colorado. the practice of not refunding court fees and other people convicted of crimes that are later reversed. a person he convicted of a crime that is later exonerated but file a separate civil suit to prove they are actually innocent of the underlying criminal charge by clear and convincing evidence. oral argument in the case is about an hour. a decision is expected by june. >> we will hear argument first this morning, nelson versus colorado. mr. banner? >> justice, may it please the court, when a judgment is reversed, a person who is paid money pursuant to judgement is entitled to get the money back. that's common sense and that has unsurprisingly been normal practice for centuries. as far as we can tell, colorado is the first state ever to adopt a rule to the contrary. in colorado now, when a judgment of conviction is reversed, the state keeps the defendant's money unless the defendant files a separate civil action and can prove by clear and convincing evidence that she's actually innocen

the gentleman from colorado. mr. lamborn: on this bill there's strong collaboration and consensus and i look forward to working with him to pass it. and i'll make an offer on the rest of your bills if you let me help write them i bet we can get to the floor sooner. in all seriousness, the rocky mountain national park is a crown jewel of the national park system. i believe it's in the top five in terms of visitorship. it's very popular and for good reason. it's a spectacular and accessible place near boulder, colorado, not far from denver. so i advise the speaker that i have no additional speakers and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. polis. mr. polis: and i'm prepared to close. i urge my colleagues to pass this bill and, furthermore, i call upon the united states senate to bring up these series of bills that are very important to those of us like mr. tipton, mr. lamborn and i who represent areas with substantial public land where our constituents in the private sec

the gentlelady from colorado reserves. ms. degette: madam speaker, it's my understanding that the other side is reserving its time to close, is that correct? so i'll just recognize a few more of my speakers. at this time i'd like to recognize the gentlelady from massachusetts, ms. clark, for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. clark: thank you, madam speaker. thank you to the gentlelady from colorado for all her leadership. we're barely six weeks into this new congress and the republicans are back at it again. attacking comprehensive health care for american women. the regulation under attack says that in order to be awarded title x funding, you must be able to deliver the services. those services are family planning and related preventive health services. the majority is correct, we're not talking about abortion because abortion is not funded by title x. why would republicans oppose this regulation? because it allows them a backdoor way to make funding decisions based on ideol

river, and the colorado. coming up, on "earth focus." in the uniteted states, we have morere than 3.5 million mimilesf ririvers. that't's enough to o circle thee glolobe 140 timimes. ririvers shape our landsdscapese home to manany ecieies, fill ou glass, and even inspire filmmakers. >> if we're gng t to be a sosociety thatat uses rivers, ad liveslolong them, , then we d do need to live in a more river-conscious way. >> seeing kids get so excited about the river is, uh, probably the most graratifying g experiee that a filmmaker can have. >> > they may s start out p purt pollution, urbanizazation, and agriculture have d degraded rivers.. in his upcpcoming film, "willamette futures," jemy monroe looks at how everyone, from c city-dweller to f farmers connected in h helping revevitae oregon's willamitte river. >> the water starts out some of the purest water on earth. crystal clear, cold. >> we havave some of f the best water ququality coming out of fe ground in the world. >> that's the type of water that we start with in o our headwate.. >>

the mighty colorado river does not reach its end.was a s story that i needed o tell. >> to prevent disputes over water rights, the 1922 colorado river compact divvied up the river. thee problem w was allocacatione based oon an unusually wetet period. average river flows were much less than assumed, so the compact promised more water than the river could deliver. due to clilimate changnge, the bureaeau of reclalamation proros even greatater shortagages by 2. with thahat, the likelihood of even greater disputes. >> i beeve thate are in period of clclimate change. um, other people say we're just in a sustained period off aridity, , but one thing we doo know is there's not as much water in the southwhwest rit t w as ththere habebeen historicall. and y you can h hear that f from scientntists, and d you can also hehear it fromom navajo eleldero tetell storiries that were pasad down generation to generation. and you put thatat on top of the inincreased impact opopopulaon,, andd it's a doublele whammy. >> 34 years from now, i think it could

