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Biden’s housing plan will be transformative for people experiencing homelessness

President Joe Biden’s newly announced plan to address the housing affordability crisis has given homeless advocates a reason to celebrate. Slowing the nationwide increase in rent and increasing the supply of affordable housing will help low-income families stay in their homes, make housing more accessible for those currently experiencing homelessness — and provide substantial savings to taxpayers. 

Biden’s goal is to tackle inflation and increasing housing stock is the perfect place to start. Across the country, there is an estimated housing supply deficit of 3.8 million homes, which has severe economic consequences, including driving inflation and exacerbating the homelessness crisis. Homelessness creates massive social and economic costs for American cities, families, individuals, and the federal government itself; one 2017 study found that a person experiencing chronic homelessness costs the taxpayer an average of more than $35,000 per year.  

Whatever political willpower exists to relieve economic price pressures caused by inflation should be used to secure investments in affordable housing. Guaranteeing quality, safe, and affordable housing while preventing and reducing homelessness is not only the right thing to do; it will save Americans money by preventing vulnerable individuals from losing their homes in the first place. 

Houston demonstrates the benefit of this approach. The city has decreased homelessness by approximately 63% since 2011 and saved taxpayers millions of dollars by placing people in permanent housing and giving them the support they need to stay there. The cost of allowing people to remain on the street — costs associated with community programs, health care, child welfare, public health, mental health care, and criminal justice — is enormous. 

Conversely, through permanent housing programs and supportive services, Houston houses individuals for approximately $18,000 per person per year — the average cost of rent for a one-bedroom unit plus a portion of a case manager’s salary. This cost-efficient approach was expanded with phase one of the $65 million Community Covid Housing Program (CCHP), when the city of Houston and Harris County invested federal COVID relief funds to permanently house people experiencing homelessness. The program housed — or provided homelessness diversion services to — more than 7,000 people between October 2020 and January 2022. Phase two was announced in January 2022 with the goal to serve an additional 7,000 people experiencing homelessness by December 2024. 

According to an annual national survey, similar programs nationwide funded by the American Rescue Plan and House America initiative were also effective in reducing homelessness. However, the success of these programs is dependent on a city’s housing stock. Houston currently faces high occupancy rates — 93 percent occupancy for class C properties — which limits the number of apartments available for both the general public and for those trying to avoid or exit homelessness. Long term, fixing this issue requires building affordable housing and dedicating a portion of those units to a community’s homeless response system. Houston’s goal is to secure anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of an affordable housing project’s units for those exiting homelessness.  

Based on Houston’s success, we know that permanent housing with supportive services is the solution, but only if we have the housing stock to support the approach. President Biden’s action to reduce housing costs by investing in the development and/or rehabilitation of affordable housing will enable more cities to continue moving unhoused individuals directly into permanent housing. Guaranteed housing provides our most vulnerable neighbors the opportunity to live fulfilling lives and achieve self-sufficiency, not to mention cost savings that will reduce the impact of inflation for middle- and low- income Americans. 

Houston’s federally funded The Way Home is a collaborative, public-private homeless response system that includes local governments, community stakeholders, nonprofit organizations, public housing authorities, and more, with the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County at the helm. The collaborative effort works to address homelessness swiftly and effectively. Through unprecedented funding from COVID relief programs, The Way Home has continued to make strides in addressing homelessness. But further investment would shrink costs in the long term and uplift thousands more still living on the street.  

As mainstream programs expire — like emergency rental assistance — more people are in danger of falling deeper into poverty and losing their homes. Allowing Americans to slip through our social safety nets and into homelessness will drain cities’ resources that could have been used to invest in less costly interventions that would prevent someone from experiencing homelessness — and the trauma associated with it — in the first place. 

Biden’s proposed investment in housing would start to undo the devastating impacts of past short-sighted and fiscally irresponsible divestment in housing programs, restoring programs that once prevented Americans from falling into homelessness.  

While not the focal point, President Biden’s plan to increase affordable housing stock and reduce housing costs exacerbated by inflation will be broadly beneficial for homeless populations — and in turn local governments and taxpayers. But more resources need to be funneled towards the nation’s most vulnerable so that homelessness can become rare, brief, and non-recurring and the enormous cost of allowing Americans to become homeless can be avoided. When we commit to affordable housing, we are doing the right thing — both morally and fiscally. 

