Category: US Senate

Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) released the below statement on her vote on the motion to proceed to the consideration of legislation to address gun violence in America:

“The tragedies that have impacted far too many of our communities deserves all of our attention. That’s why I have encouraged the bipartisan discussions to come up with commonsense legislative proposals that have the potential to help prevent these terrible events from happening in the future. I have also been adamant that the proposals put forth must not infringe on law-abiding citizens’ second amendment rights.

“My vote this evening is a vote to continue this critically important debate because it’s a debate worth having. My vote also recognizes the hard work my colleagues have done on the framework. Increasing funding for mental health services, school safety initiatives, and in our background check system, are all worthwhile. This bill is not about issues such as red flag laws, which will never be enacted in our state. This bill is about addressing issues such as mental health. It is also about keeping law abiding and gun owning West Virginians safe.” 

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Source: United States Senator for Arkansas Tom Cotton

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: James Arnold or Mary Collins Atkinson (202) 224-2353
June 21, 2022 

Cotton Statement on Senate Gun-Control Legislation

Washington, D.C. — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) issued the following statement on the Senate gun-control bill:

“This bill won’t stop the violent shootings by deranged criminals. But it will restrict the freedoms of law-abiding Americans and put too much power in the hands of politicians and political officials. Stopping gun violence starts with more funding for police and tougher sentences for the criminals who violate gun laws—not taking away due process from law-abiding gun owners.”

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Source: United States Senator for Colorado Michael Bennet

Washington, D.C. — Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet released the following statement after a bipartisan group of senators introduced a package of bills to address America’s epidemic of gun violence:

“My daughters’ generation has grown up with a reasonable fear of being gunned down in a classroom, movie theater, or grocery store. With this bipartisan legislation, we are finally saying that we won’t accept that burden for our kids. Although we have much further to go, the Senate should move quickly to pass this common-sense, bipartisan legislation to strengthen background checks for young people, close the boyfriend loophole, invest in mental and behavioral health, and improve school safety. 

“Passing this legislation will be a significant first step toward addressing gun violence in America.”

Bennet has advanced common-sense legislation to address gun violence and mental health. Recently, Bennet introduced the School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act to help lawmakers gain a more accurate picture of gun violence in and around school campuses. The package also includes $150 million in one-time funding to strengthen the 9-8-8 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL), a national network of crisis centers linked through a 24/7 toll-free number that connects callers to immediate crisis care with trained counselors. This aligns with Bennet’s Suicide and Crisis Outreach Prevention Enhancement Act, which he introduced with U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) in July 2021. Bennet was a co-sponsor of the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act to create the 9-8-8 NSPL, which was signed into law in 2020.

Following the shooting at a King Soopers in Boulder last year that left 10 Coloradans dead, Bennet spoke on the Senate floor to remember the victims’ lives and call for action to reduce gun violence.

Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

Source: United States Senator for Texas John Cornyn

WASHINGTON – Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) released the following statement:

“Today, we finalized bipartisan, commonsense legislation to protect America’s children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across our country. Our legislation will save lives and will not infringe on any law-abiding American’s Second Amendment rights. We look forward to earning broad, bipartisan support and passing our commonsense legislation into law.”

The Senators’ Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is fully offset and follows their previously released bipartisan proposal supported by Senate leaders from both parties and a bipartisan group of 20 Senators. Text of the Senators’ legislation is available here.

Source: United States Senator for Texas John Cornyn

Unless a person is convicted of a crime or is adjudicated mentally ill, their ability to purchase a firearm will not be impacted by this legislation.

“What we’re trying do is prevent dangerous individuals from unleashing violence on their communities, and one way of achieving that goal is through more robust crisis intervention programs.”

“One of the things that we’ve agreed upon is they have to have robust due process protections because we’re talking about a constitutional right. So if the new law does not include due process protections, it will not be eligible for these grants, no matter what form that crisis intervention program takes.”

WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed his mental health and school safety legislation and the due process protections it provides. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.

