Our Man in Washington
By The Westcliffe Wet Mountain News
Colorado's Third Congressional District is by far the largest of the seven in our state, and it's the twelfth largest in America. And its diverse constituency has been incredibly well represented by Congressman John Salazar of Manassa.
Salazar, first elected in 2004, has proven to be a workhorse in matters that matter to his district and to us in Custer County. He's a Vietnam era veteran and is considered one of the House leaders when it comes to veteran affairs. Among other accomplishments he tirelessly promoted the Rural Veterans Health Care Improvement Act. And he was a key proponent of the Rural Physicians Pipeline Act which allows citizens of rural America to study medicine and then return to serve in their own communities.
He's a San Luis Valley farmer and rancher (and one of only four farmers in Congress) and is known as an articulate spokesman for the agricultural industry and for Western water rights. Those areas of expertise are evident in his committee standings: he sits on the House committees on Agriculture, Veteran Affairs and Transportation and Infrastructure.
If you watch current campaign TV ads you'd tag Salazar as a wild-eyed liberal. But in fact, he's voted against his own Democratic Party more than 55 percent of the time. He's worked with Congressional conservatives to pass bills important to his district, and he's been recognized by conservative organizations such as the National Rifle Association which gave him a grade of "A". And even the increasingly conservative Denver Post endorsed him in the current election cycle.
Salazar knows the issues that are important to his district and rural Colorado. He's a good neighbor – literally and figuratively – to the citizens of Custer County who usually vote Republican but threw their support behind Salazar in 2008. We encourage them to do so again in 2010.
