Video and Rush Transcript: Congressman Dan Goldman Calls Out Republican Hypocrisy on Public Safety, Refusal to Address Gun Violence Epidemic

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) yesterday spoke in the United States House Committee on Homeland Security and condemned Republicans’ xenophobic attacks on migrants while they ignore the trafficking of American-manufactured guns across the border to arm cartels and devastation caused by gun violence to communities here at home.

VIDEO of the Congressman’s remarks is available here.

A rush transcript of the Congressman’s remarks is available below:

Let me ask you something Mr. Bensman, do you think that the more than 400 mass shootings in this country this year could also be avoided if we had universal background checks?

If we did not sell weapons of war to civilians?

If we had safe storage laws?

If we had common sense gun legislation?

Is it your view that every crime that's committed by an American citizen is not avoidable and, therefore, we should just accept it?

I appreciate my colleague from Mississippi pointing out 4 incidents, the 4 articles that he cited, of really terrible crimes that happened to be committed by people who are not here lawfully, but I don't see you giving us any headlines about the more than 400 random mass shootings that we have had in this country. 

And why are we talking about isolated incidents that you have to point out from six months ago when we have two mass shootings every day in this country? Why is it only the crime that happens to be committed by people who are not here [lawfully] somehow that you care so much about, and yet all of the devastating crime that is committed by people who are here doesn't matter?

Because we don't ever talk about gun violence in this committee. 

We bring up, as my colleague from Rhode Island did, the fact that 500 thousand guns are reportedly exported to Mexican cartels because in Mexico, they only have one gun shop that takes months to actually buy a gun. So the cartels cannot get the guns from themselves, they get them from the United States of America.

They get the weapons of war, the assault weapons, from American manufacturers who then funnel them to the cartels so they can control the fentanyl trade, they can control border smuggling, and they can control and devastate communities within their country and those trying to get into this country. 

So if we're really going to talk about border security and we're going to talk about the crime [of] those who are coming across, let's talk about the crime.

The notion that comparisons of crimes committed by those who are here unlawfully and those who are here lawfully is bogus because it is all avoidable. [It] is the biggest bunk I've ever heard.

Crime is crime.

We gotta be preventing crime of all sorts and people have a right to escape persecution, and gang violence, and authoritarian governments from their own countries and come to this country to seek refuge in the United States of America.

###