Too often in Washington special interests urge us to fight one another just because we belong to different parties. It is time for this to stop and for Washington to focus on what needs to be done.

My family has spent 400 years farming on the banks of the Rio Grande. We know the value of hard work, love of the community, love for water and land.

In the West, you take people at their word.

It's a new day at the Department of Interior, and we need to examine what makes the most sense for the American people. These are American resources and American treasures, and we need to make sure we're providing the right kind of protection, oversight and stewardship of these resources for the American people.

For some in Washington, it's become sport to pick on the federal workforce. I think they do so unjustly. The very foundation of a stable America is having a government that functions well. Many countries have dysfunctional governments, because they don't have a good government workforce.

With leading research universities, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and private companies like Blue Sun working on developing alternative fuels, Colorado is poised to become an international leader in clean energy.

I want all the interested parties to come together and develop a solution that provides additional water and helps the lower Arkansas River communities thrive again.