Hart joins Peña in battle
Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Former U.S. senator and presidential candidate Gary Hart has joined former Denver Mayor Federico Peña in the fight against efforts to deny services to illegal immigrants.
The Democrat, 69, issued a statement Monday on behalf of Keep Colorado Safe. The group, headed by Peña, is opposing the move to prohibit illegal immigrants in Colorado from receiving all taxpayer-funded public services except those required by the federal government.
"I would like to see this state lead in bringing sanity and reason to this issue, not pouring gasoline on a fire," he said Monday.
Hart, a congressman from 1975 to 1987, is an authority on foreign policy, the environment and national security. He is finishing his 17th book and will soon begin teaching at the University of Colorado at Denver.
Hart emphasized that the illegal immigration problem affects the international community and cannot be fixed in Colorado.
He said a special session of the state legislature on the issue is "unneccesary."
"I don't see what it solves. Both sides will score some political points or try to, and we won't be any farther down the road."
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