Jeff Crank

Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a former Army Ranger and member of the House Armed Services Committee, plans to introduce the Cooperative Overseas Military Battlefield Advancement in Trauma (COMBAT) Care Act. The bill would authorize the defense secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to establish a joint training and education program with foreign militaries to study lessons from overseas conflicts, including Ukraine, and apply them to battlefield trauma care for U.S. service members and veterans.

The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Jeff Crank (R-Colo.) and is endorsed by the University of Colorado Anschutz. An identical provision was already included in both the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act. The program would allow joint conferences, symposia, and professional exchanges among medical professionals. It builds on the Pentagon's Joint Trauma System, established in 2016 to improve battlefield trauma readiness and survival outcomes. Sponsors say continued research partnerships are needed as modern warfare evolves.

U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank has asked the Justice Department's civil rights division, led by Harmeet K. Dhillon, to investigate last week's anti-ICE student walkout in Denver after the demonstration turned violent. In a Tuesday letter, Crank raised concerns about whether outside groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America, Indivisible and 50501 Colorado helped organize, fund, or influence the protest, and whether counterprotesters and journalists were unlawfully prevented from exercising their rights.

More than 160 Colorado schools were expected to take part in the walkout, organized by the Colorado Youth Coalition, in which hundreds of students gathered at La Alma-Lincoln Park to protest ICE enforcement under the Trump administration. Denver police reported five assaults, with three people hospitalized, after students clashed with counterprotesters, including one incident where a man's pro-ICE sign was torn up and another where a woman was punched. Officers cited two people for graffiti and are still investigating. Melat Kiros, Democratic nominee for Colorado's 1st Congressional District, spoke at the rally.