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- The House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing begins at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
- The most emotional testimony is expected to come from Miah Cerrillo, an 11-year-old Uvalde survivor.
- Lawmakers are facing mounting pressure to respond to a scourge of mass shootings and gun violence.
- At least nine witnesses will testify Wednesday.
WASHINGTON – Lawmakers and advocates – even actor Matthew McConaughey – are sharing impassioned pleas to reform the nation’s gun laws, but perhaps the most compelling argument came from a fourth-grader.
Miah Cerrillo, an 11-year-old who smeared herself with her slain friend’s blood to play dead during the May 24 mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, is one of nine witnesses is testifying at a 10 a.m. Wednesday hearing on Capitol Hill. The House Oversight and Reform Committee is holding the hearing to address the gun violence epidemic.
Her father, Miguel, told USA TODAY this week that Miah is sharing her survival story to “make safer schools.”
“This hearing is ultimately about saving lives,” committee Chair Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said in a statement.
Why she’s testifying:Still facing nightmares, Uvalde survivor Miah Cerrillo, 11, will testify at House hearing on guns
‘No match’: Buffalo police commissioner says slain ex-officer had no chance against AR-15
Joseph Gramaglia, the police commissioner of Buffalo, New York, praised retired police officer Aaron Salter Jr, who was fatally shot trying to protect customers at the Buffalo supermarket that left 10 people dead.
“It is often said that a good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy with a gun. Aaron was a good guy and was no match for what he went up against: a legal AR-15 with multiple high-capacity magazines. He had no chance,” Gramaglia said.
The shooter “should have never been able to have access to the weapons he used,” the police commissioner said, uring Congress to act on gun reform. “Congress must act immediately to close the loopholes in our current system and the caps that allow easy access to military-style weapons.”
-Merdie Nzanga
NYC Mayor Adams pushes for federal gun laws: “It’s more than what we do locally.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams told lawmakers federal action is needed, as guns coming from out of state are out of local government’s control. Adams also emphasized the impact one gun can have.
One of the 3,000 illegal guns the New York Police Department seized “was stolen in July 27, 2020. It was used in six acts of violence. Individual cases shooting individuals, shooting into a random crowd, the gun found its way on the streets of New York.”
“It’s more than what we do locally. We need the assistance of the federal government to stop the flow of guns in our cities.”
— Kenneth Tran
A community in pain:Uvalde forever changed after tragic shooting
‘We are a nation of gun violence survivors’
Nick Suplina, Senior Vice-President of Law and Policy for Everytown for Gun Safety, told the House Committee the latest string of mass shootings shows it is “a uniquely American problem.”
He pointed out to lawmakers that mass shootings only make up a small fraction of gun deaths compared to “homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings.”
“We estimate that one half of all Americans have been touched by gun violence either directly or through someone they care for. In other words, we are a nation of gun violence survivors,” said Suplina.
Suplina directed criticism towards the gun industry. “The gun industry is using fear to sell guns and it believes that mass shootings are great for gun sales. They are making money on these tragedies,” said Suplina.
– Kenneth Tran
Dinosaurs, Spider-Man, TikTok:Texas man donates custom caskets for Uvalde shooting victims
‘The same debates’
Greg Jackson Jr, executive director for the Community Action Fund, a gun violence advocacy group, was shot near the Capitol while walking home in 2013.
Jackson Jr said Wednesday he “didn’t feel welcomed at the hospital” and instead was met by police who “treated him as a suspect first, and patient second.”
“I was watching members of Congress have the same debates that we’re having right now., that was 9 years. ago.”
— Merdie Nzanga
‘Our God-given right to defend ourselves’: Mother of DC victim
Lucretia Hughes’ life changed forever in April 2016 when she learned her 19-year-old son Emmanuel was shot in the head at a party while playing dominoes.
“My ex-husband answered the phone and let out a blood-curdling scream, a scream of pain from the depths of his soul,” she said.
Hughes, a member of D.C. Project – Women for Gun Rights, said that her organization “believes education is the key to safety” regarding guns and “not ineffective legislation.”
Hughes wants Congress to act on stricter gun control measures but believes in the right for people to defend themselves.