Michael Nichols is the CEO of the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston and Harris County. Deborah De Santis is the President and CEO of the Corporation for Supportive Housing.

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Gun control advocates hope Steve Kerr’s call for action inspires change

Leaders of gun control advocacy groups say Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr’s call for lawmakers to act on gun legislation currently stalled in Congress have resonated with many Americans who are upset over inaction on the issue — and express hope that the comments could help spark change.

Kerr spoke about his frustration at a news conference before Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference Finals Tuesday, referencing several recent mass shootings, including the Texas elementary school shooting earlier that day that killed 19 children and two teachers. 

“When are we gonna do something?” Kerr yelled, slamming his hand on the table.

“I’m so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there. … I’m tired of the moments of silence. Enough,” he said. 

Robyn Thomas, the executive director of Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said people often dismiss statements from politicians because they feel they have political agendas and take donations from various groups. She said more powerful statements come when people “from all walks of life” publicly question when the gun violence will stop. 

“I think that does really raise the issue to a lot of Americans who aren’t as engaged in the topic, aren’t maybe even listening to the politicians, but they’re into basketball,” Thomas said. “There’s something about having someone they respect speaking out and helping people feel more empowered themselves.” 

She noted that players have gone public advocating for gun reform alongside Kerr. Point guard Steph Curry said Tuesday in response to Kerr’s comments that he accepts the responsibility of using his voice to help make change. The Warriors as a team also made a statement Thursday before their following game endorsing steps to pass legislation on the issue, and the announcer at that game shared resources where attendees could learn about how to “support sensible gun laws in America.” 

This is not the first time Kerr has spoken out about gun violence. He has a personal connection to the issue: His father was shot and killed in the 1980s while serving as the president of American University of Beirut. Kerr mentioned his struggle with losing his father in 2018 after a gunman killed 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., The Washington Post reported. 

“I want every person here, every person listening to this, to think about your own child or grandchild, mother or father, sister, brother. How would you feel if this happened to you today?” Kerr said this week.

Igor Volsky, the executive director of Guns Down America, said the emotion behind the coach’s comments should be directed at those in positions of power who support “sensible” gun reform and can make change.

Kerr pointed to the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which would close existing loopholes that permit some gun sales to occur without a background check. The House passed the bill last year, but it has stalled in the Senate. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has started the process to put the bill on the Senate’s schedule, but at least 10 Republicans would need to vote in favor of advancing it to overcome a filibuster. Senate Republicans have overwhelmingly stood in opposition to measures to increase gun regulations, and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has said he believes the bill is too far-reaching and has pushed for a narrower plan. 

“The words of Kerr and other influential apolitical people in American society would go a long way toward helping us make progress, but we got to make sure that we are pushing the right people at the right time,” Volsky said. 

Michael McBride, the executive director of LIVE FREE, a national organization that works to reduce gun violence and mass incarceration, said he hopes Kerr’s comments “activate” Americans who have largely stood on the sidelines of the issue and become “numb” to incidents of gun violence.

McBride said the families who have lost someone to gun violence do not move on and instead just learn how to live without them. He said Kerr’s platform, coupled with his personal experience losing his father, makes him a particularly compelling speaker. 

McBride said some political actors have made some members of the public feel that gun violence is inevitable, but speakers like Kerr can raise the profile of organizations working to prove it is not.

“Sometimes many of us organizers, we feel the burden of speaking out and wonder if we’re speaking into an abyss,” McBride said. “I hope his words land in places that can yield the fruit of activism and change.” 

Source: TEST FEED1

Experts question whether U.S. military can make a dent in baby formula shortage

Experts are questioning whether having the U.S. military haul hundreds of thousands of pounds of baby formula from Europe to America can make a dent in the critical shortage.  

On Wednesday, first lady Jill Biden and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy were at Dulles International Airport to meet the second military flight carrying infant formula from overseas.  

