All 17 Democrats on the House Education Committee signed a letter Friday calling on committee chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) to schedule hearings to discuss school shootings.
Citing this week’s deadly high school shooting, which left 17 dead and 14 others injured, Democrats called on Foxx to hold hearings to address the issue of school shootings.
“Wednesday’s preventable tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, resulted in the deaths of at least 17 students and faculty,” the letter reads. “Sadly, since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School five years ago, more than 430 people have been shot in over 230 school shootings.”
Lawmakers who signed the letter include Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), Rep Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Jarid Polis (D-Colo.), among others. {mosads}
In their letter, the Democrats said they agreed with and echoed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s call this week for Congress to take action and hold hearings on school shootings.
“Congress needs to be holding hearings on these issues. And we’ve seen lots of discussion about this every time we’ve had another incident,” DeVos said during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
“We’ve seen, you know, lots of finger pointing back and forth. But we need to have a conversation at the level where lawmakers can actually impact the future, because going back to and putting myself in the seat of one of those families impacted, you know, one of these shootings is one too many.”
DeVos said there needs to be an “honest conversation,” adding that Congress must “lead on this.”
“It’s their job,” she said.
The lawmakers’ letter adds to calls from lawmakers, activists and the families and friends of gun violence survivors to act on gun violence.