By Christa Marshall – An energy bill introduced this week in the House of Representatives would ban drilling on federal lands atop the Roan Plateau, two Colorado lawmakers announced today.

Democratic Reps. John Salazar and Mark Udall inserted language in the bill to prevent all drilling on the plateau except when it originates from private land or wells at the base of the mountain.

The move would undercut a plan by the Bureau of Land Management to add more than 200 oil and gas wells to public lands on the Roan’s summit. >> MORE

Condemning Japan for its role in forcing women to serve as sex slaves in World War II is popular on Capitol Hill. On Monday, a congressional committee passed a bipartisan resolution asking Japan to apologize formally for providing “comfort women� to soldiers in government-run brothels.

But one of the resolution’s loudest detractors was Rep. Tom Tancredo, according to USA Today. He told the newspaper that “asking the Japanese government to take historical responsibility for atrocities of the defunct imperial-era government is somewhat counterproductive and unfair to the people of Japan.”

“I wonder how many times we expect a government to apologize for the sins of an imperial government of the past,” added Tancredo, R-Littleton.

Japanese officials claim they already have apologized for the brothels, but critics contend that a formal acknowledgement by the government is necessary.

The resolution passed the Foreign Affairs Committee 39-2, and has the support of more than 100 lawmakers from both parties.

Read the full story here

Former Colorado Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder has been named as the chair of PeacePAC, the campaign finance arm of a national arms-control group.

In her new role, Schroeder will head the Council for a Livable World’s efforts to elect candidates to the U.S. House of Representatives. In the 2006 election cycle, the council contributed more than $600,000 to candidates it considered progressive.

“We are extremely honored to have a woman of Patricia Schroeder’s extraordinary talent,â€? said Guy Stevens, director of PeacePAC. “We are excited about extending our ties to Colorado and other states of the Rocky Mountain West, which have taken on a new importance in national electoral politics.â€? >> MORE

Former Colo. Sen. Gary Hart doubts the prospects of a Hillary Clinton candidacy in a Politico story examining Barack Obama’s strategy in pursuing the Democratic presidential nomination.

“There still is an enormous number of people in the party who are unhappy with [Clinton] for what they perceive to be her vacillation on the war and her reluctance to confess error,” Hart said in an interview. “People who care about these things remember when, remember how, remember who took leadership.

“She’s one of the best-known women in the world,” Hart added. “She’s been in the White House for eight years. She’s a senator from one of the largest states. And 60-plus percent of the Democratic Party wants somebody else.”

Following the failure of the Senate to vote on a bill Wednesday that would begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar and Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander released a statement about their bi-partisan proposal to implement the Iraq Study Group proposal. “We are disappointed that our amendment was not considered by the full Senate as part of the debate on the defense bill. We hope the President will embrace these recommendations and a majority of senators will vote for them so the troops can know that we in Washington agree on their mission and give them our full support.”

Sen. Ken Salazar’s effort to put forth a bipartisan compromise on the Iraq mess is in trouble today.

As this morning’s Washington Post reports:
Sen. Harry Reid harshly dismissed the measure with the broadest bipartisan backing — a compilation of Iraq Study Group recommendations offered by freshman Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.). The Salazar proposal, which as of last night had attracted six Democratic and six Republican co-sponsors, “won’t change one thing that the president does,” Reid said, who is opposed to anything short of legislation ending U.S. combat operations.