Scanlon, Colleagues Call on Speaker McCarthy to Schedule Votes on Gun Violence Prevention Legislation
Washington,
August 3, 2023
Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) today joined 110 members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, led by Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04), in calling on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to schedule votes on gun violence prevention bills as soon as possible. Although gun violence is the leading cause of death for American kids, the House of Representatives has yet to vote on one gun violence prevention bill in the 118th Congress.
“To save the lives of our kids, we only need the opportunity to vote on gun violence prevention legislation and the support from a tiny minority of the Republican Conference,” the members wrote.
House Republican leadership canceled the last day of scheduled votes in July over disagreements within their conference about how to proceed on a government funding bill. Should the vote schedule fall apart again, the letter calls on House Republican leadership to use that time to vote on life-saving gun violence prevention legislation instead of canceling votes altogether.
Find the full text of the letter here and below:
Dear Speaker McCarthy,
We are disappointed that Republican leadership canceled votes in July with so many pressing issues facing our country. Foremost amongst those is the gun violence crisis that is the leading cause of death for children in America.
As Members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, we call on you to schedule votes on gun violence prevention legislation as soon as possible this year. We also have a new standing request that should the vote schedule fall apart again, you would fill that time to vote on life-saving gun violence prevention legislation, instead of canceling votes altogether.
Gun violence is the leading cause of death of children in America since 2020. Last year, 1,686 children were killed and another 4,485 were injured by gun violence. Despite this preventable carnage, the House has yet to vote on even one gun violence prevention bill.
To save the lives of our kids, we only need the opportunity to vote on gun violence prevention legislation and the support from a tiny minority of the Republican Conference. For example, if only 20 Republicans, 10 in the House and 10 in the Senate voted for the Bipartisan Background Checks bill, we would have the votes to help prevent felons, domestic abusers, terrorists and people with serious mental health conditions from accessing guns.
The American people strongly support action on the gun violence crisis and the gun violence prevention laws that will keep their kids alive. A recent Fox News poll shows that 87 percent support universal background checks; 80 percent support red flag laws and 61 percent support banning assault weapons.
We reiterate our insistence that the House schedule votes on gun violence prevention legislation without further delay and also offer to quickly advance gun violence prevention legislation should other planned legislation be canceled again.
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