“Unless a person is convicted of a crime or is adjudicated mentally ill, their ability to purchase a firearm will not be impacted by this legislation. Now, some have suggested provisions that I believe would infringe on Second Amendment rights and really not get to the root of the problem.”

“What we’re trying do is prevent dangerous individuals from unleashing violence on their communities, and one way of achieving that goal is through more robust crisis intervention programs.”

“Now, some of our colleagues wanted to focus this money solely on the 19 states that passed some form of ‘red flag’ law, and frankly, that’s the choice that’s up to the state. But we are not introducing a national ‘red flag’ law, but we are providing the availability of law enforcement-related grants to crisis intervention programs, whether you adopted a ‘red flag’ program or not.”

“One of the things that we’ve agreed upon is they have to have robust due process protections because we’re talking about a constitutional right. So if the new law does not include due process protections, it will not be eligible for these grants, no matter what form that crisis intervention program takes.”

“Our bill also provides increased protection for domestic violence victims. It shouldn’t matter whether a person is married to their abuser if the abuser is convicted of domestic violence. And many people have what I will call, ‘nontraditional relationships.’”

“This doesn’t limit law-abiding gun owners’ rights unless somebody is convicted of domestic abuse under state laws. Their gun laws will not be impacted. Again, this portion of the bill includes critical due process protections, which, as we all know, is part of our Constitution. You shall not be deprived of your rights without due process of law.”

“One new feature that we’ve proposed is that those who are convicted of non-spousal misdemeanor domestic abuse – not a felony, but misdemeanor domestic violence -will have an opportunity after five years to have their Second Amendment rights restored. But they have to have a clean record, and this is an incentive, in fact, I think, for people who have made a mistake and committed domestic violence and received a misdemeanor conviction to straighten up their act and to not repeat it.”

“I know this bill is not going to please everyone. Some think it goes too far. Others think it doesn’t go far enough. And I get it. But the nature of compromise and the nature of actually wanting to get a result requires that everybody try to find common ground where we can.”

Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Rob Portman (R-OH) sent a letter to President Biden expressing their concern over the president’s decision to impose a two-year tariff moratorium on imported solar panels. The senators argue this decision increases our dependence on China, rewards unfair trade practices, harms U.S. workers, and represents an executive branch overreach. The president’s decision also undermines an ongoing investigation by the Department of Commerce into efforts by Chinese solar companies to circumvent our Antidumping and Countervailing Duty (AD/CVD) orders against Chinese-made solar cells and modules by moving manufacturing to countries like Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

“Already the United States is over-reliant on China for solar power. Currently, 80 percent of our solar panels come from China or Chinese companies, and this reliance is not market-based. China has used a variety of anti-free market practices, such as industrial subsidies, to come to dominate the solar sector. This is why the United States imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on unfairly traded solar panel imports from China as early as 2012. It is also why the Department of Commerce is actively investigating circumvention of those AD/CVD orders by solar panel producers and exporters in Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The unprecedented and sweeping tariff moratorium prioritizes foreign solar panels over those made in the United States. We cannot afford to trade dependence on Russian energy for that of Chinese solar panels. It is counter to the national interest to rely on our adversaries for our energy needs,” wrote the senators.  

“…we are disappointed that the climate change agenda has proven to be an effective means to pre-empt and nullify the legitimate claims of U.S. workers and industry before they can be fully considered through the ongoing investigation by your Department of Commerce. To honor those claims, we urge you to end the self-imposed emergency declaration and let the Commerce Department investigation proceed unimpeded so as not to further increase our economic reliance on China,” continued the senators.

Joining Senators Cramer and Portman are Senators Mike Braun (R-IN), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Ted Cruz (R-TX).

Click here to read the letter. 

Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy

Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy

Source: United States Senator for Ohio Rob Portman

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President Biden’s Decision Rewards China and Their Unfair Trade Practices, While Hurting U.S. Workers

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June 21, 2022 | Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) led a group of fellow GOP senators in sending a letter to President Biden, expressing their concern over the president’s decision to impose a two-year tariff moratorium on imported solar panels – which the senators argue increases our dependence on China, rewards unfair trade practices, harms U.S. workers, and represents an executive branch overreach. The president’s decision also undermines an ongoing investigation by the Department of Commerce into efforts by Chinese solar companies to circumvent our Antidumping and Countervailing Duty (AD/CVD) orders against Chinese-made solar cells and modules by moving manufacturing to countries like Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

“Already the United States is over-reliant on China for solar power. Currently, 80 percent of our solar panels come from China or Chinese companies, and this reliance is not market-based. China has used a variety of anti-free market practices, such as industrial subsidies, to come to dominate the solar sector. This is why the United States imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on unfairly traded solar panel imports from China as early as 2012. It is also why the Department of Commerce is actively investigating circumvention of those AD/CVD orders by solar panel producers and exporters in Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The unprecedented and sweeping tariff moratorium prioritizes foreign solar panels over those made in the United States. We cannot afford to trade dependence on Russian energy for that of Chinese solar panels. It is counter to the national interest to rely on our adversaries for our energy needs,” wrote the senators. 

“…we are disappointed that the climate change agenda has proven to be an effective means to pre-empt and nullify the legitimate claims of U.S. workers and industry before they can be fully considered through the ongoing investigation by your Department of Commerce. To honor those claims, we urge you to end the self-imposed emergency declaration and let the Commerce Department investigation proceed unimpeded so as not to further increase our economic reliance on China,” continued the senators.

Along with Portman, senators joining the letter include Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Mike Braun (R-IN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Ted Cruz (R-TX).

You can view the full letter here or below.

Dear President Biden:

We write to express our concern about your emergency declaration, which imposes a two-year tariff moratorium on imported solar panels. We believe this decision increases our dependence on China, rewards unfair trade practices, including labor and human rights violations, undermines American jobs, and represents executive branch overreach.

Already the United States is over-reliant on China for solar power. Currently, 80 percent of our solar panels come from China or Chinese companies, and this reliance is not market-based. China has used a variety of anti-free market practices, such as industrial subsidies, to come to dominate the solar sector. This is why the United States imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on unfairly traded solar panel imports from China as early as 2012. It is also why the Department of Commerce is actively investigating circumvention of those AD/CVD orders by solar panel producers and exporters in Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The unprecedented and sweeping tariff moratorium prioritizes foreign solar panels over those made in the United States. We cannot afford to trade dependence on Russian energy for that of Chinese solar panels. It is counter to the national interest to rely on our adversaries for our energy needs.

The tariff moratorium also rewards unfair trade practices which costs U.S. jobs. Fundamentally, the ongoing anti-circumvention investigation is about upholding U.S. law. The Department of Commerce is engaged in a serious, quasi-judicial process to determine whether U.S. law has been violated. To disfigure that process as the result of outside political pressure and climate activism signals to China that our laws are malleable for the right price. The fact that it was considered necessary to preempt the results of the Commerce investigation—which may reach a preliminary determination as soon as August 30, 2022—suggests that the facts of this investigation favor the domestic solar manufacturing industry and not the Chinese companies alleged to have circumvented U.S. law. Our duty is to workers making products in America. A giveaway like this only serves to undermine jobs here in the United States while giving a pass to those using forced Uyghur labor to make these products.

Finally, the use of an emergency declaration to effectuate the moratorium is an overreach. Where the statute speaks of waiving tariffs on “food, clothing, and medical, surgical, and other supplies for use in emergency relief work”, the emergency declaration translates those words into the language of climate catastrophe. The declaration transforms a solar panel into something to be eaten, worn, or used in a hospital to treat the sick. Importantly, official import data show no shortage of solar panels with official data showing a year-over-year increase in imports from the circumventing country sources. And solar projects have been announced since the investigation began, demonstrating that reliable supply exists.

In closing, we are disappointed that the climate change agenda has proven to be an effective means to pre-empt and nullify the legitimate claims of U.S. workers and industry before they can be fully considered through the ongoing investigation by your Department of Commerce. To honor those claims, we urge you to end the self-imposed emergency declaration and let the Commerce Department investigation proceed unimpeded so as not to further increase our economic reliance on China.

Sincerely,

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