Heinrich roundtable shows the depth of the gun violence epidemic
Plus: The latest on the border security negotiations, the politics of those Q4 GDP numbers and details on the $5B infrastructure investment Biden announced in Wisconsin.
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! I’m Michael Jones, and this is Once Upon a Hill, a newsletter about congressional politics and the impact of federal policy on diverse communities. Is it me, or has January felt like six years?!
In this evening’s newsletter, I spotlight a roundtable hosted by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the GOSAFE Act, a bill he introduced late last year to pick up where the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that Congress passed following the deadly mass shootings at a Buffalo, New York supermarket and Uvalde, Texas in the summer of 2022 left off.
If the legislation sounds familiar, it’s because I wrote about it last month after the senator introduced it. It would regulate firearms based on the lethality of their internal parts instead of their cosmetic features, which manufacturers can easily modify. In the senator’s eyes, it's a win-win: Heinrich says his bill would protect communities from gun violence without infringing on Americans’ constitutional right to own a gun.
“I’m a big believer, as someone who has spent my entire life as gun owner, that you can be a gun owner, you can be a sportsman, and simultaneously, you can realize that we should not have ubiquitous access to weapons of war in our country because it’s not safe and because the incredible toll that we are all paying as a result of current lay of the land and the current lack of regulation of assault weapons,” Heinrich said. “That is what set me on a course a number of years ago towards trying to write legislation now called the GOSAFE Act that really at the mechanics of what makes some of these assault weapons so dangerous—things like high capacity magazines and the gas-operated actions that you see ubiquitously used in assault weapons, and ubiquitously used, unfortunately, in mass shootings.”
Heinrich was joined by several influential voices, including TV personality Whitney Port, actors Melissa Joan Hart and Wilson Cruz, and a Marine veteran—each of whom thoughtfully spoke from the heart on the human toll of the gun violence epidemic, which continues to devastate communities across the country even though it’s not currently dominating the national news cycle.
The roundtable was in partnership with March Fourth, a nonprofit advocacy group with a singular mission to end mass shootings in America. After the event, I spoke with Kate Dorsch, a former teacher and mom of two boys who volunteers for the organization and co-president Maureen Westphal, and came away, certain we’ll see the assault weapons ban restored because of the dedication they bring to their cause.
Keep reading for my complete coverage, but first…
NATIONAL SECURITY SUPPLEMENTAL • Senate Republicans spent the day backtracking from comments Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made on Wednesday during a private meeting on Ukraine.
During the closed-door session, McConnell indicated the prospects of a compromise to tighten border policy were diminished after former President Donald Trump urged congressional Republicans to sink the deal to prevent President Biden from a legislative victory on one of his foremost political liabilities.
Trump has told Republicans to hold off until he’s reelected to approve new border security measures, but this assumes a lot of unknowns: First, that he’s going to win the election this November and that he’d be able to find 60 Senate votes to bring his proposal to the floor.
Privately, Democrats are pissed and confused about why Republicans won’t take yes for an answer. It was the GOP who demanded border security be tightened in exchange for billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and Taiwan. President Biden has shown a willingness to alienate the left of his base and the Latino community to clinch a deal and unlock funding for his international priorities. Nothing close to the deal currently being hammered out will be available during a hypothetical second Trump term.
Some Republicans said McConnell’s comments, which were first reported in Punchbowl News last night, were misrepresented. Others, especially those opposed to additional Ukraine aid, seemed content to follow Trump’s marching orders. For McConnell’s part, he didn’t address the issue publicly during a Senate floor speech, focusing instead on Biden’s foreign policy regarding Iran and Houthis, US inflation and crime in DC.
The top three negotiators—Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.)—told reporters this afternoon that they would remain at the table.
Murphy said we’d know if a deal will emerge in 24 to 48 hours. Lankford said McConnell was simply speaking to the political realities, not trying to sink the deal. And Sinema said the legislative text of the agreement, the details of which have yet to be confirmed, should be available next week.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) acknowledged the breakdown over the past 24 hours but affirmed that negotiations would continue through the weekend. The House is back from a week-long recess on Monday evening. The Senate is out until Tuesday.
