th graders read below the proficient level. And only 16 percent of low-income eighth-grade students perform at the proficient level. Equally disturbing, between 1971 and 2008, the reading levels of 17-year-olds in the United States showed little to no improvement. Research clearly demonstrates the vital importance of literacy skills in life outcomes. And literacy skills are becoming increasingly important – the 25 fastest-growing professions have higher than average literacy demands and nearly half of all job growth between 2004 and 2014 will require high-level literacy skills.

That is why I, along with Congressman Yarmuth of Kentucky and Senator Patty Murray of Washington, introduced the Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation (LEARN) Act that would create a flagship literacy program, authorized up to $2.35 billion, that would fund state and local literacy programs that span from early childhood to grade twelve. I’m pleased that the blueprint includes a plan to help states develop comprehensive, evidence-based, preK–12 literacy plans and to align federal, state, and local funds to provide high-quality literacy instruction.

Finally, I’m very pleased that the blueprint recognizes the critical role of public school choice as a tool for fostering, rewarding, expanding and replicating successful educational entrepreneurship that proves how we can get the job done and close the achievement gap against the odds. And it’s very encouraging that this increased emphasis on successful models is coupled with a strong commitment to ensuring high levels of accountability and oversight from all parties involved in the chartering process.

As I mentioned earlier, I have introduced the All-STAR Act, which would enable successful public charter schools that have a proven track record of closing the achievement gap and successfully serving the needs of at-risk students to expand and replicate. This is desperately needed, as demand has far outpaced supply, with more than 700,000 children currently on charter school waiting lists nationwide. The blueprint recommends expanding high-performing public charter schools and also improving the quality of authorizers including districts and states. And I look forward to advancing this recommendation which is also consistent with the blueprint.

These are exciting times to be in Washington for education advocates and I truly hope that this is the one issue where we can all work together, in a bipartisan manner, to do what’s right for our kids and for our nation’s future. I truly believe that we can focus on our shared goals and provide America’s students with the world-class education they need and deserve.

Thank you for all that you do for our schools and communities and I look forward to working with you.

Floor Statement Supporting H.R. 3644 – The Ocean, Coastal, and Watershed Education Act

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Floor Statement Supporting H.R. 3644 – The Ocean, Coastal, and Watershed Education Act
U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO)
March 19, 2010

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule and the underlying bills, the Ocean, Coastal and Watershed Education Act and the Public Land Service Corps Act. The programs within both of these bills benefit districts all across our Nation, from Florida to Alaska, Texas to Minnesota and Colorado. So it is no surprise that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle across the country support these programs.

I would like to thank Chairman Rahall for his leadership on this important issue and my colleagues, Representatives Capps and Grijalva, for their hard work on these bills.

Madam Speaker, we have before us two excellent pieces of legislation, one which would expand and reinvigorate an existing program, the Public Land Corps, by streamlining its management, modernizing its scope and providing new tools to help the program accomplish its mission, and another bill which would expand two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant programs that are aimed at enhancing environmental education related to water resources upon which economic development and human health depend.

H.R. 1612 will help repair and restore our Nation's public lands while employing and training thousands of young Americans and promoting a culture of public service.

   This legislation will help provide real employment and training to young people who need it, particularly in a recession, while improving the condition of our priceless natural and cultural resources. We live in a time when environmental science education is just as critical for a healthy environment as land conservation or wildlife protection. Our citizens are empowered by being informed and educated enough to make important decisions in their own daily lives about environmental issues based on sometimes complicated scientific evidence. We need to supply our children and the next generation across our country with enough scientific knowledge to tackle the environmental challenges that they will face in the coming years and to make educated choices as consumers.

This bill also takes a decisive step forward in finishing desperately needed work on our national park lands, forests, wildlife refuges and historic sites. As I have said previously, protecting and maintaining our public lands is one of the most important duties that we have as citizens. I was lucky enough to grow up in Boulder, Colorado, hiking in Mount Sanitas, as I did just last weekend when I was back, the Flat Irons and Flagstaff Mountain. If we don't defend America's truly great public lands, we run the risk of being the last generation to enjoy them.

America and Colorado are really defined by our natural character. America is beautiful and needs our help to remain so. We must not let our ``spacious skies,'' our ``amber waves of grain'' and our ``purple mountains majesty'' become nothing more than forgotten lines in a song.

   The bill recognizes the importance, as well, of our coastal and marine systems and our national marine sanctuaries. Those previously have not been eligible for Public Land Corps projects but are just as worthy and just as important a part of our national heritage for those who reside on the coast.

