July 25, 2025 • 21 mins
Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-4) joins the show to talk about immigration, the "Epstein Files", and her ZIP Code bill about to become law!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
My friend Lauren Bobert, Republican member of Congress representing Colorado's
fourth congressional district, and we have a ton of stuff
to talk about today. So Lauren, thanks for making time
for us, and it's good to talk to you again.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yes, good morning, Ross, And You're probably not wrong. I
don't know how welcome I am in Denver.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
I want to ask you a question that has nothing
to do with what I was planning to talk to
you about, but relates to the last thing I was
talking about on the show, because you have you have
kids who might be of an age that this would
apply to.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
My older kid, who is a.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Teen late teen, told me that he wants to get
rid of his smartphone and get a flip phone, a
dumb flip phone, and we went and bought one yesterday.
And I guess this is a whole trend in like
gen Z And I'm wondering if you've stumbled across this
in your own kids or anybody else.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
That is not something that I've come acause at all.
This is the first time hearing anything like that. But
you know, I would love for my kids to just
have a flip phone.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
We definitely have some summer phone restrictions.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
That are in place because we don't want just the
entire summer to be wasted away with screen screen time.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Well there you go.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Well they're calling it flip phone summer, so you might
ask your kids to look into it, because I think
that'd be good for everybody. Uh Okay, I've got a
ton of stuff I want to talk to you about.
I'm going to go in no particular order, but I
saw an article about a letter that you and Gabe
Evans and Jeff Crank wrote to Governor Polus quote expressing
(01:33):
grave concerns over Colorado's continued policy of covering illegal immigrants
with state medicaid funds. Can you elaborate for us please?
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
So the way most the way most states to are
sanctuary states and support illegal aliens on their healthcare dockets.
They do it through state programs and and then some
of it goes to it comes directly from medicaid itself.
But no matter what, those dollars are still flowing from
(02:06):
the federal government and coming into the state and then
kind of being laundered into other state programs and whatnot,
or just directly used by illegals on Medicaid itself. And
so right now, Colorado is a sanctuary state because of
the laws that are on the books. It doesn't matter
(02:28):
what are what, howld of a county you are in,
what your county commissioners have declared. Because of Colorado state laws,
we are a sanctuary state. And this is another thing
that we need to fix and get right so we
can put Colorado's and Americans first. We we cannot have
(02:49):
uh illegals just taking all of our tax benefits and
and and it's really unfortunate, but this is a state
where they are allowed to do that freely.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So it separate for them.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Or in addition to the kind of principled argument that
you're making about you know, illegal alien shouldn't be getting
taxpayer funded benefits.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
I'm not looking at the details now.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Of what you wrote, but I isn't there also some
potential risk to the state as far as federal funding
if they keep allowing any kind of illegal alien access
to federal medicaid dollars.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, well, well, first of all, you kind of broke
up on some of that, so I'm going to answer
what I think you asked. But with the way this
federal government has made promises to put America first and
to end the presence of illegal aliens. You're in this
country to secure the border and to have mass importations
(03:49):
and to you know, have the CBP one app where
people can self support, they get paid, their communication with
their home country so they have a place to go
when they when they get home, they have their their
own countries supplying them with healthcare needs and food and
whatnot to get them on their feet.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
And so this federal.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Government, President Trump and his administration had said that he's
going to start pulling funding from sanctuary states, sanctuary cities,
sanctuary states. I would prefer if he started with the
city of Denver here in our state before something like
that happens, because Mayor Johnston has explicit ordinances in place
(04:34):
that make it illegal for Denver employees to coordinate with
ICE agents, and that ordinance it just really strengthens that sanctuary.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Policy that we see at the state level.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
And so I would like President Trump to first make
make an example of Denver before it impacts the entire state,
because our entire state is not in favor of this.
