Dems to Ryan: No Break Without Action on Gun Violence

WASHINGTON – Led by the four organizers of last June’s sit-in, as well as the chair and vice-chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, 118 members of the U.S. House of Representatives today wrote to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and House Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, requesting that they keep the House in session until Congress finally takes action on America’s epidemic of gun violence.

“Within a few hours the Republican majority is preparing to adjourn for a six week recess without taking any action on gun safety legislation. When we return to session on November 14th, we will likely be faced with the sad reality that thousands of Americans will have lost their lives to gun violence while members of this body were campaigning for re-election,” the members wrote. “We strongly urge you to cancel the upcoming recess to debate and vote on responsible gun safety legislation to help save American lives.”

Last June, Democrats organized a 26-hour sit-in on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to demand Congressional action following the worst mass shooting in American history at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Since then, House Republicans have refused to consider any legislation to reduce gun violence, even as more than 4,100 more Americans have lost their lives.

The full text of today’s letter is embedded below. A pdf version of his letter is available to view here.

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September 28, 2016

Dear Speaker Ryan and Leader McCarthy:

In June, House Democrats demanded a vote on the bipartisan ‘No Fly-No Buy’ bill and comprehensive background check legislation following the tragic shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando which claimed the lives of 49 Americans. Instead of allowing the House to debate and vote on this legislation, the Republican majority decided to adjourn early for a seven week recess.

At least 2,015 Americans were killed as a result of gun violence during the August recess. In fact, more than 10,700 Americans have already lost their lives to gun violence this year. Each day 297 Americans are shot in murders, assaults, suicides, attempted suicides, unintentional shootings, and police intervention and almost 30 percent of those victims die from gun-related injuries. Since Congress came back into session on September 6th, there have been mass shootings in places like Texas and Washington State. Meanwhile, the Republican majority has refused to even allow a debate on how to address the epidemic of gun violence in our country.

Within a few hours the Republican majority is preparing to adjourn for a six week recess without taking any action on gun safety legislation. When we return to session on November 14th, we will likely be faced with the sad reality that thousands of Americans will have lost their lives to gun violence while members of this body were campaigning for re-election. We strongly urge you to cancel the upcoming recess to debate and vote on responsible gun safety legislation to help save American lives.

If we adjourn without addressing this issue, thousands of American families will be torn apart over the recess because we failed to act. We ask you to allow a vote on the bipartisan “No Fly, No Buy’ legislation, which the Republican nominee for President Donald Trump said he supported in the first presidential debate on September 26th. We also ask that you bring the bipartisan comprehensive background check bill to the floor, which enjoys widespread support among the American public.

Sincerely,

Rep. David N. Cicilline (RI-1)

Rep. John Lewis (GA-5)

Rep. Katherine Clark (MA-5)

Rep. John Larson (CT-1)

Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5)

Rep. Elizabeth Esty (CT-5)

Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-13)

Rep. Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24)

Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20)

Rep. James A. Himes (CT-4)

Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (DC)

Rep. Hakeem S. Jeffries (NY-8)

Rep. Robin L. Kelly (IL-2)

Rep. James R. Langevin (RI-2)

Rep. Brenda L. Lawrence (MI-14)

Rep. Jackie Speier (CA-14)

Rep. Paul Tonko (NY-20)

Rep. Nydia M. Velasquez (NY-7)

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12)

Rep. Michael M. Honda (CA-17)

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12)

Rep. Bill Pascrell (NJ-9)

Rep. Patrick E. Murphy (FL-18)

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23)

Rep. Tony Cardenas (CA-29)

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (VA-11)

Rep. Michael F. Doyle (PA-14)

Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3)

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR-3)

Rep. James P. McGovern (MA-2)

Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-2)

Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-15)

Rep. Donna F. Edwards (MD-4)

Rep. Bill Foster (IL-11)

Rep. Joseph Crowley (NY-14)

Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH-3)

Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27)

Rep. Brendan F. Boyle (PA-13)

Rep. Seth Moulton (MA-6)

Rep. Chellie Pingree (ME-1)

Rep. Brad Sherman (CA-30)

Rep. Albio Sires (NJ-8)

Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ-6)

Rep. Tammy Duckworth (IL-8)

Rep. John A. Yarmuth (KY-3)

Rep. Alan Grayson (FL-9)

Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ-1)

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (MD-8)

Rep. Jared Huffman (CA-2)

Rep. Eliot L. Engel (NY-16)

Rep. Gwen Moore (WI-4)

Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (NY-9)

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-1)

Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III (MA-4)

Rep. Danny K. Davis (IL-7)

Rep. Scott H. Peters (CA-52)

Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-33)

Rep. Kathleen M. Rice (NY-4)

Rep. Stacey E. Plaskett (VI)

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)

Rep. Juan Vargas (CA-51)

Rep. John P. Sarbanes (MD-3)

Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-9)

Rep. Norma J. Torres (CA-35)

Rep. Andre Carson (IN-7)

Rep. Sander M. Levin (MI-9)

Rep. Ann M. Kuster (NH-2)

Rep. Lois Capps (CA-24)

Rep. Peter Welch (VT-At Large)

Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (IL-4)

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY-10)

Rep. Brian Higgins (NY-26)

Rep. Keith Ellison (MN-5)

Rep. Nita M. Lowey (NY-17)

Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (NM-3)

Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (CA-38)

Rep. Henry C. “Hank” Johnson

Rep. Xavier Becerra (CA-34)

Rep. Janice Hahn (CA-44)

Rep. Alan S. Lowenthal (CA-47)

Rep. Grace Meng (NY-6)

Rep. Julia Brownley (CA-26)

Rep. Mark Takano (CA-41)

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (NY-13)

Rep. William R. Keating (MA-9)

Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13)

Rep. Karen Bass (CA-37)

Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18)

Rep. John Garamendi (CA-3)

Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ-3)

Rep. Richard E. Neal (MA-1)

Rep. Michael E. Capuano (MA-7)

Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (LA-2)

Rep. Dina Titus (NV-1)

Rep. Susan Davis (CA-53)

Rep. Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (VA-8)

Rep. Steve Israel (NY-3)

Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (NY-5)

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-9)

Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (CA-32)

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA-19)

Rep. Doris Matsui (CA-6)

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18)

Rep. Theodore E. Deutch (FL-21)

Rep. Cheri Bustos (IL-17)

Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-7)

Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (MA-8)

Rep. William Lacy Clay (MO-1)

Rep. Betty McCollum (MN-4)

Rep. Pete Aguilar (CA-31)

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (MD-7)

Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14)

Rep. C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-2)

Rep. Niki Tsongas (MA-3)

Rep. Louise McIntosh Slaughter (NY-25)

Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11)

Rep. Bobby Scott (VA-3)

Rep. David Loebsack (IA-2)

Rep. Bobby Rush (IL-1)

Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11)

Rep. Jared Polis (CO-2)

Rep. Sam Farr (CA-20)

Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (TX-15)