While Members of this body as well as the American public review the historic health care reform bill we will be taking up in the next few days, we have the opportunity to consider this vital program that has bipartisan support providing our youth the education and experience they will need to find meaningful employment while gaining civic pride, scientific education and personal responsibility while maintaining and improving our public lands and National Park System.

   This program will invest in our young people, reduce youth unemployment, and prepare young people for a lifetime of work experiences. At the same time youth will be repairing and restoring our National Park System and preserving it for the next generation, we also are able to whittle away at the massive backlog of work that has doubled over the last decade to levels around the $10 billion mark of backlog work that needs to be done. The National Park System has been called America's best idea, and it is past time we give our best attention and respect to the National Park System that it deserves.

Preparing our park system for future generations and preparing young people to face the scientific and environmental challenges that are only beginning to come to fruition is an undertaking of great national importance.

H.R. 3644, the Ocean, Coastal and Watershed Education Act, formally codifies and authorizes two existing programs that have already made great strides in expanding ocean, atmospheric, and environmental literacy in the United States. These programs, the Bay-Watershed Education and Training, which we call B-WET, and the Environmental Literacy Grant, ELG, program deserve Federal recognition and funding for their good work providing educational opportunities from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade.

   This legislation gives us an opportunity to consider these vital programs, programs which provide our youth the education and experience that they will need to find meaningful employment in advancing our Nation's progress in science, technology, engineering and math to help keep America globally competitive.

H.R. 3644 codifies two existing environmental education grant programs that were established through the annual appropriations process and are administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Over the past 7 years, these two NOAA education programs have been essential towards advancing ocean and environmental education in the United States. Both programs are very popular in the education community, and in fact, requests for environmental literacy grants are 10 times greater than the appropriated funding levels can support.

Since 2002 and 2005, respectively, the B-WET and ELG programs have connected school children from kindergarten all the way through high school with their ocean and coastal environments. These programs help school children learn about the effects that everyday actions they take have on the environment.

Let's make no mistake about it. Our society is faced with a fundamental lack of scientific understanding, where special interests on all sides frequently undermine the vast scientific consensus on key issues simply by flashy public relations campaigns. We need to make sure that our country is the world leader in innovation and science in order to ensure that our country can overcome new challenges and protect its public health and natural wonders.

In addition to my time growing up in Colorado, I also spent a lot of time in San Diego growing up where the community is as physically, emotionally and economically tied to the ocean and coast as Colorado is to its mountains. Regardless of where someone lives in our great and vast country, whether it's the plains, the mountains, the forests, the coasts or the tundra, our Nation's public spaces, wildlife and environmental health are truly our greatest national treasures, an important part of our national character and who we are. And these pieces of legislation go a long way in our effort to protect them. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS. There will be, and I certainly look forward to joining my colleague from Florida, a debate this weekend on the health care bill.

I am glad to see, on issues of our national parks and oceans, we are able to come together. And there are certainly other issues where Members of the body don't agree, but there will be a debate and there will be a rule proposed for that debate. I personally believe there should be several hours of debate, and I am hopeful that there will be 2 or 3 or more hours, which would then give Members on both sides who desire to present their positions the ability to do that.

I do take some issue with the characterization that there has not been a vetting of these issues involved. There have been, over the past year, dozens of hearings, even, very recently, a bipartisan summit that the President convened on health care. There have been many ideas and amendments from both sides of the aisle that have been incorporated into the bill that our committee will be doing a hearing on tomorrow and referring, for consideration of the House as a whole, a rule to consider that important piece of legislation.

Both of these bills that we have before us today under this rule are supported by national, regional, State, and local advocates. They are supported by leaders in education, environment, conservationists, service communities, and business communities.

Through passage of these bills, we are able to bring together the desire of this Congress of a meaningful impact on creating jobs for young people, training for young people to occupy the jobs of the future, and doing some lasting good in preserving the historic character of our open spaces.

The B-WET and ELG programs are exactly the kind of innovative learning that we need to cultivate an environmentally minded workforce that can compete in the increasingly green economy of the future. By teaching our children not only to enjoy but also appreciate the value and effect of our endangered national treasures, we can truly create a workforce, a community, and a society that values our environment and our national heritage and in which the environment and economy are increasingly intertwined.    I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS. Madam Speaker, I have here a letter which I will quote, in part, and then submit from a number of environmental groups under the auspices of the Campaign for Environmental Literacy, a group that I have also had the opportunity to work with on education legislation. What I would like to read is a paragraph that describes ELG and B-WET's contributions to our country.

