Station:    KOA, 850 am

Show:       Colorado’s Morning News

Guests:    Gardner, Cory

Link:        https://koanewsradio.iheart.com/featured/colorado-s-morning-news/content/2019-07-16-senator-cory-gardner/

Date:       July 16, 2019

Topics:           Grand Junction , Bureau of Land Management, Headquarters, Environmentalists, Energy Advocates, Farmer, Rancher with Grazing Rights, ICE Raids, Immigrants, Nation of Laws, DREAM Act, Border Security, Jobs, West of the Mississippi, Beltway, Trump’s Twitter Feed,

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HOST MARTY LENZ [00:00:00] Grand Junction will be the new home of the Bureau of Land Management, the move coming after a push led by Senator Cory Gardner to bring the agency closer, well, to the land it governs. And right now Senator Gardner is on live line with us. Good morning, Senator.

U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO, CORY GARDNER [00:00:19] Good morning.

LENZ [00:00:19] So, before we –. Congratulations! I’m excited about this. But is it officially a done deal? Because some people say, “Not as of yet.”

GARDNER [00:00:27] Well, look, it will be formally announced today. We’ll have more information on that today. And of course, some paperwork will be sent to Congress. I guess there’s some who could try to throw a wrench in the works, but I don’t think they will. It’s got strong bipartisan support. But the official announcement will come today from the Department of Interior.

HOST APRIL ZESBAUGH [00:00:41] Yeah, how do you feel? You’ve been pushing for this for quite some time.

GARDNER [00:00:45] Look, I’m excited for Grand Junction. I’m excited for Colorado. This makes Colorado the official gateway to our public lands. And it’s a signature accomplishment for Grand Junction.

LENZ [00:00:55] How many jobs does something like this bring, especially for the Western Slope?

GARDNER [00:01:00] You know, it’s going to benefit the entire state. My guess is you’ll see some jobs in Denver. You’ll see some jobs in Grand Junction. But this never really was about the jobs, it was about the decision-making. It was about making sure that the people who manage 245 million acres of public land, 99% of which are west of the Mississippi River — are closest to the people that those lands are located in. So, I think that’s why we wanted this. And certainly, it is going to bring a number of jobs to Grand Junction. They’ll be very high paying jobs because this is the Director or the Deputy Directors of the BLM. But this is about good decisions and making our public lands even greater.

ZESBAUGH [00:01:34] Yeah, you hope that the West will have a louder voice in Congress because of this. But what’s an example, maybe in the future, of how you think this helps the Rocky Mountain West.

GARDNER [00:01:43] Absolutely! So, number one, taking the reason why I wanted it in the West in the first place, was a rule that most county commissioners were objecting to. They had to travel thousands of miles to Washington D.C. to talk about something that should have been decided in their own backyard. So, this brings those decision makers closer. If you’re an environmentalist, if you’re an energy advocate, if you’re a farmer or a rancher with grazing rights, you’re going to be able to go to Grand Junction instead of all the way out to Washington to have your voice be heard. This is going to bring — like you mentioned earlier — jobs and opportunity. If you’re in Grand Junction to visit the BLM Director, you’re going to get a hotel maybe, you’ll eat at a restaurant there for meetings and other things. And so, I think this is really beneficial, for the decision making first and the economy will be a beneficiary of it as well.

LENZ [00:02:26] Well, I’m sure many Coloradans — all of us — are excited about it, too. You know Senator, whenever we have you on, it always seems like something is going on in the news, And of course, I know you’re well aware of the president’s Twitter feed.  What do you make of the latest Twitter storm that he had over the weekend about some of the four congresswomen and about going back to their country of origin or going back to where they came? What is your take on that and is it defensible to say things like that.

GARDNER [00:02:50] Well, I disagree with the president. I wouldn’t have sent those tweets. I think it was –.  He shouldn’t have done it.  And I think we ought to be focused on things and bringing this country together, moving this country forward — highlight disagreements, highlight the fact that we have better ideas or you have better ideas. But I wouldn’t have sent that tweet. I just disagree with it.

ZESBAUGH [00:03:08] Okay, and what about ICE raids. We heard that they were going to start last weekend — Denver, one of the 10 cities everybody kept citing. Have you heard anything as far as those ICE raids are concerned, that they’ve actually happened?

GARDNER [00:03:19] You know, there were some small reports — minor reports in New York — that there is some activity. But I have not seen anything out of Colorado. In fact, I don’t even know if they’ve traced back those reports in New York to an actual event, or actually related to the actions. But here’s what we have to do:  we need immigration reform that works in this country. We have laws that need to stand for something. But we need a process that actually works. We’re a nation of immigrants. We are a nation of laws. We’ve got to get back to that idea of being able to do both.

LENZ [00:03:45] Is the asylum law a good idea that the president’s proposing? And then, secondarily, are we — and I need to ask you because you’re there — are you any closer to getting anything done with colleagues, either side of the aisle, either side of the House?

GARDNER [00:03:57] You know, a year ago we were six votes shy from passing very significant immigration reforms, dealing with everything from family migration to $25 billion  for border security. I fight each and every day to find those six additional votes. So we are close. We just have to get a few more people with the courage to stand up. When it comes to the other part of your question, look, I think we do need to take a look at the asylum laws. Now, whether this rule — we’re taking a look at it, studying it, talking to experts. We do need to make sure that we don’t have sort of an incentive or a disincentive to follow the law — excuse me [correcting himself], a disincentive to follow the law and an incentive to follow the law. So, that’s something that we need to make sure works. Whether this strikes the right balance, we’re going to find out.

ZESBAUGH [00:04:36] Is immigration the top issue for 2020, not only for the president but for you to keep your job in the Senate? Or is it health care? Is it something that we’re not talking about?  Is that the economy?

GARDNER [00:04:45] Well, look, I believe in — I believe in Colorado and that’s what we’re going to focus on. And that’s why I believe in a fix for immigration, because Coloradans understand how important it is to our communities, whether it’s our farming communities, whether it’s our ski resorts, at our hospitals in rural Colorado. But we can do this in a way that’s smart. We can pass the DREAM Act, do something that’s smart. We can come together with bipartisan support — Republicans, Democrats — to do it. You know, is it going to be an issue in the campaign? I’m sure it is, and it should be because it’s a very important issue to the people of this country. But obviously, issues like the economy, national security, defense, our public lands are all going to be a part of the discussion. And it’s important that we that we provide the solutions and talk to the people of Colorado about what we’ve been able to accomplish.

LENZ [00:05:27] Senator, as always, thank you for your time.  We appreciate it.

GARDNER [00:05:30] Thanks for having me!