Post by Logan on Jul 2, 2016 4:36:21 GMT -6
Hoping to build on the attention they captured with a sit-in on the floor of the House of Representatives last week, Democratic lawmakers in Baltimore and across the country vowed Wednesday to keep pressing Republicans for votes on gun-control legislation but acknowledged that they have not yet developed a strategy to do that.
The lawmakers, who have returned to their districts for the July 4 congressional recess, held news conferences to reiterate demands for votes on legislation that would require tougher background checks and prohibit suspected terrorists from purchasing firearms.
Neither policy is likely to advance, given that similar legislation failed in the Senate this month, but Democrats sense that gun control might be a powerful political issue in this presidential election year and they are eager to put Republicans on record as opposing ideas that have broad support in national polls.
"Our message is very simple: There will be no more business as usual in the House of Representatives until we have an opportunity to take action on this issue," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Montgomery County, who is running for the Maryland Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski. "So long as Congress does not take action in response to the carnage, Congress itself is implicated in that carnage."
Read more: www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-ci-gun-violence-day-of-action-20160629-story.html
The lawmakers, who have returned to their districts for the July 4 congressional recess, held news conferences to reiterate demands for votes on legislation that would require tougher background checks and prohibit suspected terrorists from purchasing firearms.
Neither policy is likely to advance, given that similar legislation failed in the Senate this month, but Democrats sense that gun control might be a powerful political issue in this presidential election year and they are eager to put Republicans on record as opposing ideas that have broad support in national polls.
"Our message is very simple: There will be no more business as usual in the House of Representatives until we have an opportunity to take action on this issue," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Montgomery County, who is running for the Maryland Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski. "So long as Congress does not take action in response to the carnage, Congress itself is implicated in that carnage."
Read more: www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-ci-gun-violence-day-of-action-20160629-story.html