The ELG program enables NOAA, as the Nation's leading expert on weather, climate, and ocean information, to partner with the Nation's top nonprofit organizations and educators to put this information to good use.'' ELG funds will allow ``the American Association for the Advancement of Science to update climate education standards that are used to guide science education in classrooms and across the country to reflect state-of-the-art science.''

The B-WET grants programs support environmental education which promotes locally relevant, experiential learning in the K-12 environment.''    I submit the entirety of the letter for inclusion in the Record.
In my experience before getting to Congress as well as in Congress, I was in the State Board of Education for Colorado before I arrived here, and I am on the Education and Labor Committee serving here. Environmental literacy and awareness is one of the most important aspects of teaching science in the schools. It can be an interdisciplinary approach that helps use examples from the environment to help teach math, science, even history through a lens that actually prepares students to be responsible consumers in the their own lives and to have responsible consumption habits that have a positive impact on the planet.

   Madam Speaker, I have been amazed and impressed as I have gone to classrooms across Colorado where young children, 6-year-olds, 8-year-olds are convincing their parents to recycle. They are helping their parents to establish compost heaps in their yards. These are programs that not only have a positive impact on our planet, but a positive impact on the health of their families as well.

Given the success and popularity of these programs, educators across the country have been increasingly eager to take part as a result. One of the things we accomplish in these two bills is that we codify these formal programs within NOAA and establish them as models of innovative environmental education for the entire country to follow.

As part of our shared future, it is an important role for our public schools to help prepare our young people to succeed in the next generation and to preserve, through a legacy of individual responsibility, our planet.

And while there may be and there has been disagreement on both sides of the aisle about the top-down environmental policies and regulations, I think people across the spectrum ideologically believe in the value of individual responsibility, and to inculcate the values of stewardship and preserving our environment as part of individual responsibility for the next generation can go a long way in a way that all Americans can feel good about towards preserving our natural heritage.

With regard to H.R. 1612, I want to be clear that it is not just a Parks bill. The bill restores our national forests, our wildlife refuges and other public lands, as well as our coasts and shores. H.R. 1612 protects our natural heritage; and, even more importantly, particularly as our Nation battles a severe recession and rising unemployment rates, H.R. 1612 creates an important program, the Public Land Service Corps--enhances an important program--that can help reduce youth unemployment while repairing and restoring our Nation's public lands.

Madam Speaker, I have seen the statistics with regard to the current youth unemployment rate, much higher than the overall unemployment rate, and I have heard it firsthand from my constituents in Colorado, wondering, it used to be an assumption that they would have access to a summer job, to an after-school job, increasingly finding it more difficult to be able to get those job opportunities. What better way to not only employ young people and give them job skills that can positively impact their future, but to create something of lasting benefit to all Americans.

I had the opportunity to join Boulder County's Youth Service Corps last summer, repairing some trail huts above Boulder. Not only was this terrific hands-on experience for the young people involved, but we actually made the trails wheelchair accessible in an area that previously had not been accessible to those who were in wheelchairs, above Boulder County, Colorado. It was great to see these kids working with their mentors and volunteers and members of the Parks Department to actually create something that not only would people be able to enjoy, but also to prepare and preserve our heritage for the next generation.

That is why these bills are important, and I think it is important that we, as a body in Congress, are able to come together around items that we agree on. There will always be some things that we agree on and some things that we don't, but preserving our national heritage and environmental literacy are two issues that I think are critical to our Nation's future. By emphasizing the value of individual responsibility, we could all feel good about preserving our national heritage.

This program invests in our young people, helps prepare them for the jobs of the future. The green technology sector has been one of the few sectors in my home State of Colorado that has added jobs over the last 2 years. So while the State as a whole, like our country, has lost jobs, Colorado employs more people today in green and renewable energy than it did 1 year ago and than it did 2 years ago. And that is a trend that I believe will continue, not only in Colorado, but across our country. The type of preparation for those jobs in the future is consistent with the skills taught through environmental literacy and also in the Public Service Corps working to be stewards of our natural lands.

I'd like to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in support of these very important bills and thank my colleagues for bringing them to us today.

For Rep. Jared Polis, vegetarian meals would be healthy alternative to fatty school lunches

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT

The Healthy School Meals Act (Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo.): a bill that would create incentives and a pilot program for children to receive a vegetarian meal option at school.