But there will be consequences for those who who are
are not following the executive orders and the agenda that's
(05:08):
being laid out through legislation and everything else.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
So we we've got to make sure we are putting
Colorado first, that we are securing the federal funds that
should be coming back to our state and really fortifying
some of the great things that do come here, rather
than putting illegals first.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Right.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
And the part of that that that you that was
directly responsive to my question, I understand you didn't.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
You didn't hear all of it.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
But you did you did touch on it, and that
is that there's a decent chance that the government will
pass a new law rule, however it'll work, that will
reduce the federal matching funds for medicaid coming to a
state if the state allows illegal aliens to access federal
medicaid dollars.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
So that could be a very big.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Well, yes, But also with that, I mean, that's where
we should have taken care of that issue directly in
the big beautiful bill, and we failed to do so
entirely because the way those federal dollars work right now,
when states put in one dollar for medicaid, the federal
government comes in and puts in another dollar thirty three
(06:16):
and that's for your vulnerable. That's for your pregnant moms,
your infant, your your senior citizens, those who actually need
medicaid but with able bodied adults, and illegal aliens through
through Obamacare, through extended through extending Medicaid. Now when a
(06:37):
state puts in one dollar, those people get nine dollars
from the federal government. So it's a huge it's scam fraud,
money laundering scheme, and we are absolutely doing what we
can to reduce that. We should have done more in
the big beautiful Bill.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, I agree, I do think there's I want to
just you know, make sure we're clear on this. Theoretically,
illegal aliens can't get Medicaid, but like you said that
sometimes through state programs they do these sort of work
around so it's not like most illegal aliens get Medicaid.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
But really, if any.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Do, it's not right, right, And you know, we've even
seen like.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
What is it. I think it's Cali.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Caare, California, it's the California Medicare Medicaid. They accidentally sent
over their entire roster to someone who is really trying
to kick start this mass deportation machine on on steroids,
and while going through that list, they are finding many,
(07:42):
many illegals there, most of them on the state program,
but we still do find illegal aliens on the regular
medicaid as well. And that's the thing. It's if they're
not illegal and they can receive it, well, then there's
no big threat to losing it. Right, But we're seeing
that there's at least one point four million illegal aliens
(08:04):
directly receiving medicaid.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Okay, let's stick with immigration a little more, and then
I want to do some other things. There's an interesting
I would call a friendly disagreement right now between you
and another Colorado Republican, Gabe Evans, on something called the
Dignity Act, which, as I understand it would allow a
(08:28):
certain kind of permission for certain kind of illegal aliens
to stay in the country on a renewable but temporary.
Temporary but renewable basis not a path to citizenship. It
has a bunch of other things, border wall fundings and
funding and things that are supposed to appeal to conservatives.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
He signed on as a sponsor. You are not a fan, no, But.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I am a fan of Gabe Evans, and he's doing
a tremendous job, and this is certainly not something I'm
going to beat him over the head with but I
am going to try to stop this from passing. So
Gave Evans has done an amazing job in leading as
a freshman. He's on one of our A committees. He
is on Energy and Commerce, and he takes his job
very seriously. He's already passed multiple bills out of the House.
(09:13):
Uh and and uh, you know he's he's at the
table at a lot of the in a lot of
these important discussions that are taking place in Washington, DC.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
And of course when.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
We come home, he's you know, right here with the
constituents where he needs to be. But with this bill,
this Dignity Act, it is amnesty for uh, for about
ten million people. And I mean this is uh, maybe
maybe a little less nut, but this is amnesty. And
it's uh, it's really what I ran on the first
(09:44):
time I got to Congress. My predecessor had a Workforce
Modernization Act that he supported, and he said that it
wasn't amnesty, and I said, no, if you are in
our country illegally and then you get to stay here,
that is any And that's exactly what this is. And
as far as border funding and all this other stuff
that could be in the dignity at well. We already
(10:06):
took care of that in the big beautiful bill. We
have the border wall funded. We have increased border patrol agents,
we have increased their wages, we have increased positions, we've
increased ice agents, their entire departments funding, and so much more.
So we have already done that. It is not a
matter of resources, and amnesty has to be removed from
(10:27):
the table.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
We're talking with Congresswoman Lauren Bilbert, Republican representing Colorado's fourth
congressional district, mostly eastern northeastern Colorado.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
So I actually agree with.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
You that allowing any illegal immigrant to stay is amnesty.
I am not on board, but I think part of
what's happened with language, especially on the right, is that
the word amnesty has come to be taken as an
inherently bad word, and so conservatives use it and say
(11:03):
that's amnesty, which is kind of synonymous for saying that's unacceptable.