The symbolic gesture, part of “Operation Fly Formula”  — the program President Biden launched last week to expedite shipments of formula to mitigate the national shortage — may be more of a sign than a solution, said Peter Pitts, a former associate commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration.  

“On the one hand, it’s political theater because the president wants to be seen to be doing something — and so I appreciate that — [but] its actual impact is limited,” said Pitts. 

The U.S. military on Sunday delivered the first shipment of baby formula from Switzerland to Indiana to help alleviate the nationwide shortage, largely caused by supply chain issues and recent recalls of several products over contamination concerns. 

“Our team is working around the clock to get safe formula to everyone who needs it,” Biden tweeted alongside photos of the cargo, noting that it weighed more than 70,000 pounds.  

The shipment, which included three types of formula for children allergic to cow milk proteins, accounts for about 15 percent of needed specialty formula, with more on the way, according to National Economic Council director Brian Deese.   

And Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the shipment would provide enough formula to feed 9,000 babies and 18,000 toddlers for a week.  

The second shipment on Wednesday, to be distributed from a Nestlé facility in Pennsylvania, weighed 100,000 pounds and is expected up the total formula supply to the equivalent of 1.5 million eight-ounce bottles.  

But the two shipments alone are not enough to quell demand, Nada Sanders, a professor of supply chain management at Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business, told The Hill. 

“I did not see this as this gesture as much as I saw that the only way it could possibly have any meaning is to actually be the beginning of a number of shipments that would be coming,” Sanders said, noting that the combined 170,000 pounds of formula is “nothing” to quell current demand and the military would need to facilitate “many more” of the flights. 

“However, it’s my understanding that this is just going to be the beginning,” she added. 

Pitts, who is now president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, also said the specific, hypoallergenic type of formula delivered in the first and second shipment – though important – will do little to mitigate the limited supply availability across the board.   

“I think if the president had said, you know, this is not the solution to the problem, but it’s something we can do right now for those infants most at risk, I think that would have been [better] than a grand announcement that’s going to have significant but limited impact for the majority of American parents,” he said.   

The Biden administration has scrambled to fix a major shortage that seemed to catch it by surprise.  

Jill Biden on Wednesday said “there’s more to do,” to address the crisis, and said the shipments “are only one part of the strategy.” 

“I am here today to say to parents: You aren’t alone,” she said in remarks. “At the highest levels of Joe’s Administration, he and his team understand what you are going through. They won’t stop until every parent can get the formula their child needs.”  

And FDA Commissioner Robert Califf on Thursday estimated that “within two months” formula supply in America “should be beyond normal.”  

Sanders, however, predicted it would take upwards of three months to get production back on track and alleviate the shortage. 

“I think the best-case scenario, if . . . everything was functioning perfectly, it would really take two to three months to get the production process, deliveries to be functioning,” she said. 

The U.S. formula market is largely controlled by four manufacturers: Abbott, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Nestle USA and Perrigo. The companies make 90 percent of the infant formula sold in the U.S., with Abbott taking the lion’s share at 40 percent.   

A recall and closure at Abbott’s facility in Michigan this year threw a wrench into the U.S. supply chain, which was already strained since 2021 by supply chain shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Another issue, Sanders pointed out, is supplies of a major ingredient in some formulas, sunflower seed oil, has been hampered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine.   

About 50 percent of the world’s supply of the oil comes from Russia and Ukraine, she explained, and if the shortage continues, “we could end up with another thing that is slowing down availability of formula because substituting ingredients in baby food is not something that you can do on the fly.” 

In addition to the military shipments, Biden last week invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA), a Cold War–era law that gives the commander-in-chief major emergency authority to control domestic industries.  

Pitt, however, said the DPA enactment was largely a symbol, as the act isn’t meant to facilitate the delivery of already made formula from outside the U.S. into the country.  

“What the Defense Production Act does is prioritize delivery to baby formula manufacturers all the ingredients that they need, and those ingredients are largely corn syrup, rice, starch, and protein derived from cow’s milk commodities,” he told The Hill.  

“Not one serving of baby formula has been delayed because of ingredients supply chain issues with those companies.” 

He added that the act “hasn’t been necessary,” but could be in the future if there are shortages in ingredients.  