ECONOMY • The economy grew 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 as consumers (and the government) continued to spend and inflation maintained its downward trend.
President Biden and congressional Democrats took victory laps, attributing the growth and economic resilience to the landmark legislation they passed during the first two years of his term. And the president’s reelection campaign will love the opportunity to remind voters that Biden’s growth in the first three years of his administration (3.4 percent) is outpacing Trump’s over that same period during his term (2.6 percent).
But gas prices will be worth watching: Gas Buddy Patrick De Haan predicts a surge is around the corner, with prices rising and following into the spring.
ELECTION 2024 • The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee—the House Democrats’ campaign arm—launched a series of shareable information hubs to help people counter misinformation and promote key accomplishments from the caucus.
The hubs include a website for the Asian American and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander, Black and Latino communities and features content in seven languages (English, Hindi, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese).
The DCCC said the campaign is part of its commitment to engaging communities of color.
In other election news, Reproductive Freedom For All announced endorsements for three Democratic candidates for House seats in California districts who are challenging anti-abortion Republican incumbents: Jessica Morse (CA-03), Rudy Salas (CA-22) and George Whitesides (CA-47).
The Senate race to succeed the late Dianne Feinstein—featuring Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee—has attracted the most national attention thus far. But contests in deep-blue states like California and New York could determine whether Democrats win back the House majority.
And finally, for my weekly Courier column, I wrote about Donald Trump’s talent for exploiting political tribalism and using it to incite violence—and how congressional Democrats are wrestling with the threat of MAGA extremism in an increasingly fraught election year. Give it a read once you’re finished here.
TRANSPORTATION • President Biden traveled to Superior, Wisconsin, to announce a $1 billion investment to replace the Blatnik Bridge, a key Upper Midwest connector the US economy depends on to deliver goods and operate national supply chains. The White House said the bridge was expected to close by 2030 without the investment.
Before the announcement, Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) promoted the investment on X despite voting against the bipartisan infrastructure law funding the project, as the community note on the congressman’s X post announcing it points out.
The bridge investment was part of a $5 billion windfall to fund major transportation projects across the country, including replacing the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington, and Oregon, making improvements to Pittsburgh’s I-376 corridor, and reconnecting communities divided by the Cross Bronx Expressway in New York.
The administration has announced more than $400 billion in funding to date for over 40,000 projects across the country. The private sector has contributed an additional $640 in clean energy and manufacturing investments. Biden was joined on the visit by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).
STATE DINNER • White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced President Biden will host Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan and his spouse, Kishida Yuko, for a state dinner on April 10.
The visit comes at a fraught moment for the Indo-Pacific as China has taken increasingly aggressive actions against Taiwan, including flying fighter jets over the island. North Korea just tested a new type of cruise missile, the latest demonstration of its nuclear capabilities.
The state dinner will be the fifth of Biden’s presidency. He hosted President Emmanuel Macron of France in December 2022, President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea in April 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India in June 2023 and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last October.
Giveaway: The first subscriber to reply to this email with the year the first state dinner was hosted and under whose presidency will receive a complimentary annual subscription to the newsletter for themselves or a friend ($100 value).
GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION • The White House on Thursday announced new actions to promote safe gun storage as part of its efforts to reduce the risk of self-inflicted harm by children and unintentional shootings.
Among the actions, the Education Department will send a letter to principals explaining the importance of safe storage with a call to action to share the info with parents, families and caregivers. The Department will also issue a new template that principals can use to communicate the message with families. Over at the Justice Department, a new guide will be released with guidance on different types of storage devices and best practices for safely storing firearms. The department said the guide is the most comprehensive on safe storage ever released by the federal government. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention Director Stefanie Feldman and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona joined a town hall with principals to discuss the topic.
Elsewhere, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) became the first member of House leadership to tour Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of the deadliest mass shooting at a high school in US history. Clark was joined by Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), a school graduate, and the victims' families. Moskowitz organized the fourth tour as part of a broader push for gun safety legislation. The campus, located in Parkland, Florida, has remained untouched since the shooting and is scheduled to be demolished this summer.
Now, back to the Heinrich roundtable…
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