as part of revising the eastern colorado resource management plan, the royal gorge field office in colorado has already embraced an implemented some of the ideas for planning 2.0 including recent envisioning sessions that involve multiple stakeholders. i'd like to submit for the letter a let -- record a letter from park county, colorado. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. polis: the planning methodology lacks public involvement. this rule that c.a. would invalidate addresses some of the shortcomings in this rule. this last point is important. that changes would provide the public with an opportunity to raise concerns and review potential management alternatives before those alternatives become solidified. i have an opportunity for early involvement, b.l.m. can actually avoid expensive litigation after a plan is complete. this legislation is not only good for transparency, public involvement, environmental and wildlife protections but it saves taxpayer dollars. i don't know how anyone can oppose that. the process is wide -- has widespread support for those who live i

the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. buck: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate my colleague from massachusetts raising the issue of a thoughtful process. whether this legislation was rushed to the floor. i think it's worth noting that the original legislation, which this rule seeks to amend, became law in a time when my colleague was in the house and his party was in the majority. the nics improvement amendments act of 2007 was introduced in the house on june 11, geven. the bill was moved by congressman conyers under suspend the rules and passed by the house on june 13, 2007. there was no mark up in the judiciary committee. there was no meaningful debate on the floor. the bill was rammed through the house in three days without any thought to the potential consequences of its passage. it passed the senate by unanimous consent. i did not see others standing up to leadership at that point in time. in its implementation we're seeing the consequences. they involve the stripping away of constitutional rights and due process r

the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. polis: mr. speaker, i rise today in opposition to this rule and the underlying resolution. the resolutions that this bill provides consideration for threaten our air and don't protect the american people. my colleagues on the other side of the aye claim that somehow repealing these rules will create jobs. it will actually destroy jobs. jobs associated with recapturing methane. this is what a methane flare looks lie, i drive by them in colorado. and the potential for capturing rather than flaring that methane is important for the quality of our air and to reduce our emissions. the house majority has made it their priority to instill fear in hordeworking american family, people who come here legally on visas, who have lived here for many years, even small businesses, rather than focusing on jobs or having constructive conversations about immigration are worried about their employe

you can texting to vote to register in colorado. text to vote to register in colorado. but the biggest spike in registration is when facebook put their notice up, and we could follow it. bigger than all the media appearances i did on national voter or registration day, on tv stations and radio, and facebook does a little notice -- [laughter] and has a bigger impact than anyone else. so i think it is important that we work with our social media partners on this. >> yeah. and we appreciate the opportunity to be able to have that impact, and it was really wonderful to see, you know, across the country various secretaries of state report the impact that we were able to help them with. so from west virginia to georgia to nebraska, colorado to california and, you know, everywhere in between, it was wonderful to see the kind of impact that this can have and looking forward to talking with all of you for other opportunities that we can have to help throughout the cycle. >> i just wanted to raise some questions for all of us to think about and some trends for us to keep an eye o

. >> kelsey jean shelling disappeared on a trip to southern colorado -- >> reporter: 21-year-old kelseyhelling, then eight weeks pregnant, disappeared after making a late-night drive from her home in denver to see her boyfriend in pueblo, colorado. her family never saw or heard from her again. four years after her unsolved disappearance, kelsey's mother laura is still searching for any signs of her beloved daughter. >> any time you can find anybody who sincerely wants to help, it means a lot. because people come and go very quickly. >> reporter: using troy's psychic intuition and some anonymous tips, they will be combing through this sparsely populated area of pueblo, colorado. where troy will try to clue in on any sign of kelsey. >> when i feel something, you'll see me stop, possibly sweat, anxiety. and that's a place of interest to me. >> reporter: before long, he says he's on to something. >> when i turn this way, my anxiety, what happens to me is i feel like something's caught in my throat. >> reporter: they comb through the rocks and riverbeds at two points of different. troy appea

