After
years of silence, the House is taking combating gun violence seriously
by passing two common sense gun reform bills in two days. On February 27th we passed H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, and the following day we passed H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Check Act.
Passage
of H.R. 8 represents the first step in enacting comprehensive gun
safety reforms, by requiring a background check for all firearm sales.
The evidence is clear: background checks work. Every day, background
checks stop over 170 felons and some 50 domestic abusers from obtaining a
gun from a federally-licensed dealer. However, in some states, those
same prohibited purchasers can bypass these background checks by
purchasing a firearm from an unlicensed dealer, or at a gun show. H.R. 8
closes the background check loophole, ensuring that under federal law,
states that have not already addressed this dangerous loophole are
required to do so. Washington state continues to be a leader in
promoting gun safety and responsible regulation. With the passage of
this legislation the House of Representatives has joined our state in
taking a foundational step toward saving lives from gun violence.
Since
1998, the “Charleston Loophole” has allowed more than 60,000 guns into
the hands of prohibited purchasers; by allowing a buyer to take
ownership of a gun after three business days, whether or not the
required background check was completed. With the passage of H.R. 1112,
the House is closing this gap in federal law to only allow the purchase
of a gun when a background check has been affirmatively passed. This is
the type of action needed to stop the trend of gun violence and mass
shootings, like the senseless 2015 tragedy at Emanuel African Methodist
Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Congress has
begun to address the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our communities.
We must continue to pass long-overdue federal gun legislation to prevent
gun violence and keep our communities safe.
Translation: We're going to do all we can to ignore the 2nd amendment for law abiding citizens, while at the same time ignoring the reality that it will never stop criminals from obtaining weapons for their use because they already don't respect, obey, or observe our laws.
Support for our Public Lands
On February 26th, I voted for the passage of a historic public lands package. S. 47,
the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act
designates the Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area in our
backyard, permanently reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation
Fund, protects a million acres of public lands from mining, and
authorizes The Every Kid Outdoors Act.
With the passage of this
legislation, the Mountains to Sound Greenway will become the first
National Heritage Area designated in the Pacific Northwest. The Greenway
plays a vital role in preserving our natural resources and supporting
economic development through opportunities for outdoor recreation. I
thank Senator Cantwell for her leadership in the Senate, the Mountains
to Sound Greenway Trust for their advocacy, and the countless community
members that made it possible for us to join together in preserving our
wilderness and history for future generations.
Translation: While we claim to care about preserving history, we condone our party youth to tear down statues from history they disagree with.
Fighting Climate Change
Climate
change is one of our greatest public policy challenges. I'm proud to
support the Green New Deal - a resolution that makes clear not only the
depth of the problem of climate change but also the necessity of
addressing income inequality as part of the solution.
Translation: While we claim it's possible to achieve such a task, what will actually put us all back into a "stone age" civilization is not the type of transportation we'll have, but the cost of accomplishing it will.
The
devastating effects on our planet from our dependence on fossil fuels
has never been more obvious, and never before in our nation’s history
has so much wealth been concentrated in the hands of so few people. We
must respond to the climate crisis with policies that transform our
economy and infrastructure by moving towards clean and renewable sources
of energy, while making changes that create greater equality of
opportunity and pay people the better wages they deserve for the work
they do.
Translation: We tell the public wonderful sounding things we'll achieve, but what we aren't telling them is that the vast majority of the nation will be so destitute that the only ones able to survive will be those of us in Washington, D.C.
What matters most now is that we enact strong,
science-based legislation and policies that can put us on a path to
meeting the goals in this resolution. The urgency of the climate crisis
necessitates that we cannot wait. I look forward to continuing to work
with the constituents I represent, my colleagues in Congress, and our
stakeholders throughout our country as we craft policies to create a
strong, green economy that gives everyone a fair chance to earn a decent
living, have access to affordable housing, education and health care,
and to support their families.
Translation: After our policies to promise the moon, and everyone else is experiencing what the Venezuelans are going through right now, we'll just come up with a new great sounding st of reasons why we didn't achieve our goals, but crashed the U.S. economy completely.
Questioning the Rationale for Proposed Climate Change Panel
All
manner of national security experts, Republican and Democratic alike,
recognize the empirical threat that climate change poses to our national
security interests. I fought to have that fact enshrined into law in
the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act - and President Trump signed
it.
In response to recent reports that the National Security
Council (NSC) plans to assemble a secret panel to counter the scientific
consensus on climate change and question its impacts on the national
security of the United States, I have joined other House Committee
chairs in questioning the creation of this panel. Read our letter to the
President here.
It’s
completely inappropriate for the administration to try to form a
climate denial panel to try to cast doubt on the risks of climate
change, and it could put us in a worse national security position where
we’re not prepared for what is to come. The law is clear about this now,
and I will keep fighting to ensure that the Department of Defense is
able to prepare for the realities of climate change.
Translation: We are in control of everything because our cause is just, even if it was 15 or so years ago that Al Gore claimed the oceans were going to rise and Florida was going to be underneath the ocean by now.
Removing U.S. Armed Forces from Yemen
On February 13th, I voted to support H.J.Res 37, which directs the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress.
The
civil war in Yemen has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis
with over half of the population facing severe food insecurity and 24
million Yemenis in need of humanitarian assistance. Passage of this
resolution in the House sends a clear message to this Administration
that Congress does not support the United States’ de facto support for
the Saudi-led coalition in this conflict. Congress must continue to
exercise much-needed oversight of this Administration, and any American
involvement can and must be debated transparently. The United States
should be focused on working towards a peaceful resolution to this
conflict and taking measures to alleviate the devastating humanitarian
situation.
Fighting the National Emergency Declaration
On February 15th,
the President declared a national emergency in order to take funds
supporting military families and military readiness and spend those
funds on his wall. This appalling decision by the Trump Administration
is an egregious example of the President putting his political agenda
ahead of the interest of the United States. It is utterly disrespectful
of U.S. national security and the needs of our men and women in uniform,
and it further undermines his credibility in requesting the upcoming
defense budget. All for a border wall that is the complete wrong
approach to border security in the first place.
Translation: When our Pres. Obama did things which the majority of the nation disagreed with - like bailing out G.M. to pay back the unions - that was, of course, not appalling or egregious, it was just good policy to use taxpayers money without the consent of the House I work in here in D.C. Heck, we didn't care what he did, because he was "our guy"!
On February 26th,
the House voted to terminate President Trump’s unlawful national
emergency declaration, sending a clear message to the President and this
Administration that the new House majority is serious about oversight
and accountability. House Democrats are not going to stand by while the
President abuses his power by declaring a national emergency to build
his wall. I strongly support Congressman Joaquin Castro's resolution to
terminate the national emergency. We will continue to fight this
unlawful power grab.
Translation: Of course, it wasn't an abuse of power by Pres. Obama when he did an end run around Congress to arrange an agreement with Iran on nuclear develop-ment matters and then send them a pallet of CASH big enough to choke Godzilla! Nope, he was OUR GUY! |
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