Thursday, May 26, 2022 TOP TIDBITS
FROM THE DNC WAR ROOM
FROM THE CHAIR'S DESK
MESSAGE TO MOBILIZE
ARTICLES TO AMPLIFY
TOP TWEETS
TALKING POINTS TOP TIDBITS Today, May 26 at 10:30 AM EDT Representative Colin Allred hosted a press call ahead of the NRA annual convention in Houston, TX this weekend. The NRA convention comes just 72 hours after the school shooting in Uvalde where 19 elementary school children and two teachers were killed – and Senator Ted Cruz, Governors Greg Abbott and Kristi Noem, and Donald Trump are still scheduled to headline. Here are some highlights from today’s call: Rep. Allred: “It's a disgrace that these Republicans are choosing to attend the NRA convention, when they should be in their respective legislatures doing everything in their power to prevent the next attack like this. [...] It's time for Republicans to find the political courage to stand up to the NRA and to join us in acting to stop this senseless violence. And if they won't do that, if they can't skip one speech days after 19 kids were murdered in their classroom less than 300 miles away, we need to vote them out.” Rep. Allred: “And when it comes to Ted Cruz, you know, let's just say he's one of the biggest recipients of gun lobby spending and was the top recipient of campaign donations from, you know, so called gun rights backers in the 2018 election cycle. Ted Cruz is somebody who has shown zero leadership after so many attacks have occurred in his state. In fact, he has proudly said that he has prevented commonsense legislation from passing. Legislation like background check bills that have 88% support for Americans that as I said, have over 70% support from Texans. We know who Ted Cruz is serving, and it's not Texans. Okay. And so for him to say that we're going after law abiding gun owners, this has nothing to do with law abiding gun owners, no one is discussing that. There is no discussion around that. We're talking about trying to keep weapons of war out of the hands of an 18-year-old so he doesn't go into a classroom and kill 19 children and two teachers. And if Ted Cruz's answer is that nothing can be done, and in fact, what I'm going to do is actually, I'm going to go to a convention 300 miles away just days afterwards, and tout, what a big supporter of putting more guns like this on our streets I am, then I think Texans need to understand what they're dealing with, and understand that we deserve to have a better United States senator, who will better serve this state. And so you know, whether it's, you know, the storm when Senator Cruz decided to go on vacation, or whether it's this crisis, when he's now going to a convention to celebrate this kind of gun culture that has led us to this point, he has consistently shown that when Texans are in crisis, he's not going to be there for them. And so I really have no interest in what Ted Cruz has to say.”
Tuesday night, President Biden addressed the nation on the horrific elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Watch HERE.
Just days after a gunman murdered 21 people in Texas, Donald Trump and Republican leaders are making clear they stand with the gun lobby over our children. In response to Donald Trump, Kristi Noem, Ted Cruz, and Greg Abbott remaining on the schedule for this week’s NRA convention, DNC spokesperson Ammar Moussa released the following statement: “24 hours after 19 children and two adults were gunned down, Donald Trump, Greg Abbott, Ted Cruz, and Kristi Noem still plan to rub shoulders with NRA lobbyists at their convention. How many children do they need to see gunned down, communities torn apart, lives upended, before they will finally decide to put lives ahead of the gun lobby and actually do something to stop this senseless violence? Republican leaders continue to make it clear they callously care more about keeping money in the pockets of gun manufacturers and the gun lobby than dead children.” Follow @DNCWarRoom on Twitter for real-time callouts of the Republican Party that is clearly beholden to the NRA instead of protecting our children.
FROM THE DNC WAR ROOM@DNCWarRoom: The lengths Republicans are going to protect the gun lobby in the face of senseless violence against children speaks volumes about their party’s priorities. @DNCWarRoom: While Republicans are standing with the gun lobby instead of children, President Biden is calling out the gun lobby and has been using every tool at his disposal to combat gun crime, crack down on ghost guns, and keep our communities safe. DNC War Room: In the Face of Republicans Choosing The NRA Over Our Children, Biden Takes Action To Keep Our Communities Safe FROM THE CHAIR'S DESK DNC Chair Jaime Harrison issued this statement in response to Tuesday’s shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. MESSAGE TO MOBILIZE DNC Content to amplify: Our hearts break for the people of Uvalde. Enough is enough. As a nation, we must have the courage to stand up to the gun lobby and fight for sensible gun safety laws to ensure nothing like this happens again. @KamalaHarris (Twitter), (Facebook) This is about putting our children above the desires of the gun lobby. @TheDemocrats (Twitter), (Facebook) Greg Abbott, Ted Cruz, Kristi Noem, and Donald Trump are all still scheduled to speak at the NRA convention in Texas this weekend. @TheDemocrats (Twitter), (Facebook) These kinds of mass shootings rarely happen anywhere else in the world. Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Where in God's name is our backbone to have the courage to stand up to the gun lobby? It is time to turn this pain into action. @JoeBiden (Twitter), (Facebook) Two years after the murder of George Floyd, President Biden is issuing an executive order to change use-of-force procedures like chokeholds and no-knock warrants. @TheDemocrats (Twitter), (Facebook) ARTICLES TO AMPLIFY CNN: Biden's ATF pick vows 'politics can play no role in law enforcement' during Senate hearing Reuters: Americans prefer Democrats' position on abortion to Republicans' - Reuters/Ipsos poll
TOP TWEETS @POTUS: It’s just sick that gun manufacturers have spent two decades aggressively marketing assault weapons which make them some of the biggest profits. For God’s sake, let’s have the courage to stand up to the industry. @NavigatorSurvey: Nearly three in five Americans say they want stronger gun laws
[Majorities] across racial groups believe gun laws should be stronger, as well as pluralities of independents (47%) and gun owners (37%). TALKING POINTS 1. Biden-Harris Administration Makes Progress on Addressing Infant Formula Shortage The infant formula shortage exists because Abbott closed a facility in MI due to safety concerns from the FDA. President Biden understands families’ frustration and concern and has directed his administration to work around the clock to get more formula into the country and onto store shelves.