in colorado it expanded by 139%. colorado now ranks sixth in the country in natural gas production. ten of the nation's hundred largest natural gas fields are now located in colorado. these industries together create good-paying jobs that can't be exported overseas, and all of these changes taken together are beginning to address climate change. from 2000 # to 2015 -- 2008 to 2015 the american secto sector d its carbon emissions by 9.5%. we rugsed our carbon emissions by almost 10% while the country's economy grew by more than 10%. and we -- and we're starting to see the same trend around the world. global emissions stayed flat in 2015 while the global economy grew. turning our back on reality is not a recipe for job creation in this country. embracing the reality is. and so i would ask this new president after the campaign he ran and the promises he made why he would promote policies that will kill american jobs and industries. and unfortunately i regret to say this, mr. president, even though 70% of coloradans say that climate change is real and humankind is contributing to trks t

did this to colorado, inflicted this kind of damage on people in southwestern colorado in the gold king mine spill. you want to talk about protecting states? why didn't we stand up and protect this river. on august 5, 2015, the e.p.a. caused this spill. they admit they caused this spill. dumping three million gallons of toxic waste into cement creek and into the animas river. most americans remember seeing this river. most americans remember seeing pictures of what this river looked like across newspapers, across television stations in august of 2015. in fact, when i visited in south korea, the president of south korea asked me how was the river in colorado that the e.p.a. dumped toxic sludge into. in fact, i saw this picture on the news just a couple days ago. somebody was using it to complain about the trump e.p.a. administration. somebody was using it to attack scott pruitt. but this picture had nothing to do with scott pruitt. this was the e.p.a. led by gina mccarthy. my response to the spill was that the e.p.a. should be held accountable to the same level in which e.p.a. holds priv

colorado was out front on legalizing recreational marijuana.t's become, frankly, a billion dollar business for your state. at the white house press briefing yesterday, press secretary sean spicer was asked about this and whether or not we would see a crackdown on recreational pot. he said, we might, by the federal government. take a look at this. >> i do believe you'll see greater enforcement of it. again, there's a big difference between the medical use, which congress has through an appropriationsings rider in 2014, made very clear what the intent of -- what their intent was in terms of how the department of justice would handle that issue. that's very different than the recreational use, which is something the department of justice, i think, will be further looking into. >> ultimately, as sean spicer said, the enforcement on this is up to the department of justice. what is your message to attorney general jeff sessions, who is on the record saying, quote, good people don't smoke marijuana? >> hey, i opposed the legalization of recreational m

>> i would just say in colorado water is everything. you know, where it comes from, n how it gets disbursed. so while i do transportation for a living, i think a lot of our growth we talked about, if there is not clean water and water supply in colorado and the rest of the country, then why are we doing any of this? >> right. all right. next question is rail.? when we look at infrastructure is it appropriate to look at rebuilding an aging rail system which now in many ways lags te behind other major countries around the world? am i right or wrong on that?be yes. >> sir, prior to serving in my current role i was secretary of transportation in delaware, served on the northeast corridr commission. senator carper, long advocate for rail. i think it's ridiculous in the u.s. we don't have the rail as an option in urban areas where we had the density that is similar to that in japan or other urban networks in europe. the efficiency is there, there's transit oriented deflt that comesop out of it. we have a lot of sprawl that is caused by a car

seneca colorado from whence i come there are contrary opinions about how well it's working out. people in colorado on the other side of it saying a terrible experiment has worked out for us and the u.s. attorney and the federal government trying to tap the brakes. kennedy: they can shut it down but that should go to the voters. i would be very surprised if you have the federalovernment completely tried to squash. >> i don't think they have enough time or resources. kennedy: actually one of the things that libertarians democrats or republicans all agree on is the need for prison reform and some sort of criminal reform because of the problem you are talking about too many people being caught up and put in jail who act we need drug treatment are something that could not run their lives forever. also he will be an asset asset to the month at a piece on the right side of the issue. kennedy: meaningful criminal justice reform. seneca makes a shift from being a criminal issue to a health issue. especially younger people. kennedy: we are putting a lot of pressure on jeff sessions. latta

