Thompson Leads 67 Members in Criticizing Republican Stunts on Gun Violence Prevention
Today, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04) led 67 members of Congress in calling out Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans for wasting floor time on pointless messaging bills instead of taking up gun violence prevention legislation that will save lives.
“Instead of taking action to reduce gun violence and save lives, it is outrageous that Republican leadership has chosen to waste valuable floor time as we approach a looming deadline to fund the government,” the members wrote. “The gun violence crisis is not going away, and neither are we. Phony political posturing by Republican leadership will do nothing to change the fact that GUN VIOLENCE IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FOR CHILDREN IN AMERICA. House Republican leadership should either take meaningful action to stop gun violence or make way for someone who will.”
The signers of the letter include: Mike Thompson, Becca Balint, Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Shontel Brown, Julia Brownley, Salud Carbajal, Tony Cardenas, Kathy Castor, Judy Chu, Luis Correa, Jason Crow, Danny Davis, Madeleine Dean, Suzan DelBene, Mark DeSaulnier, Debbie Dingell, Lloyd Doggett, Anna Eshoo, Adriano Espaillat, Dwight Evans, Valerie Foushee, Maxwell Frost, John Garamendi, Sylvia Garcia, Robert Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Raul Grijalva, Sheila Jackson Lee, Sara Jacobs, Pramila Jayapal, Henry Johnson, Robin Kelly, Daniel Kildee, Andy Kim, Greg Landsman, John Larson, Barbara Lee, Seth Magaziner, Lucy McBath, Jennifer McClellan, Betty McCollum, James McGovern, Robert Menendez Jr., Gwen Moore, Kevin Mullin, Grace Napolitano, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Nancy Pelosi, Scott Peters, Jamie Raskin, Mary Gay Scanlon, Jan Schakowsky, Robert Scott, Haley Stevens, Marilyn Strickland, Eric Swalwell, Mark Takano, Shri Thanedar, Dina Titus, Rashida Tlaib, Norma Torres, Lori Trahan, David Trone, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Nikema Williams, Frederica Wilson
The full letter can be found here and below.
Dear Speaker McCarthy,
Last month members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force initiated a standing request for House Republican leadership to bring gun violence prevention legislation to the floor and to work with us Democrats to address the gun violence crisis. We specifically asked that if the floor schedule falls apart, that we be afforded the opportunity to use that time to pass legislation which would reduce gun deaths.
Instead of taking action to reduce gun violence and save lives, it is outrageous that Republican leadership has chosen to waste valuable floor time as we approach a looming deadline to fund the government with a non-binding resolution criticizing a state’s temporary emergency action to address the gun violence crisis.
The gun violence crisis is not going away, and neither are we. Phony political posturing by Republican leadership will do nothing to change the fact that GUN VIOLENCE IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FOR CHILDREN IN AMERICA. House Republican leadership should either take meaningful action to stop gun violence or make way for someone who will.
Gun violence is not inevitable, it is a choice. That is why House Democrats and the Gun Violence Protection Task Force have introduced dozens of bills, which if enacted, would save thousands of lives every year. We have also filed four discharge petitions on gun violence bills, each supported by a majority of Americans, in an attempt to overcome Congressional inaction in this area.
Instead of wasting time on a non-binding resolution attacking a governor, House Republican leadership should get to work fixing the Republican government funding proposal which would slash funding for federal law enforcement critical to the fight against gun violence. Specifically, the Republican proposed cuts to the FBI, ATF and gun violence research move our country in the wrong direction and make us less safe.
We again call on House Republican leadership to put gun violence prevention bills on the floor and stop wasting precious time which should be used to protect our kids and fight gun violence.