But given that there is some upside for the American economy,
for American businesses to have at least some of the
employees they have now, especially in these industries where it
will be difficult or impossible to fill those jobs with Americans.
(11:27):
Why isn't some limited kind of quote unquote amnesty, which
might not be the Dignity Act, but why wouldn't some
limited kind of amnesty actually be good for this country?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Well, first of all, wrong, I think it's offensive to
Americans to say that they're never going to do these
jobs and we can't fill these jobs without illegal workers.
And you know, it's really an argument that I hear
a lot from the last and even someone the right
when talking about our farms and agriculture, and well, who
else is going to clean your toilets us? And I
(12:00):
think that's very insulting, and it's inventured servitude. I don't
think it's compassionate because many of the folks who come
here illegally are brought here by the cartel themselves, and
they are indebted to the cartel, and many, of course
are are trafficked and and and hurt in many ways
that I won't describe in detail on the radio here today,
(12:22):
but it's very it's it's the opposite of compassion to say, Okay,
you know, you're incentivized to come here because we got
a job for you. When you get here, you can
get on our medicaid. We'll take care of all of
your food, will help you out with housing, and and
the journey that they have to go on. If they
survive that and make that, it's it's extremely dangerous. And
(12:44):
like I said, many of them are indebted to the cartel,
and so a lot of those dollars that they're actually
making here are being sent back. We already are the
most generous country in the world. We naturalize one million
residents a year. You know, we allow we allow new
(13:04):
immigrants to come in every year, up to one million.
And to have someone come in and cut the line
and say that it's compassionate to have some sort of
structural fest with them, it is not correct and and
it's it's really not moral either.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Also, let me just jump.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
In for the wait. Wait, let me just want one
more thing. You know, I've been talking for a while.
We have this these we have H one B visas,
we have of bees, all these visa programs, these work programs.
But also you see companies like Microsoft who are laying
off nine thousand or more American workers and then applying
for almost five thousand work visas.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Right, So I get that, and I think so you
said a lot of things there. First, I think there's
two different conversations to be had about high skilled workers
and low skilled workers. There's you know, some overlap, but
those are different policy discussions. Of saying that perhaps some
illegal aliens should be able to stay here and do
some jobs is not supporting cartels. Everything you said, you know,
(14:07):
cartels and trafficking and all that stuff is terrible. But
what about somebody who just makes their way across They
don't know money to a coyote, They're they're making a living,
they're mowing a lawn, they're cleaning a hotel, whatever, you
know what that might be.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
It's not indentured servitude.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
It's a it's a voluntary contract between an employer and employee.
It's not slavery. It's not any of that. I'm not
saying there aren't bad examples, but there's a lot of
examples that aren't that. And as far as Americans, no, wait,
hold on, it's my turn.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
To finish now, it's it's uh.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
As far as Americans doing the jobs or or not, yeah, okay,
at some price, you can go get Americans to clean
the toilets, or you can get Americans to pick the lettuce.
But at that at those prices, will you be able
to afford to stay at a hotel?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Will you be able to afford to eat lettuce? And
And you know.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
To me, I think there's some middle ground, and I'm
not saying I think we're going to reach it, And
I don't know that the Dignity Act is it, but
I'm probably somewhere in between you and Gabe on this.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Okay, So is that moral to say, well, you come
here and you get our lowest wages paid to you
because we don't want to do these jobs. You're not
worthy of actually going and getting another job to make
more money. But you know you could start here at
the bottom and sure just be in our country.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
I don't think that that's moral at all.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Why Why aren't they deserving of the American dream to
come here to do it the right way like one
million immigrants to every year. And to think that the
cartel do not have operational control of the southern border
is absolutely insane.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Now, no, I'm talking about people who are here.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Control, but they certainly did the past four years and more.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
But even the Dignity Act is only talking about people
who were here before that, so I'm not talking about
opening the border or anything like that. I'm all for
an absolutely secure border. Anyway, I want to do one
more thing because we only got a few minutes left,
and we can do that another time. You and I
have talked a couple times on the show about your
zip code bill that I've loved all the way along,
(16:15):
and it had some speed bumps, but I guess it's
passed now.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Yes, So my Unique zip Code Bill did pass the House,
and this is a bill that I love so much,
and I'm working on getting it passed out of the
Senate now. I will be talking to the Senate a
whole lot until that happens. But we have sixty five
communities that are listed on my Unique zip Code Bill,
fifteen of which are in Colorado. And this just forces
(16:44):
the United States Postal Office to assign these communities with
a unique zip code so they have their own identity,
they have better first responders time, there's more accurate mail
delivery in place, and it even impacts sales tax revenues
that are already being collected. I'm not raising taxes anywhere,
(17:05):
but the sales tax revenues for home deliveries and whatnot.