“But you’re dealing with commodities of which there are no shortage. . . this country has enough corn syrup to to fill the Atlantic Ocean.”  

Source: TEST FEED1

Texas senator: ‘Finger pointing’ at authorities after shooting ‘destructive, distracting, and unfair’

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) argued Saturday that the focus in the aftermath of the shooting at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school should be on the lessons learned from the incident instead of “finger pointing” at authorities. 

“The second guessing and finger pointing among state and local law enforcement is destructive, distracting, and unfair,” Cornyn posted on Twitter. 

He retweeted a post on Twitter from Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), whose district includes Uvalde, that included a Uvalde Police Department press release pointing to an incident in 2018 when the department identified what the congressman called “credible threats” to a local school and made arrests.

Cornyn said complex situations require “split second decisions” and it is easy for people to criticize actions in hindsight.

His comments come as the local police have faced scrutiny in recent days for their handling of the shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead. 

The 18-year-old shooter was in the elementary school for over an hour before being shot by federal Border Control agents, after several police officers earlier entered the school and gathered outside the classroom in which the gunman had barricaded himself but did not engage him.

Texas state officials said at a press conference Friday that local police made the wrong decision in waiting to engage the shooter. They said the delay was a result of the onsite commander’s belief that children were no longer in harm’s way. 

“There will be plenty of time to sort this out later,” Cornyn said in his post, adding that the focus should be on the investigation and how to prevent tragedies in the future. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Harry Styles, Live Nation donate over $1 million to Everytown for Gun Safety

Harry Styles and concert giant Live Nation will partner to donate over $1 million to nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety following the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting that left 19 children and two adults dead.

“On our North American tour, we will be partnering with Everytown who work to end gun violence, donating to support their efforts, and sharing their suggested action items,” Styles wrote on Instagram, captioning the post, “End gun violence.”

The post included a fact shared by Everytown stating that “firearms are the #1 leading cause of death for American children and teens.”

“Live Nation is proud to join Harry Styles in matching his donation to Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund — equalling over $1 million and counting,” the company posted on Instagram.

Everytown for Gun Safety was formed in 2013 when Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Mayors Against Illegal Guns merged.

Earlier this week, the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays also partnered with Everytown to raise awareness of gun violence on their social media accounts rather than covering their game.

Styles cited recent mass shootings, including this week’s massacre in Uvalde, as his motivation for the move to support gun violence prevention efforts.

“Along with all of you, I have been absolutely devastated by the recent string of mass shootings in America, culminating at the latest in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas,” he wrote.

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GOP congressman says he would support assault weapons ban

Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-N.Y.) has come out in favor of an assault weapons ban after two high-profile mass shootings in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., and in Uvalde, Texas, claimed more than two dozen lives in total. 

Jacobs said at a press conference Friday that if a bill to ban AR-15-style weapons came to the House floor, he would vote in favor. He added that he would also back raising the required age for certain gun sales to 21, imposing a federal limit on guns’ magazine capacity and banning the sale of body armor to the public. 

Jacobs received an endorsement from the National Rifle Association during his 2020 congressional run, at the time saying he was honored to receive the endorsement and vowing to serve as an “ally and fighter” for gun owners in western New York. 

He said in an interview with The Buffalo News on Friday that he reconsidered his position on guns following the two mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde. Jacobs represents New York’s 27th congressional district, which contains suburbs outside Buffalo though not the city himself. He is currently running in the state’s 23rd district after New York’s decennial redistricting process eliminated the 27th. 

“I believe it’s important to be transparent on my views on this, and certainly what has happened here in our community, an unprecedented massacre,” Jacobs said at the press conference. 

He said he studied the Federal Assault Weapons Ban that Congress passed in 1994 and concluded “it was not as effective as you’d think,” but the most effective part was its capacity limit on guns’ magazines. The ban restricted certain semiautomatic weapons for 10 years until it expired in 2004 without congressional renewal. Studies have found that mass shooting deaths declined while the law was active, but evidence is uncertain on the extent to which the ban contributed, according to Politifact.

