Maintaining hope, continuing political action from cross-partisan constituents, and persistent small victories in Congress are among the most important strategies that will lead to political change in the nation’s capital, U.S. House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse, a Lafayette Democrat, told a packed audience at the Allenspark Fire Station Community Room Wednesday afternoon.
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Neguse’s town hall meeting followed a press conference in Estes Park at the Lake Estes Marina, where he and Sen. John Hickenlooper, along with Larimer County EMS Director Lori Hodges, Former Rocky Mountain National Park Superintendent Darla Sidles, and Tracy Coppola, senior program manager for the Southwest Regional Office of the National Park Conservation Association, made a joint appearance to highlight a message that the Trump administration is threatening Colorado’s national parks and public lands, including Rocky Mountain National Park.
Neguse, Hickenlooper, and the other speakers in Estes Park stressed that additional proposed budget cuts could hamstring wildland firefighting efforts as Colorado heads into peak wildfire season and called out the Trump administration’s proposals to sell our public lands.
From the press conference in Estes Park to the town hall in Allenspark, Neguse quickly segued to messages of encouragement and motivation to continue what he called a “vociferous outcry” against actions currently occurring through presidential executive orders and other decisions coming from congressional actions.
“There’s no singular solution that’s going to stop the draconian cuts from taking place or the purges of the workforce from material rights. It’s going to require all of us, those who share my worldview, lifting their voice in support of more thoughtful, pragmatic policy and making the case that we’re what’s happening right now,” Neguse told the audience of more than 60.
Throughout nearly 40 minutes town hall meeting, Colorado’s Second District Congressional representative continued to stress hope.
“I don’t mean the kind of nebulous, fuzzy, hard-to-define hope. I’m talking about hope that requires faith and hard work. Sacrifice. And I believe that if we all lift our voices together, that we can change the course.”
Neguse pointed to specific actions he and his other members of congress were taking on specific issues, saying he believes that “one by one, day by day, week by week, month by month, by taking every opportunity and building on small victories, however small, we can eventually tip the scales.”
Neguse described a 14-hour Natural Resources Committee meeting followed by a 21-hour Rules Committee hearing that began at 1 a.m. the same day, but ultimately, a constituent outcry that led to the provision’s removal.
Those types of “wins” combined with thinking about the legacy left to his children and those he serves today help Neguse maintain hope for the future.
“I derive so much strength from my constituents, from being able to visit all of you,” noting the crowds of 500 to 1,600 who attended recent gatherings in Steamboat Springs and Louisville.
Neguse said he also derives “hope from the recognition that our country has been through a lot. Think about how much progress the country has made. Now, none of that has been easy. It didn’t happen overnight. It required great sacrifice.”
“It’s not to minimize what we’re going through right now, and the obstacles we’re facing right now. The hurdles are incredibly difficult. But we have been tested before, and we’ve always found a way to rise,” he said.
Who is Joe Neguse
Neguse is the son of refugees who fled from the State of Eritrea in the Horn of Africa in the 1980s during its civil war with Ethiopia. Eritrea gained its independence in 1993.
Neguse was born in California in 1984, and his family moved to Colorado when he was six. He and his wife Andrea live in Lafayette, Colo., and are the parents of two young children.
Neguse was elected to Congress in 2018 and assumed office on Jan. 3, 2019. His current term ends on Jan. 3, 2027. Neguse is the first African-American elected to serve in Congress from Colorado.
Neguse has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado and was graduated suma cum laude from UC’s law school in 2009. He was elected and served as a regent of the University of Colorado from 2008 to 2015. He ran unsuccessfully for Secretary of State of Colorado in 2014. In June 2015, Hickenlooper, who was governor at the time, appointed Neguse the executive director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. He resigned in 2017 to run for Congress.
Neguse is currently a member of the House Judiciary Committee, the House Natural Resources Committee, where he is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Federal Land, and the House Committee on Rules. He holds leadership roles on several subcommittees and caucuses, including the Bipartisan Wildfire Caucus, the Bipartisan Fentanyl Prevention Caucus, and the Colorado River Caucus.
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