They're not going directly to these communities and many circumstances,
and so it allows that actual city, like Loan Trees
losing millions of dollars a year through online shopping that's
going to home and it's not going to Loan Tree,
(17:26):
but those taxes are still being collected, so they will
be able to actually put a very unique zip code
and lay claim to millions of dollars and sales tax revenues.
And then it also impacts homeowners insurance rates because a
lot of times these communities should have a lower rate,
but their zip code ties them into the city next
(17:49):
to them, where homeowners insurance.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
Rates are higher.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Yeah, you know, it's the last two towns I lived
in both have zip code that shows up like in
Google Maps or hostal systems as Englewood, but neither of
the one of them is actually Englewood.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
And so I've been living that. I'm curious.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
You and I have been talking about this for a
long time, and there were there I think you brought
it up in the last Congress, and then you brought
it up again in this Congress.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Is that right? Yeah, okay, And.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I was wondering if in that time period, because I
think you had told me that you learned of a
few other communities that weren't on your original list that
have the same problem. Were you able to add any
communities to the bill in that time.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Yes, So since it's the new Congress, we redrafted the
legislation and we were able to make additions there. Last
year we had about fifty communities listed and now we
have sixty five. So there were fifteen other communities that
were listed, some in Colorado, some throughout the nation. And
even one of the reasons we were kind of fighting
with the Senate to get it passed in the last
(18:55):
Congress was Senator said, no, I have cities in my
state that need this and it's not on this bill,
so I'm not going to pass it.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
And they really just wanted to build strengthened, and so
I do think that it has a higher probability of
passing the Senate and being signed into law this Congress,
hopefully this year, if I have anything to do with it,
And so this will be a huge benefit. But we
have we have cities like Frederick and Severance and Terry
(19:23):
Hills and Centennial, Keystone, Loane Tree, Highlands, Ranch, and so
many more right here in Colorado that are impacted. And
of course I would be remiss if I left out
the beautiful town of Silvercliff. That's where this journey started
with me. It began in Silvercliff when they raised this issue,
something they've been fighting for thirty years. And so hopefully
(19:47):
by the end of this Congress or before, Silvercliff will
no longer have to share a zip code which Westcliff.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Oh fabulous, You know, folks, this is just an example
a lot of times, you know, the national stuff, the
trumpy stuff, or the Epstein stuff that I didn't get
to with Lauren today. It takes up a lot of
the oxygen in the room. But every once in a while,
Congress does something that just really affects your daily life
in ways that can make a real difference. It might
(20:15):
not seem like the the top line headline in the
New York Times or whatever, but it really impacts your life.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
And this is one of these things.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
And Lauren has been the champion of this for a
couple of years now. So I'm not sure whether I
should say congratulations because I'm slightly superstitious, So I will
just say well done getting it through the House.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Good luck getting it through the Senate.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
I think you got a decent shot, and I look
forward to the day when we can talk about it
being signed into law.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Yes, I look forward to that day as well. And
you're right, this does impact so many people's day to
day lives, and that's why it's such a huge priority
for me. I have other pieces of legislation that directly
impact Colorado as well that I'm fighting just.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
As hard on.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
But this is not something that people can't hang on necessarily,
and I've made it a priority and I'm going to
do everything that I can to get it passed. And
so if you would be superstitious, I'll be a little
stitious and we'll talk on the other side of its passing.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
That's funny, all right.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Lauren Bobert, Republican congresswoman representing Colorado's fourth congressional district.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Thanks for your time. As always, Lauren, talk to you soon.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
Thanks so much for Ross
My friend Lauren Bobert, Republican member of Congress representing Colorado's
fourth congressional district, and we have a ton of stuff
to talk about today. So Lauren, thanks for making time
for us, and it's good to talk to you again.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yes, good morning, Ross, And You're probably not wrong. I
don't know how welcome I am in Denver.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
I want to ask you a question that has nothing
to do with what I was planning to talk to
you about, but relates to the last thing I was
talking about on the show, because you have you have
kids who might be of an age that this would
apply to.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
My older kid, who is a.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Teen late teen, told me that he wants to get
rid of his smartphone and get a flip phone, a
dumb flip phone, and we went and bought one yesterday.
