Doyle Participates in House Sit-In to Protest GOP Refusal to Allow Vote on "No Fly, No Buy" Bill

Statement

U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA-14) released the following statement today about the sit-in that he and other House Democrats held on the House Floor over the last 26 hours.

"As far as I'm concerned, there's no need for civilians to have assault weapons, armor-piercing bullets, or large-capacity magazines in this country. We've seen the devastation they can cause in Pittsburgh where there have been a number of deadly mass shootings in recent years.

"I want to get these weapons of war off our streets. I'm a cosponsor of legislation to reinstate the ban on assault weapons and large-capacity clips, as well as legislation to close the loopholes in the national instant background check system.

"The House Republican Leadership has kept all of those bills bottled up in committee and refused to bring any of them to the Floor for a vote. Many of us are frustrated that after every tragic mass shooting, the House Republican Leadership calls for a moment of silence, but fails to take action. In fact, they refuse to allow Floor consideration of any gun safety legislation.

"House Democrats have tried every conventional approach to get the Republican leadership to bring these bills to the Floor, and we decided that the time had finally come to draw a line in the sand and put the Republicans on notice that we aren't going to allow business as usual until they give us a vote.

"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell allowed a healthy, open debate and vote on legislation to expand background checks and prohibit gun sales to suspected terrorists. That's all we want.

"The American People deserve to know where their elected officials stand on these life and death issues. Why won't Speaker Ryan allow the House to vote?"

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