Rep. Jackie Speier says she hasn’t attended a Congressional moment of silence for mass shooting victims in “a number of years” because she finds them to be hypocritical and “only for the headlines.”
The California Democrat, who was shot five times in 1978 when she and the delegation traveling with the late Rep. Leo Ryan were ambushed by Jim Jones followers in Guyana, was one of several Democrats to boycott Monday’s congressional moment of silence for the 58 people fatally shot in Las Vegas.
“I haven’t attended a moment of silence for a number of years, because I think it’s so hypocritical,” Ms. Speier said on CNN’s “The Lead” Wednesday, Mediaite reported. “That’s all we do. we have a moment of silence, and then we are silent. There is no action.
“I spoke for five minutes on the floor about the horrendous events in Las Vegas, and all the horrendous events that have happened before, whether it was Columbine, Aurora, Sandy Hook, I mean, it just goes on and on,” she said. “We never do anything about it. So, these moments of silence are really only for the headlines, and I’m tired of the hypocrisy.”
The House held a moment of silence Monday after a gunman killed at least 58 people and injured nearly 500 others at a country music festival in Las Vegas. Multiple House Democrats refused to participate in any more moments of silence for shooting victims until Congress takes legislative action on gun control.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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