i took an 1,100 mile trip around colorado. the first traffic jam i got into was in a pretty rural part of the state up near ft. collins on i-25. i. 25. i. 25 is the major north/south artery not just for passenger traffic but also an important freight corridor that connects canada and mexico. freight's an important part of our job in the transportation world p. when we got outside of the denver, we headed north we got to a four lane section which is similar a lot of the interstate that's present in rural areas. it was a thursday morning after rush hour so i was assumed there was an incident ahead because the traffic reminded me of the beltway in baltimore. there was no incident. that was just how traffic flowed on a regular basis. so when i asked what the plan was to add capacity i was told that the plans on the books were for that section of i. 25 a 45 mile section to be widened in 2070 based on current funding level so 16-year-old who got their driver's license could have anticipated that road being widened when they turned 7

i worked in colorado for a couple of years. we have the colorado connection.how crazy the fires can get. it is happening in january. rather february. >> it happens in the summertime, not winter. hope it doesn't mean negative things to come. >>> let's have a little fun. it's the morning. you are waking up. you want to see panda bears. bye-bye to bao bao. leaving the national zoo for china. she was here for an agreement with china. fed ex painted a panda on the plane which will take bao bao on the 16-hour flight. she leaves behind her parents and brothers and sisters. >> she will be missed. >> she's cute. i hear pandas are unruly. they are not as nice as they look sgrch look. >> they are frightening eating bamboo aggressively. >>> the white house is trying to walk a fine line with the travel ban. how the president wants to tackle security without overstepping legal bounds. >>> the white house is trying to assure the new travel ban can withstand the legal push back. we have details on what you will see in the new executive order. >>> a new national security advis

>> i was saying in colorado water is everything. you know, where it comes from, how it gets disbursed. so whul i do transportation far living i think a lot of our growth that we talked about, if there's not clean water in the rest of the country then why are we doing any of this? >> right. >>> all right. next question is rail. when we look at infrastructure is it appropriate to look at rebuilding an ageing rail system which now in many ways lags behind other major countries around the world? am i right or wrong on that? >> yes, serving in my current role i served in the northeast corridor commission. i think it's ridiculous in the u.s. we don't have the rail as an option in urban areas where we had the that is similar to that in other urban networks. there is development that comes out of it. we have a lot caused bay culture that needs to be addressed. some are doing it but there are certainly corridors in this country that could benefit whether it is through new technologies, but real investment is lagging in this country. zb a >>

he spends a lot of time outside just as every person in colorado does. we talked about the rule of law. we talked about the separation of powers, his concern over originalism, following in the footsteps of other great justices on the supreme court. we talked about something he said last night when his name was put into nomination by president trump. we talked about a statement that he made. he said something to the effect of -- if a judge likes every opinion that they have written -- every decision they have reached, they are probably a bad judge. i think this goes, again, to his insistence that you must put, as a judge, your personal beliefs, your personal policies aside to rule as the rule of law requires. -- to rule as the constitution, the statutes required. we discussed on some decisions he didn't like the outcome but believed the rule of law required a certain outcome, whether it was a felon who possessed a handgun or the federal federal government had misspoken to the accused and believed the government had done the accused wrong. while judge gors

, a democrat senator salazar from colorado. senator salazar, of course, isn't exactly a conservative firebrand, having most recently served as head of the transition team of secretary clinton. at his hearing in 2006, william hughs, jr., a democratic candidate for the house of representatives, authored a strong letter of recommendation for judge gorsuch stating -- quote -- i have never found nor thought neil's views or opinions to be tainted or swayed by any partisan leanings. quite to the contrary. his approach to all things professional and personal has always been moderate and practical -- end of quote of mr. hughs' letter. there are plenty other examples of strong bipartisan support for judge gorsuch. even observers in the press recognize his reputation for fairness. just last week "the denver post" endorsed the judge saying he -- quote -- has applied the law fairly and consistently -- end of quote. judge john kaine, a colleague on the district court of colorado appointed by president carter says that judge gorsuch -- quote

