Floor Speeches

Rep. Jared Polis (CO-2) Special Order Remarks on Rebuilding the Economy 2 Wednesday, January 27, 2010 Mr. POLIS. In the last Congress, with the last administration, President Bush came to Congress during the financial meltdown along with Secretary Paulson and asked for hundreds of billions of dollars. They said they were going to use it to buy bad debt from the banks that was threatening to bring down our financial system. Did they use it for that? No. Instead, they started to use it to national... Read more

Rep. Jared Polis (CO-2) Floor Speech in Support of HR 3726, The Castle Nugent National Historic Site Establishment Act and HR 4474 the Idaho Wilderness Water Facilities Act Wednesday, January 27, 2010 Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3726, the “Castle Nugent National Historic Site Act of 2009,” and H.R. 4474, the “Idaho Wilderness Water Facilities Act” are two pieces of legislation that represent years of hard work by their sponsors and the local communities at the heart of both bill. H.R. 3726, the Castle Nug... Read more

Rep. Jared Polis (CO-2) Special Order Remarks on Rebuilding the Economy Tuesday, January 26, 2010 Mr. POLIS. I thank the gentleman from Virginia. Following on the gentleman from Vermont, as well as the gentleman from Ohio, taking us back to where we were before I was in this body, my colleague from Vermont was here, when President Bush, Secretary Paulson said we need a blank check for a whole lot of money, $700 billion. Well, what are you going to do with it? Well, we are going to buy toxic asse... Read more

M. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule to bring H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009, to the floor of the House. I would like thank Chairman Frank, and my colleagues on the Committee on Financial Services and their staffs for the extraordinarily thoughtful and thorough process they applied to the crafting of this legislation. I also thank and congratulate Chairman Peterson and the Members of the Agriculture Committee, Chairman Waxman and the Committee on Energ... Read more

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight a report just released by the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group, regarding the contributions of immigrants in the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. The report makes official what we’ve known all along: Immigration and economic growth go hand-in-hand. That’s right—immigrants boost economic productivity and create jobs. This has been true throughout our nation’s history. It’s been true during boom times and during tough times. It w... Read more

M. Speaker, today we make history. Finally, after months and years of hard work, my colleagues and I can make good on our promise to deliver meaningful health care reform. Like most members of Congress, I held over 50 town halls, tele-town halls, round tables, open houses, listening sessions, and “Congress on your Corners” in my district this year, listening to constituents about health care reform. Every town hall in America from Virginia to Vail, and Northglenn to North Dakota shed light on ou... Read more

Chairman Grijalva, Congresswoman DeGette and members of this subcommittee, thank you very much for the opportunity to share with you my support for H.R. 2476, the Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2009. My district in Colorado is an internationally acclaimed playground where the world class resorts of Vail, Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Winter Park and many other community favorites provide a place for individuals of all abilities and fitness levels to get great ex... Read more

I would like to thank Mr. Ellison, certainly, for the kind introduction and for sharing very powerful stories. I have had the opportunity to share a number of stories on the floor of the House of Representatives, and these are all real people who are impacted. I think that, perhaps, my colleagues in the House and those watching us can see in themselves some of the experiences that American families go through. We're not just talking about the uninsured out there, some mysterious group that you'r... Read more

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and the underlying bill H.R. 3854, the Small Business Financing and Investment Act. I would like to thank Chairwoman Velázquez and my colleagues on the Small Business Committee for bringing us a comprehensive well thought-out bill. I would also like to acknowledge and thank my friend from Oregon, Representative Schrader for introducing this legislation and working hard on such an important issue. Madam Speaker, while there are positive economic indic... Read more

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) Statement in Support of H.R. 3585—the Solar Technology Roadmap Act Thursday, October 22, 2009 M_. Speaker, for the last two weeks, right down the street on the National Mall, twenty teams of university students competed in the bi-annual Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. These teams competed not just for victory, but for innovation and public awareness as well. Every two years, teams from all over the globe prove unequivocally that rain or shine or the all too f... Read more