Status: Introduced Wednesday

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) has always tried to eat healthfully. Now he would like to see schoolchildren offered that same opportunity.

Before coming to Congress, Polis served for six years on the Colorado Board of Education. During that time, he visited dozens of schools to meet with hundreds of teachers and faculty members. And on those visits, he ate his fair share of the corndogs, tater tots, corn syrup-soaked fruit cups and other items that are staples in school lunches.

“I have been in many lunchrooms during lunch period and can attest to the food that is frequently lacking from a nutritional perspective and very high in saturated fats,” he says.

Polis adopted a new eating philosophy when he met his partner, Marlon Reis, six years ago. Though Polis isn’t a strict vegan like Reis, he now limits his red meat intake to once a week and eats more vegetables and drinks more non-dairy beverages than he used to. He says he is now more aware of what he is eating.

Polis is such a big believer in vegetarian eating that he would like schoolchildren to have the same options he has. On Wednesday, he introduced a bill that would give students a plant-based, vegetarian option for school lunches.

As childhood obesity rises and the number of children diagnosed with type-2 diabetes increases, he says, it’s imperative that the government provide vegetarian and vegan options for them to start trying to form longstanding healthy habits.

“For a lot of kids, a lot of their meals come from schools, and many schools are really struggling to meet the USDA guidelines in terms of maximum saturated fat requirements,” he says. “What our bill will do is provide some lower-fat and lower-cholesterol ways for kids to get the nutrition that they need to be healthy.”

Polis’s legislation would create a $4 million pilot program run by the USDA to test the introduction of plant-based and non-dairy foods and beverages into selected school districts over the course of two years.

If the program is successful, the government would begin to reimburse schools that offer at least two-thirds of their students a vegetarian option. It would also reimburse schools that offer students a milk substitute that meets nutritional standards established by USDA for calcium, vitamin D and other nutrients.

By working on this issue, Polis sees himself on the right side of a trend. He cites first lady Michelle Obama’s work on childhood obesity and wellness as evidence that the issue is gaining attention. (Polis also jokingly notes that actress Scarlett Johansson endorsed his bill.) He says more than 30 of his colleagues have co-sponsored the legislation.

As for what happens in Polis’s immediate surroundings, he’s quick to clear up a rumor: He does not force his staff to adhere to a vegetarian diet.

“I think that would be overreaching of the boss,” he says. But he does encourage them to eat healthful foods, he adds.

Polis Statement on EPA Hydraulic Fracturing Study

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) released the following statement today in response to the commencement of the first phases of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s research study to investigate the potential adverse impact that hydraulic fracturing may have on water quality and public health.

"I applaud the EPA’s announcement to actively study the effects of hydraulic fracturing on our nation’s water supply. This is an issue that affects communities in my district in Colorado and nationwide, and deserves a full-faith effort to uncover the truth and report the facts, unlike the shoddy, special interest-reliant study conducted under the previous administration. As we grow our new, clean energy economy—in which natural gas plays a key role—we must insure that we do so in a responsible manner with careful oversight, so we do not run the risk of dangerous chemicals polluting our water sources and endangering public health.”

Polis, along with Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), authored H.R. 2766 -- The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act, which would close the loophole that exempted hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and require the oil and gas industry to disclose the chemicals they use in their hydraulic fracturing processes. Currently, the oil and gas industry is the only industry granted an exemption from complying with the SDWA.

Polis Leads Fight Against Childhood Obesity in Schools

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT

In an effort to curb the childhood obesity epidemic, which First Lady Michelle Obama has called “one of the greatest threats to America's health and economy,” Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) today introduced H.R. 4870 – The Healthy School Meals Act – that will fight obesity and related costly diseases by expanding children’s access to healthy alternatives in schools.

“Childhood obesity has tripled over the past thirty years, and children are increasingly afflicted with adult diseases—including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension—as a direct result of their unhealthy diet and lifestyles,” said Polis. “The easiest way to stop kids from eating fatty foods is by providing them with the healthiest options possible, but many schools simply cannot afford them. This bill will help a growing nationwide effort to improve children’s eating patterns by encouraging and supporting schools to offer more healthy eating options.”

The Healthy School Meals Act makes plant-based foods more affordable and available for schools to purchase and provides incentives for schools to provide them to students through their federally-funded breakfast and lunch programs. It also removes restrictions on providing healthy drink alternatives with school lunches, thus improving the nutrition of millions of children who often lack vital nutrients because they are lactose intolerant or do not drink milk for religious reasons.