And I guess this is a whole trend in like
gen Z And I'm wondering if you've stumbled across this
in your own kids or anybody else.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
That is not something that I've come acause at all.
This is the first time hearing anything like that. But
you know, I would love for my kids to just
have a flip phone.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
We definitely have some summer phone restrictions.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
That are in place because we don't want just the
entire summer to be wasted away with screen screen time.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Well there you go.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Well they're calling it flip phone summer, so you might
ask your kids to look into it, because I think
that'd be good for everybody. Uh Okay, I've got a
ton of stuff I want to talk to you about.
I'm going to go in no particular order, but I
saw an article about a letter that you and Gabe
Evans and Jeff Crank wrote to Governor Polus quote expressing
(01:33):
grave concerns over Colorado's continued policy of covering illegal immigrants
with state medicaid funds. Can you elaborate for us please?
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
So the way most the way most states to are
sanctuary states and support illegal aliens on their healthcare dockets.
They do it through state programs and and then some
of it goes to it comes directly from medicaid itself.
But no matter what, those dollars are still flowing from
(02:06):
the federal government and coming into the state and then
kind of being laundered into other state programs and whatnot,
or just directly used by illegals on Medicaid itself. And
so right now, Colorado is a sanctuary state because of
the laws that are on the books. It doesn't matter
(02:28):
what are what, howld of a county you are in,
what your county commissioners have declared. Because of Colorado state laws,
we are a sanctuary state. And this is another thing
that we need to fix and get right so we
can put Colorado's and Americans first. We we cannot have
(02:49):
uh illegals just taking all of our tax benefits and
and and it's really unfortunate, but this is a state
where they are allowed to do that freely.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So it separate for them.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Or in addition to the kind of principled argument that
you're making about you know, illegal alien shouldn't be getting
taxpayer funded benefits.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
I'm not looking at the details now.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Of what you wrote, but I isn't there also some
potential risk to the state as far as federal funding
if they keep allowing any kind of illegal alien access
to federal medicaid dollars.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, well, well, first of all, you kind of broke
up on some of that, so I'm going to answer
what I think you asked. But with the way this
federal government has made promises to put America first and
to end the presence of illegal aliens. You're in this
country to secure the border and to have mass importations
(03:49):
and to you know, have the CBP one app where
people can self support, they get paid, their communication with
their home country so they have a place to go
when they when they get home, they have their their
own countries supplying them with healthcare needs and food and
whatnot to get them on their feet.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
And so this federal.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Government, President Trump and his administration had said that he's
going to start pulling funding from sanctuary states, sanctuary cities,
sanctuary states. I would prefer if he started with the
city of Denver here in our state before something like
that happens, because Mayor Johnston has explicit ordinances in place
(04:34):
that make it illegal for Denver employees to coordinate with
ICE agents, and that ordinance it just really strengthens that sanctuary.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Policy that we see at the state level.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
And so I would like President Trump to first make
make an example of Denver before it impacts the entire state,
because our entire state is not in favor of this.
