It should come as no surprise that Democrat members of Washington State’s congressional delegation were among the House Democrats who participated in a sit-in to force a vote on their gun control measures — measures that did not even receive enough bi-partisan support to pass out of committee.
Speaker Paul Ryan — rightly — called the sit-in a “publicity stunt.” But, Democrat Rep. Adam Smith took issue with the label. Smith told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson,
“No. What’s happening today is an effort to draw attention to the issue. Politics is difficult business … It’s a very slow process. What you have to do in order to achieve your goal — that applies to goals I agree with and disagree with — is bring attention to them.”
As Speaker Ryan brought up in today’s press conference, if Democrats’ stunt is not about publicity, then why are they fundraising off of it? Via the Daily Caller:
There were six fundraising emails sent to constituents, the first went out at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night, and continued throughout the evening, one at midnight, 1:30 a.m., and continuing on till the final email, where Minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D) asked for more money.
“We’re emailing you so early because we need to defeat these AWFUL Republicans — NOW.” The emails decried the Republicans for their “inaction,” one email stating “Republicans STILL won’t lift a finger.”
Of course, conveniently, Democrats failed to mention that they voted down two gun control bills sponsored by Republicans or that their chosen bills had already failed in committee, or that they never even attempted to collect the 218 signatures necessary to bring a bill to the floor via petition. Speaker Ryan stated during today’s press conference:
“Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee considered its bill for Homeland Security spending. At the committee, Democrats offered in committee an amendment offering the gun measure they say they wanted. That amendment failed on a bipartisan basis. So just yesterday, the Democrats offered this gun measure they claim they want, and it failed on a bipartisan basis in committee. There was a vote, it was in the committee, through regular order, and the vote failed. That’s a fact they didn’t want to talk about.
“Here’s another one: if Democrats want a vote for a bill on the floor, there is a way to get one. It just takes 218 signatures on a petition, and they can have a vote. It is that simple. That’s how the House works—it’s a well-known process.
“But they’re not doing that. They are not trying to actually get this done through regular order. No, instead they’re staging protests. They’re trying to get on TV. They are sending out fundraising solicitations…”
The Democrats’ chosen bill would strip American citizens of their constitutional rights without due process — that’s why it failed to garner the necessary support to make it out of committee.
That Democrats — including representatives from Washington State — are fundraising off of the Orlando terrorist attack is truly disturbing. They should be ashamed of themselves — unfortunately, shame isn’t an emotion that probably passes through their narrow minds very often.
