“Passing this legislation is the bare minimum. It’s the first step in comprehensive action. It’s embarrassing that it’s taken this long in the United States to pass commonsense gun legislation. It should not be the case that for as long as I’ve been alive, this country has not seen a single chance to its gun laws,” said Max Markham, policy director at March For Our Lives.
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The Democratic-led House last Congress passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act in February 2019. The bill never received votes in the GOP-controlled Senate.
“Its been about getting a vote in the first place. What we know is gun safety legislation in recent times that has passed the House has just gathered dust on [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell
The Democratic-led House last Congress passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, aimed at strengthening background checks for gun purchases, in February 2019. The bill never received votes in the GOP-controlled Senate.
While Democrats control the House, the party would need all 50 members in the Senate to rally around gun legislation and be joined by at least 10 Republican senators to overcome the legislative filibuster.
“For years, this bipartisan House-passed background checks bill languished in the Senate under Republican Leader Mitch McConnell
The legislation would extend required background checks to all unlicensed sellers, including online, at gun shows or out of homes. Exceptions would include transfers between law enforcement officers, loaning firearms for hunting, gifting to immediate family members, inheritance transfers and temporary transfers for immediate self-defense.
However, Sanders’s October heart attack changed the calculus.
Ocasio-Cortez called the Vermont senator in the hospital, where he was getting restless and barking at a nurse that “I want to get out of here,” to inform Sanders she planned to endorse him, sparking the then-78-year-old to pump his fist in the air.
Her support culminated in a raucous rally in Queensbridge Park in New York City later that month that drew over 25,000 attendees.
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“It wasn’t until I heard of a man by the name of Bernie Sanders that I began to question and assert and recognize my inherent value as a human being that deserves health care, housing, education and a living wage,” Ocasio-Cortez said during the rally.
Tanden s confirmation is on the rocks after Sen. Joe Manchin The controversy about Neera is largely over her social media comments, which could be leveled at virtually all of us, Sen. Tim Kaine
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At her own confirmation hearings, Tanden repeatedly apologized and expressed regrets for tweets that targeted both Republicans and progressive Democrats.
Kaine raised the prospect that Tanden was facing a double standard, given that nominees with similar or worse records had successfully been confirmed despite mean or harsh rhetoric. We faced so many nominees in the past administration that had really intemperate things to say on social media accounts, including about me, Kaine said.