But there will be consequences for those who who are
are not following the executive orders and the agenda that's
(05:08):
being laid out through legislation and everything else.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
So we we've got to make sure we are putting
Colorado first, that we are securing the federal funds that
should be coming back to our state and really fortifying
some of the great things that do come here, rather
than putting illegals first.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Right.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
And the part of that that that you that was
directly responsive to my question, I understand you didn't.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
You didn't hear all of it.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
But you did you did touch on it, and that
is that there's a decent chance that the government will
pass a new law rule, however it'll work, that will
reduce the federal matching funds for medicaid coming to a
state if the state allows illegal aliens to access federal
medicaid dollars.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
So that could be a very big.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Well, yes, But also with that, I mean, that's where
we should have taken care of that issue directly in
the big beautiful bill, and we failed to do so
entirely because the way those federal dollars work right now,
when states put in one dollar for medicaid, the federal
government comes in and puts in another dollar thirty three
(06:16):
and that's for your vulnerable. That's for your pregnant moms,
your infant, your your senior citizens, those who actually need
medicaid but with able bodied adults, and illegal aliens through
through Obamacare, through extended through extending Medicaid. Now when a
(06:37):
state puts in one dollar, those people get nine dollars
from the federal government. So it's a huge it's scam fraud,
money laundering scheme, and we are absolutely doing what we
can to reduce that. We should have done more in
the big beautiful Bill.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, I agree, I do think there's I want to
just you know, make sure we're clear on this. Theoretically,
illegal aliens can't get Medicaid, but like you said that
sometimes through state programs they do these sort of work
around so it's not like most illegal aliens get Medicaid.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
But really, if any.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Do, it's not right, right, And you know, we've even
seen like.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
What is it. I think it's Cali.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Caare, California, it's the California Medicare Medicaid. They accidentally sent
over their entire roster to someone who is really trying
to kick start this mass deportation machine on on steroids,
and while going through that list, they are finding many,
(07:42):
many illegals there, most of them on the state program,
but we still do find illegal aliens on the regular
medicaid as well. And that's the thing. It's if they're
not illegal and they can receive it, well, then there's
no big threat to losing it. Right, But we're seeing
that there's at least one point four million illegal aliens
(08:04):
directly receiving medicaid.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Okay, let's stick with immigration a little more, and then
I want to do some other things. There's an interesting
I would call a friendly disagreement right now between you
and another Colorado Republican, Gabe Evans, on something called the
Dignity Act, which, as I understand it would allow a
(08:28):
certain kind of permission for certain kind of illegal aliens
to stay in the country on a renewable but temporary.
Temporary but renewable basis not a path to citizenship. It
has a bunch of other things, border wall fundings and
funding and things that are supposed to appeal to conservatives.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
He signed on as a sponsor. You are not a fan, no, But.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I am a fan of Gabe Evans, and he's doing
a tremendous job, and this is certainly not something I'm
going to beat him over the head with but I
am going to try to stop this from passing. So
Gave Evans has done an amazing job in leading as
a freshman. He's on one of our A committees. He
is on Energy and Commerce, and he takes his job
very seriously. He's already passed multiple bills out of the House.
(09:13):
Uh and and uh, you know he's he's at the
table at a lot of the in a lot of
these important discussions that are taking place in Washington, DC.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
And of course when.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
We come home, he's you know, right here with the
constituents where he needs to be. But with this bill,
this Dignity Act, it is amnesty for uh, for about
ten million people. And I mean this is uh, maybe
maybe a little less nut, but this is amnesty. And
it's uh, it's really what I ran on the first
(09:44):
time I got to Congress. My predecessor had a Workforce
Modernization Act that he supported, and he said that it
wasn't amnesty, and I said, no, if you are in
our country illegally and then you get to stay here,
that is any And that's exactly what this is. And
as far as border funding and all this other stuff
that could be in the dignity at well. We already
(10:06):
took care of that in the big beautiful bill. We
have the border wall funded. We have increased border patrol agents,
we have increased their wages, we have increased positions, we've
increased ice agents, their entire departments funding, and so much more.
So we have already done that. It is not a
matter of resources, and amnesty has to be removed from
(10:27):
the table.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
We're talking with Congresswoman Lauren Bilbert, Republican representing Colorado's fourth
congressional district, mostly eastern northeastern Colorado.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
So I actually agree with.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
You that allowing any illegal immigrant to stay is amnesty.
I am not on board, but I think part of
what's happened with language, especially on the right, is that
the word amnesty has come to be taken as an
inherently bad word, and so conservatives use it and say
(11:03):
that's amnesty, which is kind of synonymous for saying that's unacceptable.