how water. >> reporter: danny's vehicle had gone off the road on a dangerous stretch of road in coloradofound two days later by hikers, ronda credits troy with helping them find closure. >> it does cross your mind this is a little bit out there. it was desperation. >> reporter: psychic-based crime solvers are not a new phenomenon. remember the reality series "psychic detectives"? >> i could see a man that was running. >> reporter: they've even had their moment in the hollywood spotlight with hits like "the mentalist." >> nails, earth, he's building something. >> reporter: psychic readings, especially those in the public eye, have not been exempt from scrutiny. one tragic example, this 2004 reading on "the montel williams show" performed by famed psychic sylvia brown speaking to the mother of then missing girl amanda berry. >> i just hate that she's not alive. >> reporter: nine years later -- >> help me, i'm amanda berry! >> reporter: prior to her passing in 2013, sylvia brown part, "i have been more right than wrong. if ever there was a time to be grateful and relieved for being mistaken

colorado offers a number of of options. one of those was e-mail return of a ballot, there was concern raised by individuals that could potentially be intercepted or hacked. we established a new secure portal they could transfer the ballot to us in an encrypted fashion. you see states innovative on this, the organization's annual award, a lot of those deal with how to make it's easier for the military to vote, their family members, oversea es citizens and do it in a secure fashion. absolutely, secretaries of state and our local elected officials are committed to making this as easy and secure as we can possibly make it. >> to answer your question where we are and how well we're doing for these important voters, i think thanks to things like the overseas voting act and then the move act, which passed a few years ago and the work of many people in this room to implement the move ac, i worked for this many years and worked on the move act, i think we're doing as well as we've ever done, but we're not doing well enough. we still

in colorado, one of the issueses is, do they actually live in colorado, do they exist as a person.ha one of the things that i think is important to have is confirmation that they are at that address. we send out mailings to the post office and the post office sends it back to us, then we follow up and that individual goes into a different status. in terms of are you eligible in terms of being a citizen of the united states, when someone obtains a drivers license, if they use non- citizenship documents to obtain that driver's license we are aware of that. we compare that to see if that individual accidentally, most of the time, or occasionally intentionally checked the box that they wanted to register to vote and then we let the clerks know so that individual can be removed in accordance with procedures. we've had resistance in the past eight years in getting the data that ideally we should from homeland security so we can compare that list to ensure noncitizens are not registered. we've had resistance from the judiciary when someone gets a jury summons and says i'm not a citizen and

, a democrat senator salazar from colorado. senator salazar, of course, isn't exactly a conservative firebrand, having most recently served as head of the transition team of secretary clinton. at his hearing in 2006, william hughs, jr., a democratic candidate for the house of representatives, authored a strong letter of recommendation for judge gorsuch stating -- quote -- i have never found nor thought neil's views or opinions to be tainted or swayed by any partisan leanings. quite to the contrary. his approach to all things professional and personal has always been moderate and practical -- end of quote of mr. hughs' letter. there are plenty other examples of strong bipartisan support for judge gorsuch. even observers in the press recognize his reputation for fairness. just last week "the denver post" endorsed the judge saying he -- quote -- has applied the law fairly and consistently -- end of quote. judge john kaine, a colleague on the district court of colorado appointed by president carter says that judge gorsuch -- quote

just another reason why colorado's a great place to live.e're also work toward smart infrastructure to communicate with fully automated vehicles, driving on colorado roads. we call it project smart 25. using smart ramp meters to help the system operate at peak efficiency. it's been used already successfully in australia to increase capacity. so u.s. is having this introduced now, and i think we're seeing early success in our state. these are just a few of the things we're doing. i know many of you wire going to hear in the discussions about the things you're working on. but first i'll turn it over to governor deucy, who i have the pleasure of serving on with the edc leadership this year. governor ducey, i look forward to hearing about the great work your administration is doing as well to spur innovative infrastructure investments. >> thank you, governor hicken looper. it's great to be with you here today and secretary chao. we're all thrilled you're able to join us. i'm going to revise and condense my remarks so we can have the maximum amou