Jacobs said there is not currently a bill to ban assault weapons in the House and he does not expect Democrats to have the political will to introduce one, but he would support it if it were introduced. He said although he would support banning the sale of such weapons, he is not in favor of confiscating those that people already own. 

He said it’s “perfectly reasonable” for the age limit for buying at least high-capacity, semiautomatic weapons to be 21, similar to the threshold for purchasing alcohol. 

He also said he plans to introduce a bill to ban the sale of body armor to individuals who are not in law enforcement, security or “fields that it makes sense.” The gunman at the Buffalo supermarket earlier this month wore body armor, apparently protecting him from a security guard’s fire. 

Jacobs acknowledged the change in his position could be controversial and cause political challenges for him as he runs for reelection in a strongly conservative district. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Schumer walks tightrope in gun control debate 

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is walking a tightrope on gun control legislation after two more mass shootings that have shaken the country and angered Democrats frustrated over inaction on guns.

While members of his caucus and progressive activists are pushing him to force the GOP to vote on an array of proposals, Schumer also wants to protect Democrats in tough races in purple states from taking tough votes.

One Democratic senator who requested anonymity to discuss internal caucus dynamics said Schumer right now is closely attuned to the preferences of senators in tough races who need to win to keep an evenly split Senate in Democratic hands.

The senator said the Democratic senators in tough races have a bigger say than other members.

“There’s a discussion in the caucus about whether to hold accountability votes and the people who are trying really hard to win tough races have a supermajority,” the senator said. 

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who hours after the shooting that left 19 elementary school children dead in Uvalde, Texas, took to the Senate floor to ask “what are we doing,” has also voiced support for seeking a compromise with GOP senators on smaller-bore issues. He’s pressed for time to work out something with Republicans willing to talk.

“Maybe I’m a fool for being the eternal optimist, but I’m just gonna stay at it for these next few days, the next week,” the senator told NPR’s “All Things Considered” this week.

Murphy told The Hill he wants to get 60 votes on legislation.

“I want 60 votes. I’m willing to do pieces of Manchin-Toomey that can get 60 votes and can save lives. I’m not going to negotiate in public what we end up debating because I want to listen to Republicans,” he said, referring to the bill crafted in 2013 by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to expand background checks that created an exception for transfers and sales between friends and family.

Politics has long shadowed the discussion on guns in both parties.

While Republicans have been criticized for an unwillingness to take even small steps to restrict access to guns in response to a national plague of mass shootings, it’s not lost on Democrats that the last time they had an extended debate and votes on ambitious gun proposals in 2013, they lost nine seats and their Senate majority in the following election.  

Democrats also believe they lost the 2000 presidential race in part because of attacks on an assault weapons ban that was then in place but expired in 2004.

Activists say there were other reasons for Democratic nominee Al Gore’s defeat in 2000 and the midterm losses in 2014.

Some say Democrats are too worried about political consequences and blast them for their inaction.

Igor Volsky, the executive director of Guns Down America, noted that polls show expanded background checks and an assault weapons ban are popular with voters.   

“I believe that their calculation is that taking a vote on protecting Americans’ lives is somehow a political disadvantage,” he said.   

“They’re afraid because they have this absolutely bizarre notion that if you go hard on this issue you animate the other side and the other side comes out much louder than their side,” he added.   

Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.), who is leading the Democratic Senate campaign arm this cycle, says it makes sense to focus on legislation that can pick up GOP support and become law.

“I think right now we just need to focus on trying to see if we can get some Republicans to support us on something common sense,” he said.  

Asked about an assault weapons ban, Peters said, “I think that would be hard to get any Republican on that.” 

“I think background checks is probably our best opportunity right now, or red flag [legislation]. Those two would be ones that I think we could get some Republican support and show we’re making some progress,” he said.  

Other Senate Democrats and activists are pressing to scale up their party’s ambitions. They blame easily accessible assault weapons and high-capacity magazines as enabling two 18-year-old-gunman to kill 31 people in Buffalo and Texas.  

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) on the floor Thursday called for Congress to ban assault weapons and magazines that carry more than 10 bullets.  

“The public does not need an assault weapon for self-defense. They don’t need it for recreational use. They don’t need it. These are military style weapons,” he said.  