Key provisions of H.R. 4870 – The Healthy School Meals Act:

Pilot Program: Directs USDA to conduct a two-year pilot program to provide selected school food authorities with plant-based alternate protein products and nondairy milk substitutes at no cost.
More Plant-Based Commodities: Based on the pilot evaluation’s findings, USDA will purchase healthier protein products and milk substitutes through the commodities purchase program, making them available at a reduced cost.
Incentives for Schools: School districts where at least two-thirds of the students are offered vegetarian entrées on their lunch menus will receive supplemental commodity assistance.
Healthy Milk Alternatives: Schools will offer students a substitute for milk that meets nutritional standards established by USDA for calcium, vitamin D, and other key nutrients and will be reimbursed for meals that include a healthy milk alternative. An estimated 25% of the U.S. population is lactose intolerant; this includes 70% of African Americans, 90% of Asian Americans, 53% of Hispanic Americans, and 74% of Native Americans.

Polis’ bill is supported by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the Soyfoods Association of North America, and Hollywood actress and nutritional advocate Scarlett Johansson.

“Schools want to serve healthy meals, but they need help from Congress," says PCRM nutritionist Kathryn Strong, R.D. "The Healthy School Meals Act would give school cafeterias the power to offer more fruits, vegetables, and low-fat plant-based options. All students, including those who are vegetarian or lactose-intolerant, deserve healthful options in the lunch line."

Floor Speech in Support for Health Care Reform Now!

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT

You know, in listening to this debate back and forth, I can't help but be struck that many of the arguments from the other side of the aisle are simply not arguments against this health care bill.
I’ve heard people rail against a government takeover of health care. Well, this bill actually helps reduce the number of people that depend on government programs for their health care. This bill will help end relines on government for health care. I’ve heard people say that this is somehow a rush to get to a bill. Well, we have been working on this for well over a year. When we first started over a year ago I got a call to my office, why are you going so quickly? Now I’m getting calls saying, it's time to pass this bill.
It’s popular to the American people. Letting kids stay on their parent's policy until they're 26, ending discrimination based on pre-existing conditions. That’s what's in this bill and that's what the American people support.

Canceled Miss. Prom Brings Attention to Student Protection Bill

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT

When Constance McMillen wanted to bring another girl to prom as her date, and got the American Civil Liberties union (ACLU) involved, the Itawamba County School District not only said no to the Itawamba Agricultural High School student; it said no to all it students by canceling the event outright.

The ACLU has taken up the case and brought suit against the school district to get the prom back on track, the Associated Press reported on March 12. The school district said that the cancellation was "due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events," but the decision brought discord to the school--and national attention to the school district’s officials.

Openly gay columnist Dan Savage reported on March 12 that word had spread via social networking sites. A Facebook page called Let Constance Take Her Date to Prom was headed to 100,000 members before the start of last weekend; meantime, others had stepped up to provide a prom to Constance and her schoolmates, with the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition raising funds for a "Second Change Prom, while a New Orleans hotelier offered space for the event--and transportation from Fulton, Miss., where McMillen’s school is located--to New Orleans and back home again for the students--all for free.

The fracas has a political side as well. Supporters of a bill sponsored by an openly gay Colorado congressman say that the case underscores the need for legislation that guarantees equal treatment for LGBT youth.

Democratic Rep. Jared Polis had introduced his bill, The Student Anti-Discrimination Act, in January, but the events in Fulton, Miss. show the timely nature of the proposed measure, supporters say. The National Stonewall Democrats issued a petition, together with a statement saying, "What’s happening in Mississippi unfortunately happens all too often around the country, and not just during Prom season. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students--and those students who are perceived to be LGBT or who associate with LGBT students--are subjected to discrimination, including harassment, bullying, violence; and are deprived of equal access to educational opportunities."

Said Polis, "Like Title VI for minorities in the 60s and Title IX for women in the ’70s, my legislation puts LGBT students on an equal footing with their peers, so they can attend school and get a quality education, free from fear."

"What a shame that the school district said no prom for anybody," Polis told Denver news station KDVR. "No one’s going to have any fun, just because they didn’t like the date one girl was taking. I mean, what a ridiculous example of why we need to protect kids from this kind of thing--and, obviously, there’s a lot more serious cases than that. In other cases, gay and lesbian kids are getting beat up and even killed." Added Polis, "If there’s a kid who’s being picked on because they’re gay, or beaten up, sometimes they’ll go to a teacher, go to a faculty, and they won’t do anything." Polis’ bill, which has picked up 60 co-sponsors, "will give that kid some protection and make sure they have the right to go to school and be safe just like every other kid," Polis said.