This past week, the Biden-Harris administration took several major steps to do just that: First and foremost, the FDA and Abbott Nutrition agreed on next steps to reopen Abbott’s Sturgis plant. Additionally, President Biden announced our second Operation Flight Formula flight and our first Defense Production Act authorizations for infant formula for Abbott Nutrition and Reckitt. Operation Fly Formula: The second flight landed on Tuesday in Washington Dulles from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Typically, the process to transport this product from Europe to the U.S. would take 3-4 weeks. That was cut down to approximately 3 days. The administration has now transported the equivalent of 1.5 million 8 oz bottles. That will cover about 15 percent of the overall national volume that we need. First DPA Authorization: Secretary Becerra has authorized the first two “priority orders.” One authorization will allow Abbott Nutrition to receive priority orders of raw materials like sugar and corn syrup for infant formula. The other will allow Reckitt to receive priority orders for consumables like single-use products such as filters. DPA is allowing manufacturers to reliably plan for scaling production – in the case of Abbott and their suppliers, an increase of 25% so they can be manufacturing at 100% capacity. Likewise, Reckitt plans to expand production by 40%.
The FDA has announced that Kendal, a UK company, has met FDA standards and will begin shipping 2 million cans of formula in June, the equivalent of over 50 million full-size bottles.
And the USDA approved waivers from all 50 states that will cut red tape and ensure that parents can get formula in their stores.
The bottom line is: the Biden-Harris administration is pulling every lever to get more safe infant formula to American families as quickly as possible.
President Biden Signs Historic Executive Order to Advance Effective, Accountable Policing and Strengthen Public Safety
Two years ago, the murder of George Floyd exposed for many what Black and Brown communities have long known and experienced -- that we must do more to ensure that our nation lives up to its founding promise of fair and impartial justice for all under the law.
The murder sparked one of the largest social movements this country has ever seen, with calls from all corners to acknowledge the challenges in our criminal justice system and in our institutions more broadly.
Public trust is the foundation of public safety. Some claim support for reform is in tension with protecting public safety, but public trust and public safety are two sides of the same coin. Without that trust, victims do not call for help. Witnesses do not step forward. Crimes go unsolved. Justice is not served. Simply put: more just policing makes our communities safer.
President Biden has always been a strong supporter of effective, accountable, community-oriented policing. That kind of policing builds trust. It makes the police more effective and makes us all safer.
The president strongly supported the House-passed George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and repeatedly urged the Senate to pass meaningful police reform legislation that includes accountability when law enforcement officers violate their oaths. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans rejected enacting even modest reforms that many in law enforcement supported. As the president said then, this moment demands action, and he promised would take executive action on police reform.
Yesterday, President Biden made good on that commitment. He signed a historic executive order (EO) to advance effective, accountable policing and criminal justice practices that will build public trust and strengthen public safety. The EO promotes accountability, raises standards, increases transparency, and reforms the criminal justice system.
The executive order will make a concrete and major impact, not just for Black and Brown communities, but indeed for all Americans, including for law enforcement – the guardians of our communities. The EO will directly impact over 100,000 federal law enforcement officers, and establish federal law enforcement as a national role model for law enforcement around the country. The EO also incentivizes reforms at the state and local level by pulling all available levers we have, such as supporting these reforms with federal dollars and technical assistance. And, it is expected to encourage and support state and local entities to follow the federal model – including by participating in the accountability database and adopting use of force standards that emphasize de-escalation.
Taken together, these are critical steps to enhance public trust and strengthen public safety. The president will continue to press for meaningful reform legislation, including passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
And the president will continue to use every tool at his disposal to keep our communities safe from gun violence and violent crime – including by investing in putting more cops on the beat in effective, accountable community policing, stopping the flow of guns being used in crimes, and investing in neighborhood-based crime prevention programs.
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