House

Top Dem calls to revamp lawmaker security after baseball shooting

by Mike Lillis - 06/20/17 4:36 PM ET

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is calling for a restructuring in funding for lawmakers’ security in the wake of last week’s shooting at a congressional GOP baseball practice.

Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, is urging the creation of a separate, tax-based funding pool designed to boost lawmaker protections, particularly in district offices, where current rules dictate that members must tap their own campaign funds.

“My recommendation would be to have a general fund within the legislative budget, which is dedicated to security of the members and their staff,” Hoyer told reporters in the Capitol.

“The most concern [for] a lot of members [is] about their district staff,” he said.

{mosads}Lawmakers are examining new ways to bolster security for members of Congress following last week’s shooting in suburban Washington, which left House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) seriously wounded. Four others also suffered less-serious wounds.

Early proposals include reforms that would empower lawmakers to use their office funds, known as the Member’s Representational Allowance (MRA), to maintain video cameras and other security measures in district offices and at their homes.

Hoyer’s idea goes a step further, allowing lawmakers to dip into a broader fund designated within Congress’s annual budget.

“My view is that the security … concluded to be necessary for members should neither be an item listed in the members representational allowance, nor should it be campaign funds that are spent for that purpose,” he said.

“I don’t know that I could preclude campaign funds, but I think this is a public responsibility,” he quickly added. “Either way, of course, whether it’s MRAs or it’s a general fund for security, it’s going to be paid out of tax dollars. But I would think that the better way to do that [is the general fund].”

Last week’s shooting, which targeted members of the Republican congressional baseball team as they practiced in Alexandria, Va., shocked Capitol Hill and stirred immediate calls for additional layers of protection for lawmakers off Capitol Hill.

Scalise, as a top Republican leader, travels at all times with a security detail. The pair of Capitol Police officers who took down the lone gunman last week have been widely credited with preventing further casualties.

Most lawmakers, though, are not shadowed by a security force, even when they congregate in large numbers, prompting calls for an immediate change in that policy. Hoyer joined those calls on Tuesday.

“I think you’re going to find that the security is going to be upped for those kinds of events,” he said.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said last week that the most significant changes will likely be made internally by leaders of the Capitol Police. But many lawmakers say there’s also a role for Congress, and Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and a close friend of Scalise, has taken the lead in that effort.

Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) offered his own proposal on Tuesday, introducing legislation that would allow members of Congress to carry concealed firearms nationwide, regardless of local restrictions.

Many Democrats say they’re also concerned that the Capitol Police is underfunded. They’re calling on GOP leaders to boost the budget for Congress’s protective force in the 2018 appropriations process. That idea will likely meet pushback from Republican deficit hawks, but Hoyer said Tuesday that cost should take a backseat to ensuring lawmaker safety.

“The dollars and cents should not be the major driving force,” he said. “It’s obviously a consideration. But the driving [force] ought to be to make sure that … people [don’t] fear running for the Congress of the United States, being elected to serve their public, and thereby becoming targets.”

“Democracy,” he said, “needs to operate in a context of law and order and security.”

Tags Steny Hoyer Steve Scalise