eight banks i know actively take deposits in colorado. >> what about california? >> i came here thursday to speak with officials here in the boe and would like to offer my help and our expertise in colorado. we would be happy to look at exporting it and bring the a- team to help you guys get through this. the issue is a public safety issue. when you put estimated about 10 $10 billion more in cash on the streets in $20 bills, the issue is there's more robbery, you could be online at a walmart or any other store looking with someone behind you with a backpack full of smelly 20s, they're looking to get a money order or a card to put the cash on. and you could be a random victim of a shooting. there's car jackings and of course there's been some horrible stories in southern california of someone getting kidnapped and bodily harm was done to him. >> that's bad news. you mention these negative things. >> it is. it's something that the officials really need to i think encourage the bankers and credit unions and the other officials to look at public safety over public pol

i want to thank the gentleman from colorado. mr. speaker, i stant here today in strong opposition -- i stand here today in strong opposition of house joint resolution 57. not only is the rollback of these substantive measures incredibly detrimental, but the process by which my republican colleagues are facilitating their action is quite simply wrong. this regulation is a product of months of work, to come to the consensus on what is best for all of our students. mr. speaker, the every student succeeds act, essa, received strong bipartisan support. it received bicameral support when it passed with 359 members of the house and 85 senators voted in favor of this legislation. in fact, senator lamar alexander, who serves as chairman of the senate education committee, said back then that this bill was truly a christmas miracle for american children. however, just weeks into this administration, republicans, for purely political reasons, for political purposes, are actively working to strip states and districts of the stability and clarity

in a letter i received from the colorado farm bureau, the letter red the colorado farm bureau recognizesa major impediment to the success of agriculture industries and the national economy is rampant in federal regulation and the associated cost of compliance. we've got to l a low u.s. agriculture to flow to markets around the world. in addition to that regulatory reform and some of which we're undertaking through resolutions of disapproval by peeling back the overreach of government, we have to all

when i first began as the executive director of the colorado dot, i took an 1100 mile trip around colorado, first traffic jam i got into was in a pretty rural part of the state. up near fort collins on i-25, the major north/south artery, not just for passenger traffic, but also an important freight corridor that connects canada and mexico. freight is an important part of our job in the transportation world. when we got outside of denver where i anticipated the traffic, we got to a four lane section, two lanes in each direction, similar to a lot of the interstate that is present in many rural areas t was a thursday morning, well after rush hour, and so i assumed there was an incident ahead because the traffic reminded me of the beltway during rush hour. and my regional engineer informed me there was no ins departmen incident, that's just how traffic flowed on a regular basis. i was told the plans on the books were that section of i-25, a 45-mile section, to be widened in 2070 based on current funding levels. a 16-year-old who got their driver's license could anticipate that road being widen

appropriately in colorado. just another reason why colorado is a great place to live. we are working towards smart infrastructure to communicate with fully autonomous vehicles driving on colorado roads. projects mark 25. smart ramp meters to help the system operate at peak efficiency. it has been used already successfully in australia to increase capacity. the u.s. is having this introduced now. i think we are beginning to see early success in our state. just a few of the things we are doing. i know many of you -- we would hear discussions of what you're working on. i will turn it over to governor ducey, who i have the pleasure of serving with as edc leadership this year. look forward to hearing about the great work you are administration is doing as well to spur innovative infrastructure investments. >> thank you governor hickenlooper. it is great to be here today, and secretary chao we are thrilled you were able to join us. i will revise and condense my remarks so we can have the maximum amount of time with you. i know so many governors here have questions around inf

