Station:   KOA, 850 AM

Guests:    Coffman, Mike

Link:        http://www.850koa.com/onair/colorados-morning-news-6691/

Date:        January 30, 2018

Topics:

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HOST APRIL ZESBAUGH:: [00:00:00] The President will have lawmakers’ full attention tonight for his first State of the Union address. Colorado’s own GOP Congressman Mike Coffman joins us live with his thoughts ahead of tonight’s speech. Good morning, Congressman! Thanks for coming on.

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM COLORADO’S SIXTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, MIKE COFFMAN:: [00:00:13] Good morning April.

ZESBAUGH:: [00:00:14] So, what you want — or hope — to hear tonight from the President, specifically on — let’s talk about immigration, first off.

MIKE COFFMAN:: [00:00:19] Well, there’s no question [inaudible]. First of all, I think he’s going to tout his accomplishments for the economy, with all of our growth and jobs coming back home. And certainly, he’s going to reference that to the tax bill. I think then he’s going to talk about immigration, and how we have to accomplish immigration reform in a bipartisan manner, and think about these young people that were taken to this country illegally as children. And then I think he’s going to talk about infrastructure development in the country.

HOST MARTY LENZ:: [00:00:47] Congressman, you’ve been critical of the President in the past, taking to Twitter on some of his comments. Do any of those things worry you tonight, ahead of the state of the Union?

MIKE COFFMAN:: [00:00:54] [chuckles] I hope he’s going to stay on script. I hope he’s going to be disciplined. And so, everything I’ve heard from the White House so far indicates that this is going to be an adult-like speech. [laughs].

ZESBAUGH:: [00:01:09] We’ve heard Democrat Ed Perlmutter — one of your colleagues there in the House — is going to bring a DREAMer with him tonight. You’ve got anybody with you tonight?

MIKE COFFMAN:: [00:01:17] You know, I do. I have a CU Regent coming with me — at large. And I think, Anschutz campus is such an important part of this congressional district with University of Colorado hospital there, and all of the educational, all the medical schools, that are on the Anschutz campus. And so, I’ll have a CU Regent with me. There’s no question that I applaud Congressman Perlmutter for bringing a DREAMer. My heart is certainly with them and I hope we find resolution to this problem — a resolution that is not only to these young people, but is fair to the country in terms of making sure that we set the conditions where this never happens again.

LENZ:: [00:02:13] Congressman, are you somewhat disappointed by those on the other side of the aisle that are skipping tonight’s speech?

MIKE COFFMAN:: [00:02:18] Yeah, I think so. I mean, I just think that — you know, even when I disagreed with the prior occupant of the White House I certainly, you know, was there. I think people have to think — you know, his personality is abrasive and sometimes polarizing. But I think people need to rise above that and think about the country and think about coming together and getting things done.

ZESBAUGH:: [00:02:40] Hear, hear! Hey, back to DACA real quickly, before we have to run. How confident are you that you and your colleagues will be able to get something done and expand and extend this program before having to shut the government down again?

MIKE COFFMAN:: [00:02:52] You know, I’m first pf all very disappointed at this strident response to the President’s proposal. I mean, if you think about the President’s proposal, first of all, I have to look and see how he got to 1.8 million young people! I think that’s, uh, — you know, certainly, he’s taking into account some other things that are young people that are here illegally and never applied for the program. He’s he wants border security. And uh, now I get it. He uses “the wall” language. This is much broader than that. It’s about fencing. It’s about replacement of existing wall. There’s certainly some expansion of a wall. It’s about technology. It’s about increasing the Border Patrol. It’s about putting this money in trust to make sure that it’s going to be there in future years. And so, and then it’s about making sure — again — that the laws are in place where it doesn’t happen again, that we deal with issues like chain migration, we make immigration available for the immediate family but not the relative of a relative of a relative. And this whole issue with diversity visas — individuals from underrepresented countries that were bought here solely by luck — by a lottery program — and not by merit, and not even by familial connections. And so, we need we need a dramatic change. And so, he wants to help these young people out. But he also wants changes. And so, this ought to be a point of negotiation. It shouldn’t be people getting theirm back up and not wanting to find a solution.

LENZ:: [00:04:22] Congressman Mike Coffman thank you for joining us this morning.

MIKE COFFMAN:: [00:04:25] Thank you for having me.