The Clean Power Plan and the Iran nuclear deal dominated the headlines nationally this week. Another issue, whether senators should e-file their campaign finance reports, flew under most radars. Colorado's U.S. senators had reactions to those issues.
Bennet speaks out about Clean Power Plan repeal
Environmental Protection Agency Director Scott Pruitt announced this week that he would repeal the Clean Power Plan. The plan sought to curb carbon emissions from power plants.
Sen. Michael Bennet spoke out against the move, saying that the Trump administration's priorities "are not in line with those of the American people."
"In Colorado, where we have already committed to meeting carbon standards set under the Clean Power Plan, we will continue creating jobs, saving money and protecting our air quality," Bennet, a Democrat, said in a statement. "The administration should want this outcome for the entire country, and it should reverse this shortsighted and damaging decision."
Senators react to stepping away from Iran deal
While attending a roundtable discussion on energy and manufacturing with Bennet, Sen. Cory Gardner spoke this week about the possibility of President Trump decertifying the Iran nuclear deal. The deal was solidified during the Obama administration. Gardner said backing away from it is a good thing and would send a powerful message to North Korea.
"Iran got a pretty good deal, if you're Kim Jong Un," Gardner said. "Because Iran got to keep their nuclear program. Iran got to keep advanced research and development. Iran gets to put in place advanced centrifuges that will allow them to produce fuel for a nuclear bomb."
Bennet disagreed.
"The idea that we would want to have a situation where we had not one, but now two countries building nuclear weapons in secret is nuts," he said.
On Friday, Trump said the U.S. will not certify that Iran has held up their end of the deal and slapped sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guard for supporting terrorism.
Not certifying #IranNuclearDeal undermines US security by risking credibility & leverage w partners needed to address Iran's malign behavior pic.twitter.com/a3ws9RmOIw
— Michael Bennet (@SenatorBennet) October 13, 2017
Senate moves ahead on e-filing for campaign finance reports
U.S. Senate candidates – like all major political candidates – are required to file campaign finance reports, but there's one thing that sets their reports apart: They're on paper.
A bill moving through the Senate seeks to change that. The Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, introduced in February, would require Senate candidates to file their campaign finance reports electronically. It has 45 co-sponsors, including Bennet.
Gardner, who supported a version of the bill in 2015, has not yet thrown his support behind the iteration.