But given that there is some upside for the American economy,
for American businesses to have at least some of the
employees they have now, especially in these industries where it
will be difficult or impossible to fill those jobs with Americans.
(11:27):
Why isn't some limited kind of quote unquote amnesty, which
might not be the Dignity Act, but why wouldn't some
limited kind of amnesty actually be good for this country?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Well, first of all, wrong, I think it's offensive to
Americans to say that they're never going to do these
jobs and we can't fill these jobs without illegal workers.
And you know, it's really an argument that I hear
a lot from the last and even someone the right
when talking about our farms and agriculture, and well, who
else is going to clean your toilets us? And I
(12:00):
think that's very insulting, and it's inventured servitude. I don't
think it's compassionate because many of the folks who come
here illegally are brought here by the cartel themselves, and
they are indebted to the cartel, and many, of course
are are trafficked and and and hurt in many ways
that I won't describe in detail on the radio here today,
(12:22):
but it's very it's it's the opposite of compassion to say, Okay,
you know, you're incentivized to come here because we got
a job for you. When you get here, you can
get on our medicaid. We'll take care of all of
your food, will help you out with housing, and and
the journey that they have to go on. If they
survive that and make that, it's it's extremely dangerous. And
(12:44):
like I said, many of them are indebted to the cartel,
and so a lot of those dollars that they're actually
making here are being sent back. We already are the
most generous country in the world. We naturalize one million
residents a year. You know, we allow we allow new
(13:04):
immigrants to come in every year, up to one million.
And to have someone come in and cut the line
and say that it's compassionate to have some sort of
structural fest with them, it is not correct and and
it's it's really not moral either.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Also, let me just jump.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
In for the wait. Wait, let me just want one
more thing. You know, I've been talking for a while.
We have this these we have H one B visas,
we have of bees, all these visa programs, these work programs.
But also you see companies like Microsoft who are laying
off nine thousand or more American workers and then applying
for almost five thousand work visas.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Right, So I get that, and I think so you
said a lot of things there. First, I think there's
two different conversations to be had about high skilled workers
and low skilled workers. There's you know, some overlap, but
those are different policy discussions. Of saying that perhaps some
illegal aliens should be able to stay here and do
some jobs is not supporting cartels. Everything you said, you know,
(14:07):
cartels and trafficking and all that stuff is terrible. But
what about somebody who just makes their way across They
don't know money to a coyote, They're they're making a living,
they're mowing a lawn, they're cleaning a hotel, whatever, you
know what that might be.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
It's not indentured servitude.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
It's a it's a voluntary contract between an employer and employee.
It's not slavery. It's not any of that. I'm not
saying there aren't bad examples, but there's a lot of
examples that aren't that. And as far as Americans, no, wait,
hold on, it's my turn.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
To finish now, it's it's uh.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
As far as Americans doing the jobs or or not, yeah, okay,
at some price, you can go get Americans to clean
the toilets, or you can get Americans to pick the lettuce.
But at that at those prices, will you be able
to afford to stay at a hotel?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Will you be able to afford to eat lettuce? And
And you know.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
To me, I think there's some middle ground, and I'm
not saying I think we're going to reach it, And
I don't know that the Dignity Act is it, but
I'm probably somewhere in between you and Gabe on this.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Okay, So is that moral to say, well, you come
here and you get our lowest wages paid to you
because we don't want to do these jobs. You're not
worthy of actually going and getting another job to make
more money. But you know you could start here at
the bottom and sure just be in our country.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
I don't think that that's moral at all.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Why Why aren't they deserving of the American dream to
come here to do it the right way like one
million immigrants to every year. And to think that the
cartel do not have operational control of the southern border
is absolutely insane.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Now, no, I'm talking about people who are here.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Control, but they certainly did the past four years and more.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
But even the Dignity Act is only talking about people
who were here before that, so I'm not talking about
opening the border or anything like that. I'm all for
an absolutely secure border. Anyway, I want to do one
more thing because we only got a few minutes left,
and we can do that another time. You and I
have talked a couple times on the show about your
zip code bill that I've loved all the way along,
(16:15):
and it had some speed bumps, but I guess it's
passed now.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Yes, So my Unique zip Code Bill did pass the House,
and this is a bill that I love so much,
and I'm working on getting it passed out of the
Senate now. I will be talking to the Senate a
whole lot until that happens. But we have sixty five
communities that are listed on my Unique zip Code Bill,
fifteen of which are in Colorado. And this just forces
(16:44):
the United States Postal Office to assign these communities with
a unique zip code so they have their own identity,
they have better first responders time, there's more accurate mail
delivery in place, and it even impacts sales tax revenues
that are already being collected. I'm not raising taxes anywhere,
(17:05):
but the sales tax revenues for home deliveries and whatnot.
