WASHINGTON — New U.S. Rep. Jason Crow cites his combat background in explaining why he’s standing with other congressional Democrats who refuse to make concessions on the border wall demanded by President Donald Trump.

“I spent two combat tours on the Afghan-Pakistan border, so I know a thing or two about border security and support smart, effective border security,” the Aurora Democrat told Colorado Politics. “What I do not support is wasting billions of taxpayer dollars for an ineffective border wall.”

Crow rode a wave of anti-Trump sentiment into Congress, converting the House of Representatives from a Republican to a Democratic majority.

> RELATED: Crow pushing US House Democrats’ election, campaign finance reform package

He unseated the 6th Congressional District’s five-term Republican Rep. Mike Coffman despite never having run for elected office previously.

Like other House Democrats, Crow objects to linking the debate over building a border wall to the ongoing partial shutdown of the federal government.

“What we cannot allow is our federal workforce to be used as a bargaining chip while Congress and the president have a discussion about what makes sense to secure our borders,” Crow said.

> RELATED: Crow flies to Duckworth for House speaker instead of Pelosi

On his first day in office, Crow voted for a bill to end the shutdown. Trump has steadfastly refused to approve new government funding until he gets $5.7 billion for the wall.

Both the first bill to end the shutdown and a second legislative proposal this week stalled after the Senate declined to vote on them, leaving nearly 800,000 federal workers without paychecks.

“It is time for the president and Senate to do what should’ve been done weeks ago and re-open the government,” Crow said.

> RELATED: Jason Crow names Iraqi immigrant as district director

Crow also told Colorado Politics about the first steps he is taking toward advancing the agenda he laid out during his campaign. It includes campaign finance and government reform, gun violence prevention, immigration reform and lowering health care costs.

Last week, he co-sponsored HR-1, a package aimed at election reforms and government ethics. (More on that here.)

The measure calls for automatic voter registration while restricting lawmakers from drafting electoral districts for partisan advantage.

Other parts of the proposal would require nonprofit organizations that donate to political campaigns to disclose their donors.

Members of Congress would be forbidden from serving on corporate boards under the bill, and presidential candidates would be required to publicly reveal their tax returns.

“The biggest challenge we face in Washington is a corrupt political system dominated by big money,” Crow said. “Whether we are talking about climate change, gun violence, health care or immigration reform, it is the influence of unaccountable, dark money in our political system that stonewalls progress on these important issues.”

If Crow makes his mark in Congress during his first term, it could be as a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He won an appointment to the committee this week.

“I look forward to ensuring a strong national defense, supporting our men and women in uniform and working with our allies to advance diplomacy,” he said.

Many of his comments about his goals in Congress are sprinkled with references to his military service.

“I’m not a career politician,” he said. “I’m a combat veteran, father, lawyer and veterans advocate and I believe we need a new generation of leadership with real-life experiences outside of politics to fix our broken system.”

Crow served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Army, which included winning a Bronze Star for his role as a platoon leader in the 2003 Battle of Samawah. After returning to the United States, he earned a law degree at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law.

In 2017, he became a partner in the Denver-based law firm of Holland & Hart. He also served as a volunteer on the Colorado Board of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2014 before announcing his intention to run for Congress.

“I have led diverse teams of soldiers in the Army to accomplish hard missions, helped counsel local businesses as a lawyer, served our veterans and know the challenges of raising a family in our community,” he said. “In the military, you learn on day one that you are a servant of the people you lead and that’s a philosophy I bring to Congress.”

Crow, 39, is a Wisconsin native who makes his home in Aurora with his wife, Deserai, and their two small children.