Critics Warn of ’Gay Indoctrination’

Even before the fracas in Fulton, critics were quick to warn that "homosexual indoctrination" at the nation’s public schools will be the result if the bill becomes law, reported Fox News in a Feb. 23 article that was illustrated not with a photo of Polis, but rather one of Kevin Jennings, the Obama appointee who serves as the assistant deputy secretary for the Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. Jennings has been smeared by social and religious conservatives for his work with the organization he founded, the safe-schools group Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which provides materials and support for Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) in the nation’s schools. Jennings has been accused of supporting pedophilia because, conservative pundits claimed, he failed to report it to authorities when a student at the Massachusetts school where he taught more than two decades ago was "involved" with an older man. The charges have been repeated even though the student--now a grown man--has come forward to correct the record and say that he was not sexually involved with the older man he had mentioned to Jennings, and that even if he had been, he was 16 years old at the time--the age of consent in Massachusetts.

The Cato Institute’s Neal McCluskey warned that because Polis’ bill outlaws harassment of GLBT students, other students from religious backgrounds that view gays and lesbians as "sinners" could be criminally charged if they give voice to their opinions of gays. "That’s a violation of those kids who want to express opposition to LGBT opinions or behavior," McCluskey claimed. "People have a legitimate reason to be concerned about this [bill]--not because they’re ’haters,’ but because you’re now trying to balance different rights." Added McCluskey, "If this is passed, it’s going to almost certainly in some places be interpreted far too broadly, and free-speech rights will be trampled."

Similar criticisms have been made of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the first federal law that extends protections to GLBT Americans. Though the law, which was signed by President Obama last year, only prosecutes violent acts against minorities who have been targeted because of factors such as race or sexuality, religious and social conservatives condemned the bill as an attempt to impose prosecution for "thought crimes" on Americans.

That legislation continues to excite controversy. The Oklahoma State Senate recently voted for a bill to "opt out" of the federal law, and sacrifice $5 million in federal funds that the state would have received. The bill was introduced by Steve Russell, a Republican state senator who said he was concerned that the federal law would lead to local law enforcement seeing cases taken away from them by federal investigators. Russell, too, claimed that the law would punish people for simply expressing anti-gay sentiments.

Congress on Your Corner @ Vic's Coffee

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:03:37 GMT

Friday, August 7th Congress on Your Corner Vic’s Coffee 2680 Broadway Street Boulder, CO 80302 8:00 – 9:30 AM

Congress on Your Corner @ Southern Sun - Boulder

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:15:39 GMT

Monday, August 17th Congress on Your Corner The Southern Sun 627 South Broadway Boulder, CO 80305 5:30 – 7:00 PM

Eagle County Town Hall

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:16:34 GMT

Wednesday, August 19th Eagle County Town Hall Singletree Community Center 1010 Berry Creek Road Edwards, CO 81632 4:30 – 5:30 PM

Congress on Your Corner @ Boulder Whole Foods

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:36:05 GMT

Thursday, August 20th Congress on Your Corner Whole Foods Market 2905 Pearl Street Boulder, CO 80301 6:00 – 7:30 PM

Housing Fair

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:23:24 GMT

Congress on Your Corner @ Boulder Farmers Market

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:17:29 GMT

Wednesday, September 2nd Congress on Your Corner Boulder Farmers Market Next to Central Park on 13th Street between Canyon Boulevard and Arapahoe Avenue Boulder, CO 80302 5:30 – 7:00 PM

Congress on Your Corner @ Lafayette VFW Hall

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:18:20 GMT

Thursday, September 3rd Congress on Your Corner VFW HALL 105 West Emma Street Lafayette, CO 80026 5:30 - 7:00 PM

Boulder Town Hall

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:47:51 GMT

Friday, September 4th Boulder Town Hall University of Colorado at Boulder University Memorial Center (UMC)Ball Room 7:00 - 8:30 PM

Congress on Your Corner @ Rancho Liborio Grocery Store

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:19:17 GMT

Saturday, September 5th Congress on Your Corner Rancho Liborio Grocery Store 850 East 88th Avenue Thornton, CO 80229 10:00 – 11:30 AM

Adams County Town Hall

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:20:15 GMT

Saturday, September 5th Adams County Town Hall Welby New Technology High School 1200 East 78th Avenue #105 Thornton, CO 80229 1:00 - 3:00 PM