WASHINGTON — The House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Wednesday heard from Miah Cerrillo, a fourth-grade student at Robb Elementary School, as well as Felix and Kimberly Rubio, the parents of one of the 19 children who was shot and killed in the Uvalde, Texas school shooting.
What You Need To Know
- The House Committee on Oversight and Reform heard emotional testimony from gun violence victims
- One victim, Miah Cerrillo, covered herself in her friend’s blood and played dead to evade the gunman
- Democrats and Republicans disagree on how on what gun safety actions to take going forward
- Rep. James Comer supports strengthening school safety, not restricting access to guns
“I left my daughter at the school, and that decision will haunt me for the rest of my life,” Kimberly Rubio told the committee as she recounted the day she lost her daughter.
“I think everyone who has kids in public schools was affected by that testimony. How could you not be?” said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who serves as the top ranking Republican on the committee.
The Oversight Committee heard emotional testimony this week with comments from the Rubios, who lost their daughter in the Uvalde shooting. "It needed to be heard," @JamesComer. "The interpretation on what you do from this point on that's where there's disagreement in Congress." pic.twitter.com/1SAG9zYkUp
— Julia Benbrook (@JuliaBenbrook) June 10, 2022
“It was just terrible. I think that was obviously something that needed to be told, and needed to be heard,” Comer said. “The interpretation of what you do from this point on, that’s where there’s a disagreement in Congress.”
In his opening remarks at the hearing, Comer said that as elected members it is their “obligation” to make sure that violent shootings, like the recent ones in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York, never happen again.
Like many Republicans, Comer suggests Congress work to improve security at public schools, which would include funding to add and train more school resource officers. Comer says he does not support restricting access to guns.
“Not with respect to the Second Amendment. I think that’s embedded in our Constitution,” he said. “I believe that once you start limiting that it’s a never-ending process.”
Comer’s office received a surge of calls after Wednesday’s high profile hearings on curbing gun violence, but he said most of those calls did not come from constituents.
“I vote the way the people in my district expect me to vote,” Comer said. “I am the voice for the people in the 1st Congressional District [of Kentucky].”
On Wednesday, the House passed a package—largely along party lines—that would outlaw high capacity magazines and bump stocks for civilian use, raise the minimum age to buy semi-automatic weapons to 21, increase background checks and strengthen safe storage requirements.
Comer voted against that bill and it has little chance of getting enough Republican support in the Senate to make it to President Joe Biden’s desk.