Asking lawmakers not to block gun-control measures inside the Congress on procedural matters, US President Barack Obama’s administration yesterday dared them to vote against the issue and give reasons for it on floor of the House.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that the Administration is working with lawmakers who are working towards solutions to the legislative priorities which the President has laid out.
“Closing the loopholes in our background check system is a major priority, and it is something that we should be able to achieve. After all, more than 90 per cent of the American people support universal background checks,” he asserted.
“Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Americans from across the country, every region — gun owners a large majority support background checks,” Carney said.
“It is a common-sense thing to do, to take the system that exists and improve it so that those who should not obtain or be able to obtain a weapon under existing law cannot obtain them because of the loopholes that exist,” he said.
The White House, he said, continues to press for action by Congress for the absolute obligation of Congress to vote on each one of the proposals put forth by the President.
“I recently watched the State of the Union address again, and it is a powerful moment and it is worth reviewing when the President called on Congress to vote on each of these measures because Gabby Giffords deserves it, because Hadiya Pendleton deserves it, because the children of Newtown deserve it. And members of both parties stood and applauded. So they ought to fulfill the message they sent by applauding by allowing a vote on every one of these issues,” Carney said.
“It is the obligation of the members of Congress who stood and applauded when the President called on them to vote on these issues to live up to that applause when the cameras were on and not to take the less courageous route by using procedural measures to block a vote,” he said.
“Imagine what would they say to the families of the victims of Newtown about why a certain measure never came to a vote because they filibustered it or used other procedural measures to block it. That would certainly be inappropriate,” Carney said.
Following series of gun-violence in the country that has killed scores of people in the last one year, Obama has been pushing for tough gun-control laws.