“Why does anyone for a lawful purpose need an ammunition magazine that holds more than 10 rounds? The mass killers use it. We shouldn’t make it easier for them to carry out these atrocities,” he added.  

But there are other Democrats who worry that a debate covering those issues could be a political disaster for the party.

One Democrat told The Hill this week that failed votes to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in 2013 “was a catastrophic failure” because it gave Republicans the chance to go on offense in the gun control debate.   

Schumer came under intense criticism after he initially signaled Wednesday there would be no big vote on gun control, with Volsky tweeting that it was “absolutely pathetic and disgusting.”

Schumer later clarified his position in a floor speech Thursday morning promising that he would force Republicans to vote on gun violence legislation if negotiations fail to produce a deal quickly.   

“Make no mistake about it, if these negotiations do not bear fruit in a short period of time, the Senate will vote on gun safety legislation,” he declared.

Senate Democratic aides say it’s hard to predict exactly how a gun control debate in Washington will play in Senate battleground states.  

Guns could be an integral part of the race in Arizona, where Sen. Mark Kelly (D) co-founded The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. It is named after Kelly’s wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was seriously injured in a 2011 mass shooting.   

Still, while Kelly has worked to curb gun violence, he has also been careful not to alienate voters who care about Second Amendment rights.   

He declared during a campaign debate in October of 2020 that he was “a supporter of the Second Amendment” and “a gun owner” and told an interviewer “I probably own more firearms than your average Arizonan.”  

Some gun control advocates say they support Schumer’s strategy to work with Republicans, even if the best-case scenario is small steps toward gun control, such as the provision of grants to encourage states to set up red flag laws to take away guns from dangerous or mentally unstable people.   

Nevada, where Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) faces a competitive reelection race, already has a red flag law. But some battleground states, including Arizona, Georgia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, do not yet have such laws on the books.

 “Anything that advances gun-violence prevention would be a success,” said Christian Heyne, vice president of policy at Brady, a nonprofit group dedicated to curbing gun violence.   

He said the 18-year-old shooter who killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket could have been stopped if New York’s red flag law, which the state enacted in 2019, had been used as it could have been. He also suggested the shooting in Uvalde might have also been prevented if Texas had a red flag law.   

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Sunday shows preview: Texas school shooting renews push for gun control

This week’s mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, which left 21, including 19 children, dead and has reignited the gun control debate, is expected to be the focus of this week’s Sunday show circuit.

The shooting at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday followed just over a week after a racially-motivated shooting that killed 10 and injured 3 at a grocery store in a predominantly Black area of Buffalo, N.Y.

The Uvalde massacre was the 27th shooting to occur at a school in the past five months.

The shootings have renewed calls for gun control legislation from Democrats. Following the attack in Texas, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) delivered an emotional speech on the Senate floor.

“What are we doing? There have been more mass shootings [than] days in the year. Our kids are living in fear every single time they set foot in the classroom because they think they’re going to be next. What are we doing?” Murphy asked his colleagues. 

Murphy, pointing out that mass shootings regularly occurring “only happens in this country,” ripped his fellow senators for failing to pass gun reforms 

“Why do you spend all this time running for the United States Senate, why do you go through all the hassle of getting this job of putting yourself in a position of authority if your answer is that, as this slaughter increases, as our kids run for their lives, we do nothing?” he said. 

Murphy, who served as a congressman for the district in which the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School took place in 2012 before becoming a senator, is set to appear on ABC’s “This Week” and CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

Senate Democrats eager to get something done in the wake of the shootings have said they are willing to accept a modest deal on gun control legislation.

Murphy said immediately after the Texas shooting, “This is all about what can get 60 votes. Let’s see what public demand for action arises in the next few weeks, but we need to work with Republicans.” 

A bipartisan group of nine senators met Thursday afternoon to chart out a path for negotiations, saying their top priorities are proposals to expand background checks and encourage states to set up red flag laws to prohibit people deemed dangerous to themselves or others from owning firearms.

