Washington, D.C. – Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) released the following statement after voting against both of the Democrats’ partisan anti-Second Amendment bills - H.R. 2377, the “Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2022,” and H.R. 7910, the “Protecting Our Kids Act.”
“These bills are political statements, not solutions,” Burgess said. “My heartbreaks for the families in Uvalde, Texas. What happened that awful day hit home for me. I have family members who are teachers. For that reason, it is important to me that schools are safe and secure.”
“Nevertheless, using legislation to make a political statement and turn one party into the enemy will not provide solutions. House Democrats never allowed Republicans to come to the table. They drafted and marked up a bill in three days. I sat in the Rules Committee hearing this week and heard lies as Democrats spewed wild rabid rhetoric that the Republican Minority votes against all mental health bills. When Republicans were in the Majority, we worked with Democrats and passed the most significant reform to the mental health system in a decade through the 21st Century Cures Act. Also, Congressman Ferguson’s and my bill to help schools identify and respond to students who are showing signs of a mental health crisis, the BIG Act, is stalled in the Democratic-controlled Senate because Senator Schumer has not brought it to the floor for a vote.
“Instead of blaming the Minority party for blocking legislation that the Majority party cannot deliver. House Democrats should take a page from the Senate and engage with Republicans. I have a bill that is waiting for a vote that will require a report on prosecutions when a firearm is sold before a denial is determined under the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). It was Republicans who led the effort to pass the Fix NICS Act of 2017,the Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act of 2018, and the 2018 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule to ban bump stocks.
“I want to help provide solutions to prevent senseless gun violence, but we must recognize there is not an immediate fix. We must look at the whole picture and address each of the different problems. It is a shame that once again this Congress will fail on providing any necessary reform.”
