65 House Democrats, led by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), sent letters today to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan seeking an explanation of the Trump Administration’s hampering of an effective, coordinated response to the growing threat of white supremacist extremist violence. Their oversight letter followed revelations that, despite high profile white... Read more »
The Hill | House Democrats on Thursday pressed the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to beef up their strategies to combat the threat of violence motivated by white supremacist extremism after the shooting in El Paso, Texas, this month. In letters to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, 65 House Democrats accused the Trump administration... Read more »
Washington Post | Annie Polland had an immediate thought after she heard Ken Cuccinelli’s revision of the famous poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty on Tuesday: Her sixth-grade students seemed to understand Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus” better than the head of the nation’s legal immigration system did. “Clearly, he did not take part in our curriculum,” said Polland, the executive director ... Read more »
CNN | Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is planning to ask the Trump administration to withdraw its request for $5 billion in border wall funding and redirect the funding to counter gun violence and white supremacy extremism, a person familiar with Schumer's thinking told CNN. The Trump administration is unlikely to be receptive to the request, especially given that the border wall is a key p... Read more »
Rep. Beyer (D-VA) today joined House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, survivors of gun violence, and his colleagues Rep. Anthony Brown (D-MD), Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), and Eliot Engel (D-NY) in the U.S. Capitol to call on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to take up and pass H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act. His remarks, below (as prepared), were delivered in th... Read more »
WTOP | In the wake of the mass shootings that killed 31 in Texas and Ohio, gun violence victims joined House Democratic leaders Tuesday and urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote and pass expanded gun-sale background checks. More than 9,000 people have died so far this year as a result of gun violence, including more than 250 in mass shootings. Twenty-two people were killed b... Read more »
The Hill | A handful of House Democrats returned to Washington on Tuesday to press House Republicans to tackle gun control immediately, and to accuse Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of single-handedly blocking tougher laws at the expense of public safety. Democrats have long sought legislation to expand background checks before gun sales, which passed through the House in February, ... Read more »
U.S. News & World Report | A number of House Democrats on Tuesday briefly returned to Washington in the midst of their six-week recess to ramp up pressure on Senate Republicans to consider a bill the lower chamber passed on universal background checks for gun buyers after recent deadly mass shootings. During a Tuesday press conference led by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, rank-and-... Read more »
Newsweek | House Democrats continued Tuesday to push Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, to immediately recall his chamber from August recess to act on gun control legislation passed by the House earlier this year. In an attempt to up the ante and take their case directly to the American people, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, and some of his coll... Read more »
Associated Press | Democrats pressed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday to approve House-passed legislation expanding background checks and to take other steps curbing guns, in an offensive fueled by public outrage over this month’s mass killings in Texas and Ohio. It seemed unlikely that Democrats’ moves would have much impact on top Republicans. While President Donald Trump and Mc... Read more »
