Lamborn keeps focused on familiar GOP issues

The congressional session that begins on Jan. 15 will be a new one for second-year U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, but there are a lot of things that bear an eerie resemblance to 2006 and 2007.

The Colorado Springs Republican will be returning to a Democrat-led Congress where his socially and fiscally conservative ideas carry little sway. He once again will be focused on military and veterans issues. And once more, he will face a Republican primary against 2006 runners-up Jeff Crank and Bentley Rayburn.

He will continue his defense of Fort Carson knowing that he and other members of the Colorado delegation have secured a new brigade for the post. And unlike 2007, he will serve a full year on the House Armed Services Committee.

Lamborn insists that the way he prioritizes issues and goes about his job will not be affected by the looming intraparty race.

“I figure that every elected representative should feel like they’re always under scrutiny by the people who elected them, whether it’s an election year or not,” Lamborn said.

Lamborn’s top goal will be to continue growing the military presence in the area by attracting the soon-to-beformed Air Force Cyber Command to the Pikes Peak region. He already has flown to Louisiana, the command’s temporary home, to meet with key officials, and an announcement should be made within the next 60 days, he said.

Other top military issues include continuing his push to establish a national veterans cemetery in El Paso County and addressing the need for a mobile outreach program to bring services to veterans in rural areas, he said.

On the nonmilitary front, funding a study on expanding Pueblo Reservoir stands out for Lamborn. But with heavy opposition coming from Rep. John Salazar, a Pueblo Democrat, Lamborn said the best he can hope for this year is to continue to block Salazar’s attempts to add requirements to any study that would delay it for many years.

After gaining a reputation in the state Senate for pushing measures that were deemed too conservative even by some Republicans, Lamborn said he hopes to continue to push such issues in Congress.

This year he plans to introduce a measure requiring a public vote if Congress expands the national debt and to examine all federally funded research involving fetal tissue to determine whether the tissue is being acquired from the sale of aborted fetuses.

“We try hard, and I’m going to be pushing for conservative values in the fiscal and social arena,” Lamborn said.

Lamborn’s goals for the next year differ slightly from what his two Republican opponents said they would be looking to do if they held his office.

Rayburn, a retired Air Force major general, said he would concentrate on improving the relationship between the Department of Defense and Congress as it pertains to efficient spending and on balancing local property rights and national defense needs in Piñon Canyon.

Crank, a former Chamber of Commerce vice president, said he would prioritize getting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office established in the area .