John,

Thank you for all your support over the last month! I am so, so grateful to count you on this team. 

A few weeks ago, I invited you to share your questions with me, and my team received a lot of responses—ranging from policy issues and Senate procedures to my thoughts on the latest Taylor Swift album (love it). 

We selected a couple to answer today—check them out below. (If we didn’t get to yours, don’t worry—there will be more opportunities in the future!) 

With love and gratitude,
Kirsten

Joseph L. asked: What does Congress need to do to prevent gun violence?

Congress hasn’t passed meaningful gun safety reforms in over 25 years. And I’ll tell you why: Washington is corrupted. The NRA has a vice grip on Congress, and far too many of my Republican colleagues lack the courage to do right by their constituents. Not when campaign dollars on the line. (More on how we root out the greed and corruption that have overtaken Washington later in this email).

There are also several pieces of legislation that Democrats need to pass now—while we maintain majorities in the House and Senate—to address gun violence in our communities.

First, we need to expand mandatory federal background checks to include all firearms sales. The House passed a bipartisan universal background checks bill last month that would expand requirements to cover online sales, gun shows, and sales between family members and friends. 

We also need to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. A common thread in the mass shootings that have plagued our country is the use of sophisticated, military-grade weapons. These are weapons of war to which no civilian needs access.

And we need to cut down on the flow of illegal guns across state lines. Nearly 90% of guns recovered in New York City crimes originated in another state. My bill, the Hadiya Pendleton and Nyasia Pryear-Yard Gun Trafficking and Crime Prevention Act, will make gun trafficking a federal crime. 

I’ve seen the impact of gun violence up close. We have to break this cycle and take meaningful action. The most important thing you can do right now is keep the pressure on your members of Congress. Make sure to call on them and let them know you support sensible gun safety reforms.

Lynda D. asked: When will we get big, dark money out of our political system? This needs to happen or nothing gets done.

Lynda, I couldn’t agree with you more. When the NRA wants to prevent gun reform, they funnel money into the campaigns of candidates nationwide to make sure they don’t vote for common sense gun reform. Insurance companies do the same to block Medicare for All and prevent us from guaranteeing health care as a right, not a privilege. The story is the same with polluters. And drug companies. And oil companies. The list goes on.

I’m proud to refuse money from corporate PACs or lobbyists—but we need to tackle the root cause. That’s why I support S-1, the For the People Act. This bill takes aim at government corruption, bolsters and expands voting rights, and makes huge strides toward getting money out of politics.  

I’ll be honest: Right now, we don’t have the votes in the Senate to pass this transformative legislation—we would need 60 Senators to sign on to break a GOP filibuster. But I believe that this cannot wait, which is why I am in favor of reforming the filibuster in order to pass legislation and enact serious election reforms.

Julia G. asked: Do you support the Green New Deal?

Yes! I’m proud to have joined Senator Ed Markey in co-sponsoring the Senate version of the bill again this year. The way I see it, climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity today, and passing a Green New Deal is our generation’s moon shot.

Let’s take a step back: The Green New Deal is an ambitious framework to save our planet by investing in infrastructure, creating a green jobs economy, and protecting clean air and clean water.

There’s a lot of fear-mongering about the Green New Deal and its impact; in reality, it’s an effort to grow domestic manufacturing, keep jobs from going overseas, and position the U.S. as a global economic leader. These are things that we should all be able to get behind!

Danny S. asked: How’s Maple doing?

Our dog, Maple, is as happy as ever. She’s been coming into the Senate office with me a few days a week—we’ve even managed to squeeze in a few playdates with some of my colleagues’ dogs!

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