Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com
BRECKENRIDGE — Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Boulder, visited Breckenridge on Thursday, taking a tour of several small businesses and meeting with local teachers during the August congressional recess.
Neguse also spoke about his work in Washington, D.C., where he and other Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have been taking steps toward recommending articles of impeachment for President Donald Trump.
Neguse started the small business tour at Breckenridge Brewery as one of nine members of Congress competing in Anheuser-Busch’s third annual Brew Across America competition. Competing legislators visit Anheuser-Busch or partner breweries in their districts to help brew their own original craft beer with local ingredients, then compete to see who came up with the best home state craft brew.
Neguse helped choose and brew the ingredients for his own original creation, a Palisade peach Gose. Breckenridge Brewery head brewer Jimmy Walker said the beer married one of Colorado’s favorite fruits, the Palisade peach, with Gose, a type of sour beer with high salinity originating in north Germany that is a hit in the craft beer scene.
Walker said he and the congressman kicked around ideas for a name for the beer, with a working name being “NeGose’s High Desert Palisade peach Gose,” tying in Neguse’s name with the regional roots of the Palisade peach.
Also on hand was Charles Talbott, a sixth-generation farmer who owns the largest Palisade peach farm in Colorado, Talbott Farms. Talbott said the collaboration with Breckenridge Brewery was a great way to partner two Colorado businesses while reducing carbon emissions by reducing the travel required to ship ingredients.
“Beer is about creating relationships,” Talbott said.
Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com
Neguse then met with Breckenridge mayor Eric Mamula at his restaurant, Downstair’s at Erics, where the two discussed the town and county’s looming nicotine tax.
Neguse went on to meet the owners and staff of other businesses, including real estate firm Slifer, Smith and Frampton; ski shop/bar Rocky Mountain Underground; toy store Peek-a-Boo Toys; and eatery Grace Sandwiches.
Neguse, on his second such tour of small businesses in Summit, said he was making the stops to highlight local small businesses in the county and across the district.
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy in Summit County,” Neguse said. “Part of the benefit of doing these tours is the opportunity to visit with small-business owners directly and talk to them about the challenges of running a business in the High Country, and I’m always keen to know what they’re dealing with day to day.”
Neguse went on to visit Summit School District teachers in Frisco. He said he wanted to highlight the impact teachers have in elevating the next generation.
“When you think of the incredible work they do, it’s important to make sure the community can retain them,” Neguse said.
When asked about his work on the House Judiciary Committee, which has been investigating Trump and administration officials for possible obstruction of justice, Neguse did not demur: He believes there is enough evidence that the president has obstructed the oversight duties of Congress and that an impeachment inquiry was proper.
“My position has been very clear from the outset, in that I believe there is sufficient evidence in the Special Counsel’s report that warranted the beginning of a formal impeachment inquiry,” Neguse said. “I think the administration’s wholesale obstruction of Congress, in terms of the way in which they’ve tried to thwart Congress from conducting its oversight activities, to me it is yet another reason why we ought to proceed with opening an impeachment inquiry.”
Neguse is not alone; 121 other House Democrats have lined up in support of an impeachment inquiry, which is more than half the Democratic caucus. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, while saying she opposed impeachment proceedings at the moment, has cooperated with the House Judiciary Committee and has not stood in the way of a formal impeachment inquiry.
“I’m going to continue making the case to folks of why I believe the inquiry is the most appropriate next step,” Neguse said. “I think part of my obligation serving on the Judiciary Committee, having seen up close the obstruction the administration has been engaged in, is to help educate the public and my colleagues of what I witnessed and share with them why I believe this is the most appropriate next step.”