“If they’re successful, and I hope they are successful, I hope I’ll support it. I expect I will, but I’m certainly not going to be satisfied,” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who is slated to appear on “Fox News Sunday,” said of the negotiations. “I know the dynamics here. The assault weapons [ban] is not going to be in that package.”

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who will be on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, expressed skepticism that even a modest deal could be reached with Republicans on gun control.

“I’m not going to engage in this fiction that somehow we’re going to have enough votes to pass. We know the outcome already. This is hopefully to put more people on notice in America about who stands for commonsense, bipartisan gun reform and who doesn’t,” he said. “My hope has had its ass kicked, OK?” 

Following the shooting in Buffalo, Booker, along with Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), reintroduced legislation that would require residents to acquire a Department of Justice (DOJ) license before purchasing or obtaining a legal firearm and raise the legal age for obtaining a firearm to 21 years old. The measure, the Federal Firearm Licensing Act, has virtually no chance of becoming law due to GOP opposition.

The shootings have also spurred new action from organizers and activists. March for Our Lives, formed by survivors of the 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., is planning protests nationwide, including in Washington, D.C., following the Uvalde attack.

Jaclyn Corin, co-founder of March for Our Lives, is set to appear on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” along with Nicole Hockley, co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise. Tony Monalto, president of Stand with Parkland, will be on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Democratic Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke joined several organizations, including March for Our Lives, in protesting the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) annual summit in Houston on Friday following the school shooting in the state.

NRA leader Wayne LaPierre said Friday at the convention, which was thrust into the spotlight by the shooting, that a mass shooting like the one in Uvalde “should never happen again” but that he considered gun ownership a “fundamental human right.”

Former President Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) both spoke at the convention, while Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) nixed a scheduled appearance at the meeting and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) chose to appear for a press conference in Uvalde rather than attend the event live.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), who is set to appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, also canceled a planned appearance at the convention, though he cited a scheduling conflict that arose prior to the shooting.

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:

ABC’s “This Week” — Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; former Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake; Tony Monalto, president of Stand with Parkland.

CBS’s “Face the Nation” — Murphy; Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla.; Gov. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark.; Ronnie Garza, a county commissioner in Uvalde, Texas; Nicole Hockley, co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise; Jaclyn Corin, co-founder of March for Our Lives.

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Kinzinger; Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas; state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-Texas.

“Fox News Sunday” — Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.; Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala.

FOX News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas); Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.); Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.); Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.).

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Forest Service finds it was responsible for largest fire in New Mexico history

The Forest Service says it was responsible for both the blazes that merged late last month and created the largest fire in New Mexico history.

The agency said Friday that its fire investigators determined the Calf Canyon Fire was started by a holdover fire, or sleeper fire, from a federal pile burn that concluded Jan. 29.

Though crews monitored the fire for a couple days following the conclusion of the burn, the Forest Service said, it remained dormant and survived three winter snow events before it reignited and escaped containment lines in April and was “significantly” spread by a wind event.

The Calf Canyon Fire then merged with the Hermits Peak Fire, which was also started by an escaped federal prescribed burn, to cause New Mexico’s biggest-ever fire. 

“The pain and suffering of New Mexicans caused by the actions of the U.S. Forest Service – an agency that is intended to be a steward of our lands – is unfathomable,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) said in a statement. 

“I appreciate the U.S. Forest Service assuming responsibility for the federal actions that caused this terrible crisis.”

The governor said the fire, which is still ongoing, has destroyed hundreds of homes, cost state and local governments millions and displaced tens of thousands of residents in the state. 

The Forest Service said last week it would pause prescribed burns on National Forest Systems land for 90 days to reevaluate its policies.

“The Santa Fe National Forest is 100 percent focused on suppressing these fires with the support of the Type 1 incident management teams who are fully prepared to manage complex, all-risk situations,” Santa Fe National Forest Supervisor Debbie Cress said in a Friday statement.

“Our commitment is to manage the public lands entrusted to us by improving the forest’s resilience to the many stressors they are facing, including larger, hotter wildfires, historic levels of drought, rising temperatures, and insects and disease.” 

Grisham has asked President Biden to direct the Federal Emergency Management Administration to pay for all the fire-related recovery efforts in the state.

Source: TEST FEED1