to make colorado a sanctuary state.hey are endangering the lives of people they should be serving. >> tucker: this would allow them to get recourse in a sanctuary court. >> they're actually not for it. even though i would help them make them a little bit richer, they still do not want to do the right thing. >> tucker: trial lawyers shouldn't have recourse in court to address injuries done to them? they are saying that out loud? >> i do not know if they are saying that out loud but in conversation they've had, they are not in favor of this bill. >> tucker: because you believe they are puppets of the party that opposes it. >> this is nothing more than a bunch of liberals that are getting together and advancing an unlawful agenda to endanger the lives of the people they are supposed to be serving. >> tucker: so interesting, considering they are for opening suits against anybody. but they're not for this. what you think the chances of colorado becoming a sanctuaryth state would be? >> i think it's not going to happen. fortu

in colorado. i would like to read from a couple of colorado editorials hat came out this past week in support of maintaining the b.l.m. methane rule. on saturday, "the denver post" posted an editorial entitled "congress shouldn't butcher federal methane rules." in it they say, and i quote, congress is getting ready to use an ax when it needs a scalpel, and make no mistake, mr. speaker, the congressional review act is an ax. it's an ax being swung blindfolded after several shots of whiskey. it shows a complete lack of seriousness on the issue, and it could have serious long-term consequences. that is why "the denver post" editorial board asks republicans to be surgeons and not butchers and to avoid repealing what they call a thoughtful regulation. this past week another editorial was published on wednesday by "the grand nction, colorado -- by the grand junction, colorado "daily sent national" saying stop leaks. they say we are fortunate to have the rule in colorado, but if the federal rule isn't en

the republican congressman rohrabacher and california, and alaska, and colorado.th 4 lawmakers, marijuana laws are out of touch with american people, federal pro hi pro hibbing has been a failure welcome. >> my pleasure. kennedy: congressman pullis i will start with you, i just visited your state of colorado, i did not see mindless stoners, you hear stories about how marijuana legalization, recreational kind has been a good tax base for the state. others say that experiment has failed. what do you say? >> well number one, give me a hol a holler next time you are in the state, did you get to visit a dispensary. kennedy: i did not. so by and large it has gone well. first of all underage use has gone down, of marijuana, we think that is because there are fewer drug dealers around, over $ $100 million in tact in tact revenue -- in tax revenue. it has decimated the illegal market. it has been a positive experience overall, everything that i have seen shows it is more popular today than when colorado voters were bold enough to experiment with legalizing it 5 years ago.

judge gorsuch was born and raised in colorado and was taught the value of independence, hard work andn law school he demonstrated a commitment to helping the less fortunate. he worked in both harvard prison legal assistance projects, and harvard defenders programme, brilliance being ensured i studied every aspect of his life. he could have had anyjob at any law firm for any amount of money. but what he wanted to do with his career was to be a judge, to right decisions and to make an impact by upholding our laws and our constitution. the qualifications of judge gorsuch are beyond dispute. he is the man of our country and a man who our country really needs and needs badly to ensure the rule of law and the rule ofjustice. i would like to thank senate leadership. i only hope that both democrats and republicans can come together for once for the good of the country. congratulations to you and your family. may god bless you, may god bless our glorious nation. judge gorsuch, the podium, sir, is yours. applause. thank you. thank you. mr president, thank you very much. mr president, mr vice pr

he is from colorado. and harvard law grad. he clerked for justices white and kennedy. now judge gorsuch compared to the late justice antonin scalia. the man he may replace. late last night he called scalia a lion of the law. abc's terry moran with more. >> was that a surprise? was it? >> reporter: in the east room, president trump enjoying the primetime spotlight announcing his supreme court pick, neil gorsuch. >> judge gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, brilliant mind, tremendous discipline and earned bipartisan support. judge gorsuch stepping forward speaking of the honor of the moment. >> standing here in a house of history acutely aware of my own imperfections i pledge if i am confirmed i will do all my powers to permit to be a faithful servant of the constitution laws of this great country. >> reporter: the colorado native has a top tier pedigree, law degree from harvard, also with honors, and a doctorate from oxford, he then went on to clerk for two supreme court justices, including justice anthony kennedy. at 49 years old, he is the youngest nominee to the su