“Despite living with the heartache of losing my son daily, I believe it is our God-given right to defend ourselves from any act of violence.”
— Merdie Nzanga
More:Matthew McConaughey calls for ‘gun responsibility’ in op-ed after Uvalde school shooting
‘Frustrated, heartbroken’: Former teacher says inaction is acceptance
Becky Pringle, now president of the National Education Association, spoke to the House Committee about her time as a teacher watching mass shootings unfold.
“As a teacher with three decades of experience, I am frustrated, I am heartbroken, I am angry, that this is where we are 23 years after Columbine,” said Pringle. She and her fellow teachers had been falsely comforted “by the belief that this society would never let it happen again,” she said.
“But the list continued to grow didn’t it? Virginia-Tech, Sandy Hook, Marjorie Stoneman Douglass, and now Robb Elementary.”
“Is this who we are? Is it?” asked Pringle. “Our country has already experienced nearly 240 mass shootings in 2022 alone.” If trends continue, Pringle says there will be 22,255 more gun-related deaths this year.
“Inaction equals acceptance of the unacceptable,” said Pringle.
-Kenneth Tran
Gun violence ‘killing more Americans than war’: New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleads for action
New York City Mayor Eric Adams testified to members of Congress in support of stronger gun control policies
“We are facing a crisis that is killing more Americans than war. A crisis that is now the number one cause of death for our young people. A crisis that is flooding our cities faster than we can take them off the street,” said Adams.
Adams told the House committee the New York Police Department so far this year has seized over 3,000 illegal guns and said there is no indication the flow of illegal weapons will stop.
– Kenneth Tran
Armed man arrested near Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh’s home
Even as the House hearing was underway, news emerged that an armed man, who allegedly made threats against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, was arrested early Wednesday near the justice’s Maryland home, according to a court spokesperson.
The suspect, who was not immediately identified, was arrested about 1:50 a.m., and transported to a local Montgomery County, Maryland Police district.
Armed man arrested near Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh’s home; made threats against the justice
Uvalde victim’s parents describe frantic search for their daughter
Felix and Kimberly Rubio, parents of Lexi Rubio, who died in the Uvalde massacre, spoke to lawmakers about their increasingly desperate search for their daughter – until they discovered she was among the deceased.
“Bus after bus arrived but she wasn’t onboard,” Kimberly testified.
Her and other family members drove to different hospitals looking for her. “At this point, some part of me must have realized that she was gone,” said Kimberly. Her worst fear was later confirmed later.
Tearing up, she pleaded for lawmakers to not “want to think of Lexi as just a number. She was intelligent, compassionate and athletic. She was quiet and shy unless she had a point to make.”
Closing her testimony, Kimberly said, “Somewhere out there there’s a mom listening to our testimony, thinking I can’t even imagine their pain. Not knowing our reality will one day be hers, unless we act now.”
– Kenneth Tran
‘Something needs to change’: Miah Cerrillo’s father testifies
Speaking through tears, Miguel Cerrillo implored Congress to act on gun reform.
The father of 11-year-old Uvalde survivor Miah Cerrillo cried as he talked about nearly losing her in the mass shooting.
“I wish something will change not only for kids, but every single kid in the world because schools are not safe anymore,” he said. “Something needs to change.”
-Candy Woodall
‘I don’t want it to happen again,’ Miah Cerrillo testifies
The most powerful voice in the hearing came from fourth-grader Miah Cerrillo, an 11-year-old who survived the Uvalde mass shooting with unbearable ingenuity.
She smeared her murdered friend’s blood on herself to play dead and stay alive. She called 911 for help, though help didn’t arrive for more than an hour.
Miah told members of Congress Wednesday about her fears and why she wants change.
“I don’t feel safe at school,” she said in a pre-recorded video. “I don’t want it to happen again.”
When asked if she thinks it will happen again, she shook her up and down and said “yes.”
-Candy Woodall
Uvalde pediatrician haunted by memories
Dr. Roy Guerrero, a pediatrician at Uvalde Memorial Hospital, said he is haunted by memories of screams and bloodshed from the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
“I will never forget what I saw that day,” he said.
He saw parents sobbing – the mothers’ cries he will never get out of his head.
He saw fourth-grader Miah Cerrillo in the hallway, her white shirt covered in blood and her shoulder bleeding from shrapnel.
