Political Quotes

“I rise to join my fellow Coloradans, my colleagues in the U.S. Congress and others across the Nation to celebrate Black History Month. I am honored to recognize the contributions of the African-American community in the United States and especially in my home State of Colorado. I am particularly proud to reflect on the legacy of community involvement exemplified by Colorado's Black community, from Colorado's earliest days as a western territory to the present. There have been many community leaders, public officials, and entrepreneurs who have contributed immensely over the years to make our great State what it is today, from our historic and cultural institutions, to the farms and small businesses of our rural communities. One gentleman named James Beckwourth, whom I have recognized in previous years as a true frontiersmen, exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit that led to the building of the economic foundations that supported the formation of our great State. He led expeditions into Colorado's Rocky Mountains in the 1820s and returned in the 1830s to serve at Fort Vasquez near Denver. In the 1840s, he co-founded a trading post and settlement named Fort Pueblo to serve as a trading hub for the Native Americans, Mexican settlers and other American frontiersmen along the Santa Fe Trail. This settlement eventually became the City of Pueblo and still serves as a commercial hub for Southeast Colorado. Mr.…”