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Congresswoman Robin Kelly Responds to Trump’s Attacks on Chicago


Chicago, IL – (ENEWSPF)–January 27, 2017. Congresswoman Robin Kelly released this statement:

“In recent days, President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to ‘send in the Feds’ to address the ongoing violence in Chicago. These tweets and comments show a complete ignorance to reality. First, ‘sending in the Feds’ violates the U.S. Constitution and second, ‘the Feds’ are already in Chicago.

On a variety of issues, federal agencies and the Chicago Police Department (CPD) have been coordinating for years to enhance public safety. Over the past several months, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other law enforcement agencies have been reviewing the activities of the CPD. Just one week before President Trump’s inauguration, the DOJ released its Patterns and Practice Report showing troubling instances of unconstitutional policing. Since the report release, the CPD and DOJ have been working on a greatly needed consent decree.

However, I have deep concerns about the future of this necessary consent decree. With Senator Jeff Sessions and John Gore under consideration for the top positions at DOJ, this consent decree will likely be scrapped or never materialize. In the coming days, I will be sending a letter to the new Attorney General urging swift action on this issue. Failure to address the glaring issues highlighted in the Patterns and Practice Report is simply unacceptable.

Additionally, the President owes it to the country to be better informed on the issues facing real American families before making uninformed incendiary statements on Twitter.

We know that the violence in Chicago stems from two things: a lack of opportunity and guns in the hands of people who shouldn’t have them.

Nothing stops a bullet like an opportunity. Instead of sending tweets that demonize his fellow Americans, President Trump should push Congressional Republicans to finally pass a jobs bill, background check legislation, and work on efforts that spur economic growth.

Following President Trump’s tweet on Tuesday evening, I shared this thought with him and invited him to come to my district, see the reality up close and personal and work together on solutions. My invitation remains unanswered.

Second, we need to address the number of guns flooding our streets. More than half of the guns used to commit crimes come from outside Illinois, especially from Indiana and Wisconsin, because of their lax or non-existent gun reform laws. It’s time to pass bipartisan, broadly-supported national legislation to keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them.  We can start by passing Republican Congressman Peter King’s Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act and Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act, which I hope will be re-introduced soon.

Instead of violating the Constitution and misrepresenting facts, I’m far more interested in working to address policing issues, create jobs and pass common sense gun reform. My invitation to President Trump remains open. We need action not tweets.â€

Source: http://robinkelly.house.gov

 

 


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