Emanuel Cleaver: House passes common sense gun safety legislation

(From Fifth District Congressman Emanuel Cleaver)

The weeks since my last writing were filled with heartache and tragedy in the wake of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the Tulsa, Oklahoma Medical Center shooting, the Chattanooga, Tennessee shooting, the Maryland manufacturing facility shooting, and other senseless acts of gun violence that did not make national headlines.

Fueled by frustration and duty, I joined many of my colleagues in Congress to respond to the scourge of gun violence, as well as the nation's most pressing issues and current events. 

In the past month, I joined Members in the House of Representatives to pass common sense gun safety legislation, approve bills that would lower food and fuel costs for hardworking Missouri families, and take necessary steps toward spurring economic development in underserved communities.

Below is a brief review of some important actions that I and my colleagues in Congress have taken recently.

House of Representatives Passes Bipartisan Package to Lower Food and Fuel Costs

Last week, I proudly voted in favor of H.R. 7606, the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act, a package of bipartisan bills to combat inflation and reduce costs on Missouri families. The Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act would do this by strengthening the food and agriculture supply chain, creating greater competition in the meat and poultry industries, and expanding access to cheaper biofuels known as E-15 or Unleaded 88.

As Americans continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the form of rising gas and food prices, know that combatting global inflation is a top priority for myself and the rest of the Democratic Caucus in the House of Representatives. 

Although we passed this legislation in the House, it is important that my colleagues in the U.S. Senate not allow this bipartisan package of bills to die in the upper chamber while Missourians pay the price. 

It is imperative that we take action to alleviate price pressures on American farmers, ranchers, and the entire agriculture industry so that those cost savings can then be passed on to hardworking families at the supermarket, which is exactly what the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act would do.

This bill acknowledges Russia and Ukraine as major global producers of fertilizer, and works to offset the lack of supply by reducing America's dependence on foreign fertilizer production. Additionally, the legislation would bolster competition in the meat and poultry industry, which is overwhelmingly dominated by four companies, and alleviates supply chain bottlenecks that have empowered meatpacking giants to set bad prices for producers and consumers. Lastly, the bill would expand access to American-made ethanol grown by American farmers to make prices at the pump cheaper.

The House and I also passed the bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act last week, which was signed into law by President Biden. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act cracks down on exorbitant fees from international ocean shipping companies that inflate the price on goods and strengthens our ocean shipping supply chains.

I know that global inflation is hitting Missourians hard--at the pump, in the grocery store, and on retail shelves--and I remain committed to passing bipartisan legislation that will lower costs for Missouri families.

House of Representatives Passes Chairman Cleaver's Bill to Spur Economic Development in Underserved Communities

In my last newsletter, I announced the passage of my CDFI Bond Guarantee Program Improvement Act out of the House Committee on Financial Services, with hopes of it getting a vote in the whole House of Representatives. I am elated to share that my CDFI Bond Guarantee Program Improvement Act was included in H.R. 2543, the Financial Services Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Economic Justice Act, a package of several bills from the House Financial Services Committee focused on promoting racial and economic justice that successfully passed the House last week.

As a refresher, the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program Improvement Act would stimulate greater economic development in underserved communities by reauthorizing the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program for four years and implementing reforms to ensure smaller Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) can access the program, giving support to more community development projects in the most economically distressed areas. 

I am particularly proud that my bipartisan bill was included in the bill passed by the House of Representatives because it would help spur much-needed economic development in rural, minority, and low-income communities by providing stability to the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program and lowering the minimum issuance threshold from $100 million to $25 million to allow more CDFIs to participate in this successful program.

House Passes Bill Aimed At Reducing Gun Violence in Our Communities

In the wake of the terrible mass shootings in places like Buffalo, Uvalde, and, sadly, many more, House Democrats have been working hard to pass substantive legislation to combat the rising tide of gun violence. Thoughts and prayers are not an adequate response to the burgeoning gun violence impacting communities throughout the nation. 

That's why we passed H.R. 2377, the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, which authorizes and establishes procedures for federal courts to issue federal extreme risk protection orders. A federal extreme risk protection order is a federal court order that prohibits a person from purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm or ammunition. 

A family or household member, or a law enforcement officer, may petition for a federal extreme risk protection order with respect to an individual who poses a risk to themselves or others. The bill also expands the categories of persons who are prohibited from purchasing, shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving a firearm or ammunition. Specifically, it adds, as a new category, persons who are subject to an extreme risk protection order.

The House of Representatives also passed H.R. 7910, the Protecting Our Kids Act. This bill is comprised of seven proposals that would:

Raise the age for buying semi-automatic weapons to 21;
Ban high-capacity magazines and bump stocks;
Crack down on gun trafficking;
Close the ghost-gun loophole; and
Strengthen safe storage requirements.

Because addressing this issue is so critical, and its impact is felt in nearly every community, I hosted a Tele-Town Hall with a representative from Everytown for Gun Safety to answer pertinent questions and address concerns held by residents of Missouri's Fifth Congressional District. The Tele-Town Hall was attended by a record number of constituents and generated thoughtful discussion about how we can collectively navigate the issue of gun violence in our country. You can listen to a recording of the call here.

Since that call, I'm thrilled to announce that the U.S. Senate is on the cusp of passing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a bipartisan proposal that would invest in mental health care, close the boyfriend loophole that still allows domestic abusers to obtain firearms, incentivize individual states to implement their own extreme risk protection order laws, and more. 

Although this proposal does not go as far as I would hope in keeping weapons of war out of the hands of dangerous individuals, it is unquestionably an important step in the right direction. Should it make its way over to the House of Representatives, I will proudly support it--and then keep pushing for further action.