They're not going directly to these communities and many circumstances,
and so it allows that actual city, like Loan Trees
losing millions of dollars a year through online shopping that's
going to home and it's not going to Loan Tree,
(17:26):
but those taxes are still being collected, so they will
be able to actually put a very unique zip code
and lay claim to millions of dollars and sales tax revenues.
And then it also impacts homeowners insurance rates because a
lot of times these communities should have a lower rate,
but their zip code ties them into the city next
(17:49):
to them, where homeowners insurance.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
Rates are higher.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Yeah, you know, it's the last two towns I lived
in both have zip code that shows up like in
Google Maps or hostal systems as Englewood, but neither of
the one of them is actually Englewood.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
And so I've been living that. I'm curious.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
You and I have been talking about this for a
long time, and there were there I think you brought
it up in the last Congress, and then you brought
it up again in this Congress.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Is that right? Yeah, okay, And.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I was wondering if in that time period, because I
think you had told me that you learned of a
few other communities that weren't on your original list that
have the same problem. Were you able to add any
communities to the bill in that time.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Yes, So since it's the new Congress, we redrafted the
legislation and we were able to make additions there. Last
year we had about fifty communities listed and now we
have sixty five. So there were fifteen other communities that
were listed, some in Colorado, some throughout the nation. And
even one of the reasons we were kind of fighting
with the Senate to get it passed in the last
(18:55):
Congress was Senator said, no, I have cities in my
state that need this and it's not on this bill,
so I'm not going to pass it.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
And they really just wanted to build strengthened, and so
I do think that it has a higher probability of
passing the Senate and being signed into law this Congress,
hopefully this year, if I have anything to do with it,
And so this will be a huge benefit. But we
have we have cities like Frederick and Severance and Terry
(19:23):
Hills and Centennial, Keystone, Loane Tree, Highlands, Ranch, and so
many more right here in Colorado that are impacted. And
of course I would be remiss if I left out
the beautiful town of Silvercliff. That's where this journey started
with me. It began in Silvercliff when they raised this issue,
something they've been fighting for thirty years. And so hopefully
(19:47):
by the end of this Congress or before, Silvercliff will
no longer have to share a zip code which Westcliff.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Oh fabulous, You know, folks, this is just an example
a lot of times, you know, the national stuff, the
trumpy stuff, or the Epstein stuff that I didn't get
to with Lauren today. It takes up a lot of
the oxygen in the room. But every once in a while,
Congress does something that just really affects your daily life
in ways that can make a real difference. It might
(20:15):
not seem like the the top line headline in the
New York Times or whatever, but it really impacts your life.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
And this is one of these things.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
And Lauren has been the champion of this for a
couple of years now. So I'm not sure whether I
should say congratulations because I'm slightly superstitious, So I will
just say well done getting it through the House.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Good luck getting it through the Senate.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
I think you got a decent shot, and I look
forward to the day when we can talk about it
being signed into law.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Yes, I look forward to that day as well. And
you're right, this does impact so many people's day to
day lives, and that's why it's such a huge priority
for me. I have other pieces of legislation that directly
impact Colorado as well that I'm fighting just.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
As hard on.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
But this is not something that people can't hang on necessarily,
and I've made it a priority and I'm going to
do everything that I can to get it passed. And
so if you would be superstitious, I'll be a little
stitious and we'll talk on the other side of its passing.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
That's funny, all right.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Lauren Bobert, Republican congresswoman representing Colorado's fourth congressional district.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Thanks for your time. As always, Lauren, talk to you soon.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
Thanks so much for Ross
The Ross Kaminsky Show News
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