Guerrero knew her as the girl who survived liver surgery as a baby. On May 24, she was a survivor of a mass shooting.
School was almost out in two days. He expected to be treating sprained ankles from summer camp. Instead, he treated wounds from an assault rifle and saw the children who were “decapitated” in the massacre.
-Candy Woodall
Buffalo shooting victim’s mother: Lawmakers who don’t support stricter gun laws ‘should be voted out’
Zeneta Everhart, the mother of Zaire Goodman, a survivor of the Buffalo shooting delivered impassioned testimony to the House committee.
“Parents who provide their children with guns should be held accountable,” Everhart said. She said lawmakers need to pass stricter gun laws, saying those who do not support such changes are allowing mass shootings to continue and “should be voted out.”
As Buffalo victims testify:Race and history circle us
Everhart described her son’s injuries in detail and said lawmakers who don’t support change should come to her house and clean his bullet wounds.
“My son Zaire has a hole in the right side of his neck, two on his back, and another on his left leg, caused by an exploding bullet by an AR-15,” she told the committee. “As I cleaned his wounds, I could feel pieces of that bullet in his back. Shrapnel will be left inside of his body for the rest of his life.”
She added: “If after hearing from me and the other people testifying here today, does not move you to act on gun laws, I invite you to my home to help me clean Zaire’s wounds.”
-Merdie Nzanga and Kenneth Tran
Miah Cerrillo speaks in video, father speaks at hearing
Miah Cerrillo is sharing her testimony with Congress in a pre-recorded video that will be aired Wednesday morning during the hearing.
Her father, Miguel Cerrillo, will share additional brief remarks in person, committee Chair Maloney said.
-Candy Woodall
‘A uniquely American tragedy’
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, launched Wednesday’s hearing by saying she wanted to “examine the destruction and heartbreak” gripping the nation after the recent series of mass shootings, including one in her home state of New York.
On May 14, in a Buffalo supermarket, an 18-year-old killed 10 Black shoppers in what the FBI described as a racially motivated mass shooting.
Ten days later, an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
“We are failing our children, and we are failing each other,” Maloney said in her opening remarks.
She said gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and “a uniquely American tragedy.”
Maloney emphasized that she supports the Second Amendment, but she doesn’t support outdated gun laws that allow 18-year-olds to get weapons of war and carry out violent crimes.
-Candy Woodall
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, advocates holding rally
As gun violence survivors and victims’ families testify before the committee, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leaders will join gun-safety advocates Wednesday morning outside the Capitol to rally for tighter gun laws.
The chairman of the House Gun Violence Taskforce, Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., will attend the event along with Pelosi, gun violence survivors and hundreds of gun safety advocates. They plan to gather at 11 a.m. Wednesday in front of the Capitol reflecting pool.
Also in attendance will be: Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., who lost a son to gun violence; Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser; Art Acevedo, former police chief in Houston, Austin and Miami; and others.
-Candy Woodall
Three GOP witnesses added to hearing
The Republicans are adding two witnesses to deliver testimony during Wednesday morning’s House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on gun control.
Lucretia Hughes, of the DC Project and Women for Gun Rights, will be part of the first panel of witnesses, along with with Miah Cerrillo and families of victims. Amy Swearer, a legal fellow with the Heritage Foundation, will speak during the second panel, which also includes gun-safety advocates and the Buffalo police commissioner.
Democrats have also added New York Mayor Eric Adams to the second panel. He has been calling for reform, as his city grapples with an uptick in gun violence.
-Candy Woodall
What we know about the House hearing
The hearing Wednesday comes during an emotionally charged week on Capitol Hill. It began with a rally Monday for gun safety laws and has included tense negotiations in the Senate, heated debate in the House and passionate hearings in both chambers.
McConaughey, a native of Uvalde, has been meeting with members of both parties to encourage them to work together, he said during a White House briefing Tuesday.
Lawmakers are facing mounting pressure to respond to the scourge of violence, particularly after mass shootings in Texas and New York gripped the nation last month.
Members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee will hear from a young survivor, victims’ parents, a community pediatrician, advocates and others who are reeling from trauma after the mass killings on May 24 at Robb Elementary in Uvalde and the May 14 racially motivated massacre of 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket in a Black neighborhood.
