Why has Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell evaded the urgency that two mass shootings in less than 13 hours has thrown the country into, while Donald Trump hides out at his golf resort? Men armed with military-grade weapons descended upon people going about their daily lives and mowed down as many as they could. Fortunately, the local police responded in record time. This might explain when and if McConnell is going to respond, too.
The Democrats have called on the Kentucky senator to bring back the Senate to vote on a gun control bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s message to the people was #enoughisenough. In a very few minutes, 29 people were blasted apart during the mass killings, and 53 others suffered the broken bones and other injuries inflicted upon them. The El Paso shooter surrendered and will be charged by federal authorities with domestic terrorism, federal hate crime, and firearm charges.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) tweeted:
‘EL PASO, DAYTON, ONE AWFUL EVENT AFTER ANOTHER. @SENATEMAJLDR MCCONNELL MUST CALL THE SENATE BACK FOR AN EMERGENCY SESSION TO PUT THE HOUSE-PASSED UNIVERSAL BACKGROUND CHECKS LEGISLATION ON THE SENATE FLOOR FOR DEBATE AND A VOTE IMMEDIATELY.’
Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) would “go tomorrow” to support the Senate bill:
‘@SENATORTIMSCOTT ON WHETHER HE’D RETURN TO WASHINGTON IF A SPECIAL SESSION IS CALLED TO TAKE UP GUN LEGISLATION: “I’D LEAVE TONIGHT. I’LL GO TOMORROW. IT DOESN’T MATTER TO ME.”’
Democrats have been asking McConnell to call the Senate back to respond to the national tragedies and pass a background check bill. Congress lefts for a month-long summer break. The House passed the bill in February.
The 2020 presidential candidate and senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders (D) tweeted:
‘MITCH MCCONNELL SHOULD BRING THE SENATE BACK INTO SESSION IMMEDIATELY TO PASS HR 8, THE GUN SAFETY BILL THAT HAS ALREADY PASSED THE HOUSE. THAT’S A FIRST STEP TO ADDRESSING OUR SERIOUS GUN VIOLENCE EPIDEMIC.’
Representative Harley Rouda (D-CA) tweeted “(It’s) time for a special session of congress to make this mass shooting the last:”
‘I’M HEARTBROKEN AND DISGUSTED. THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS FROM NRA APOLOGISTS IN CONGRESS ARE INSULTING TO VICTIMS. THEIR SILENCE IS DEAFENING— IT MAKES THEM PERMISSIVE, EVEN COMPLICIT IN THIS EPIDEMIC.’
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said McConnell should bring back the Senate and “pass the universal background check bill.” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) tweet did not specifically ask for McConnell to call a special session. However, she did tweet that he should “explain to the people why” he has not brought the House’s bills to the floor.
The bill she was referring to passed with outstanding Democratic votes. Some of the House Republicans voted for it, too, at a time when bipartisanship has been rare.
Senator McConnell’s spokesperson was not immediately available to return the senator’s comment. McConnell was at a Kentucky political picnic giving a speech and trying to ignore hecklers wearing “Moscow Mitch” T-shirts and pins.
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