Rep. Costa Says Congress Must Have an Honest Discussion about Public Safety in America
Washington, D.C - Today, Rep. Jim Costa released the following statement as the Democrats in the House and Senate hold a sit-in on the House floor to urge House Republican leadership to bring up a vote on commonsense gun legislation.
“As Members of Congress, we have to ask ourselves, at what point are we going to have an honest discussion about public safety and the continuation of hate crimes happening throughout America,” said Rep. Costa. “When will enough be enough? If now is not the time to have a meaningful dialogue about this, then when is? The deadly shooting in Orlando could have happened anywhere in the United States, and the reality is, we do not have consensus on the appropriate policies needed to prevent it from happening again.”
Costa continued by saying, “We have to stop playing partisan politics if we are ever going to be able to have an honest conversation about preventing hate crimes. The American people deserve better from their Members of Congress. Sound bites and blaming others does not translate into improving policies that make Americans safer. I urge my colleagues to thoughtfully discuss and hold hearings on these very important issues so we can pass meaningful bipartisan legislation into law. Let me be clear, this is not about the Second Amendment or about taking away American citizens’ right to lawfully own guns for personal use. This is an effort to make Americans safer.”
Rep. Costa participated in the sit-in, and his remarks to his colleagues and the American people can be viewed here.