The committee said the hearing will examine “the urgent need for Congress to pass commonsense legislation that a majority of Americans support.”
Democrats who have majority leadership on the committee want to ban assault weapons, boost background checks and pass “red flag” laws, which allow courts to remove firearms from those deemed a threat to themselves or others.
Hearing details:Uvalde and Buffalo survivors, families to testify before House Oversight committee on mass shootings
What we know about the witnesses
The hearing is expected to be lengthy and emotional, with two panels of witnesses.
Miah is part of the first panel, which includes Zeneta Everhart, the mother of Buffalo shooting victim Zaire Goodman; Felix and Kimberly Rubio, the parents of Uvalde shooting victim Lexi Rubio; and Dr. Roy Guerrero, the sole pediatrician in Uvalde.
Those panelists will offer their stories, experiences and trauma just weeks after the mass shootings. They will not field questions from lawmakers, according to a spokesperson for the committee.
The second panel of witnesses includes Greg Jackson, Jr., executive director of Community Justice Action Fund; Joseph Gamaglia, Buffalo police commissioner; Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association; and Nick Suplina, senior vice president for law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety.
The other side:Everyone knows the NRA. Who’s on the other side? These groups lobby for curbs on firearms
What we know about the House Oversight and Reform Committee
The large committee that will hear the testimony includes 25 Democrats and 19 Republicans.
Democratic members include Maloney, who is in an intense primary battle with fellow New York Democrat Jerry Nadler; Jamie Raskin, who is also busy this week on the Jan. 6 committee this week investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive who has been calling for reform; Cori Bush, Ayanna Pressley and others.
Republican members include Jim Jordan, an outspoken Republican member of the GOP Freedom Caucus who opposes most gun restrictions; Andy Biggs of Arizona; Nancy Mace of South Carolina; Byron Donalds and Scott Franklin of Florida, where reform measures have passed, and others.
A push for reform
The House Oversight and Reform committee is the latest panel to examine the gun violence epidemic.
House Judiciary members last week passed a package of six bills, dubbed the Protecting Our Kids Act, that passed along party lines.
‘Shame on us!’:House committee passes gun bills that are likely to die in Senate
Senate committees this week are holding hearings on gun laws and white nationalism, which the FBI said was a factor in the Buffalo shooting.
The full House will vote on the Protecting Our Kids Act, a “red flag” bill and an assault weapons ban this week, according to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But all those measures are expected to hit a roadblock in the Senate, where Democrats do not have the 10 Republican votes needed for their bills to survive a filibuster.
Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., are leading a bipartisan group of senators in negotiations on a narrower gun-control package than House Democrats.
The senators’ plans focus on red-flag laws, mental health and school safety.
As of Tuesday night, those Senate negotiations were ongoing.
Half of Republicans support stricter gun laws, poll shows
As lawmakers hash out bipartisan negotiations on Capitol Hill, an exclusive USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds half of Republicans support stricter gun laws.
The increase in GOP support – from 35% last year to 50% this month – marks a double-digit increase after a series of horrific mass shootings at schools, stores, streets and houses of worship.
A party shift “could boost the prospects for Congress to tighten federal gun laws, an effort that has failed for decades,” according to previous coverage.
GOP senator now open to reform
Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis, of Wyoming, who has rigidly supported Second Amendment rights and earned a “lifetime A-plus” rating from the National Rifle Association,doesn’t seem to be an obvious choice to support bipartisan efforts to reforming the nation’s gun safety laws.
But the number of constituents calling her office have made her rethink her position.
“I’ve been a little surprised at the phone calls we’ve been getting and how receptive Wyoming callers seem to be to address guns in some manner,” she told CNN. “I am of the opinion that it’s more of a mental health issue than a gun issue. But, you know, I’m listening to what people from Wyoming are saying.”
She is considering voting for bipartisan measures in the Senate that would change “red flag” laws, open juvenile criminal records, and boost mental health programs and school security.
“That’s something that I’d be inclined to want to look at,” Lummis told CNN.
Candy Woodall is a Congress reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at cwoodall@usatoday.com or on Twitter at @candynotcandace.
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