Coffman apologizes to Penry for Piñon Canyon accusation

U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., responded Tuesday to a thinly veiled attack by Republican state Sen. Ted Harvey in an editorial published Friday in the Colorado Statesman: Coffman apologized to state Sen. Josh Penry.

Coffman said he had allowed his emotions to confuse him about Penry’s motives in supporting HB 1317, a proposal passed by the General Assembly that “permanently bars the U.S. Army from expanding its training areas at the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site.” Coffman had accused Penry of supporting the bill “simply on the basis of a political calculation.”

The 6th District congressman acknowledged that differences of opinion on military matters don’t mean that others don’t “care as deeply as I do about the men and women who serve our nation in uniform. For that, I apologize to Josh Penry.”

In his commentary Friday, Harvey, a co-sponsor of the Piñon Canyon legislation, defended Penry as a courageous leader who had put his political future “at risk defending the rights of all citizens from the oft overreaching powers of government.” Penry is a candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

Harvey had harsh words for Coffman, saying the former state Treasurer had ignored the issues of religious freedom and free speech when he flip-flopped on his support for “hate crimes” legislation. Coffman was among 17 Republicans to vote for the legislation in the last Congress, Harvey said, but then voted against it when it was attached to the National Defense Authorization Act, citing its “chilling effects on religious freedoms and free speech.”

“How convenient,” Harvey wrote, accusing Coffman of “seizing an opportunity to cast a “do over” vote on a hate crimes bill whose passage angered his conservative political base.”

Read U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman’s original column Oct. 23:
“Penry, HB 1317 shortchange America’s troops”

Read state Sen. Ted Harvey’s commentary Oct. 30.

Read Coffman’s apology Nov. 3.