Whip Clark Underscores House Democrats' Record Of Putting People Over Politics On NBC Boston's @Issue

Interview

"We need to do so much more. And let's be clear: this is a policy choice. We have chosen guns over our kids. Guns over safer communities. And we have to do better. But with the extremists in control of the House, they are choosing to wear assault weapon lapel pins to show where their allegiance is, while we're fighting to make sure that kids go to school and come home safely.

Just this week, President Biden -- because he doesn't want to wait for the House GOP to pass more gun safety legislation -- closed some of the loopholes that prevent background checks. And he is doing everything in his power as president to use his executive authority because the GOP refuses to act.

This issue shouldn't be partisan. Gun violence [affects] red states [and] blue states. People don't ask who you voted for before you're mowed down in a movie theater, in a place of worship, or in a school."

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"It is hard to describe the devastation. Just imagine your own community completely burned to ash in just a few hours…It was very difficult to walk those streets and see cars where the windshield had melted -- which happens at 2000 degrees. And just think about what it was like. Some of those fires were traveling as fast as a mile a minute when they overcame. So, what we need to do as Congress is make sure that FEMA -- we had a chance to tour the FEMA facility -- has the funding they need.

They are running out of money. They will be out of money by the end of September -- the end of the federal fiscal year. And President Biden has put forward a $16 billion request so that we can meet the needs, not only of the people of Maui, but of the people of Vermont, the recent hurricane victims we're seeing in Florida, the flooding around this country, tornadoes, the more severe weather we're seeing. FEMA's role, unfortunately, is going to become more and more needed."

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"What we have seen is a replacement of working for people [and] coming together. We expect to have policy differences, but this has become a GOP that is just about supporting Donald Trump. No matter how outrageous, illegal his behavior is. That is where they are. And they continue to try and talk a more moderate game at home in their districts. Then, they come to Washington, they fall in line, and they vote with Donald Trump. And he is ever-present in their decisions.

They are continuing their march towards a national abortion ban. Here in Massachusetts, we are not safe from that decision … They want to repeal everything that we did in the Inflation Reduction Act to address climate change so we can start to build resiliency in communities in Hawaii, in places like Vermont, where we saw such extreme flooding, for the hurricanes, where we're seeing water temperatures over 100 degrees. I mean, we have a crisis here and we're watching them say let's roll back affordable housing construction by 70%. Let's cut food programs for those who are hungry in our own communities here in Massachusetts. The priorities have become totally twisted and the GOP is now just about supporting Donald Trump. And who pays the price for that? The American people."

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