Yesterday, the House Oversight Committee held a hearing examining the practices and profits of the gun industry in the wake of the recent mass shootings, the increase in general gun violence across the country, and the stunning revelation that gun manufacturers have made more $1 billion in profits from assault weapons in the past decade alone. During the hearing, I asked Marty Daniel, CEO of Daniel Defense, about a recent tweet the company sent out featuring an image of a sniper rifle on a rooftop aimed at a person sitting in a parked car. Despite claims from gun companies that they market their weapons for hunting and self-defense purposes, it is clear that neither is happening in the company’s promotional tweet – it is a shooter on a roof preparing to open fire on an unsuspecting person. The disturbing nature of this ad is magnified when considering that it comes just weeks after the Highland Park tragedy in which the gunman unleashed a hail of bullets from a rooftop position, murdering seven people and paralyzing a child from the waist down.
I also questioned Antonia Okafor, the National Director of Women’s Outreach for Gun Owners of America, noting that she called for abolishing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) in a 2020 social media post. Despite its demonization by some extremists, the ATF plays a critical role in saving lives and combatting gun violence. In 2020, the ATF National Tracing Center assisted over 8,000 law enforcement agencies and processed almost 500,000 requests that potentially saved countless lives. ATF’s tracing center also led to the swift identification and apprehension of the Highland Park shooter before he could claim even more innocent lives. |
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Congressman Krishnamoorthi questions Daniel Defense CEO Marty Daniel about a tweet the company posted in March depicting a sniper rifle on a rooftop trained at a parked car (Click the image above to watch the full question line)
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On Monday, I led a bipartisan press conference with local elected officials at the Hanover Park Metra Train Station to voice our opposition to the proposed $31 billion merger of Canadian Pacific (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) railroads. If the merger were to go through, the CP rail line that runs between Bensenville and Elgin would see its rail traffic more than triple, causing Metra commuter train delays and negatively impacting local communities and residents along the line. The CP freight trains, which can be as long as two miles, would have drastic and potentially dangerous consequences for local communities. For example, the town of Hanover Park is essentially bisected by the rail line, with fire and emergency services on the north side of the lines, leaving the south side cut off if a miles-long freight train is rolling through. This would be on top of the added environmental, noise, and pedestrian safety concerns that come with more frequent rail traffic. While many of these negative impacts can be partially mitigated through the new construction of overpasses and underpasses for pedestrian and vehicle traffic, the companies have offered only $10 million towards the effort, a small fraction of the costs of such structures.
Before the press conference, I joined Senator Dick Durbin in leading a letter U.S. Surface Transportation Board with Senator Tammy Duckworth and Congresswoman Marie Newman expressing our oppositions to the merger as proposed. Considering the severe consequences this merger and the resulting tripling of freight traffic would have upon local communities, my colleagues and I called upon the Surface Transportation Board to hear directly from those who will be affected most by this proposed agreement, before coming to a decision.
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Congressman Krishnamoorthi speaks with local Democratic and Republican officials in front of the Hanover Park Metra Station against the proposed merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern Railroads
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Last Friday, I traveled to the NCH Community Resource Center in Palatine to hold a panel discussion with local community leaders at the Greater Chicago Food Depository on how food price increases are affecting the health and well-being of working families in the district and across Illinois. The demand at food banks throughout the state is increasing as donation levels have simultaneously declined due to the same rising food costs impacting people’s ability to donate money and food items of their own. While supply chain issues and general inflation remain significant factors in the dramatic increase in food prices and the cost of other goods in recent months, I am concerned that some major companies are also taking advantage of the situation by using predatory business practices to drive up the costs of goods for consumers to boost their own profits.
As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, I sent a letter to the four largest meat processing companies, requesting information related to the increasing costs of meat. The profit margins for these four companies have increased by 300 percent since the onset of the pandemic, with net incomes skyrocketing by 500 percent, because the price increases, they’ve foisted upon consumers greatly exceed their own cost increases.
To address another driver of inflation and shortages, I’ve also launched an investigation into price gouging by the shipping industry. For example, CMA CGM, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, recorded $11 billion in profit in the first nine months of 2021, more than the company made during the prior decade combined, as their own cost increases were dwarfed by the price hikes they pushed on their customers, driving up the prices of shipping anything, and thus what customers pay at the store.
While my investigations continue, there is no question that these types of predatory business practices are harming consumers and further fueling inflation. They must be stopped, and these companies must be held accountable.
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Congressman Krishnamoorthi speaks about his ongoing investigations and efforts to hold companies that are potentially engaging in price gouging practices towards American families accountable
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The best way to stay up to date on these issues beyond our newsletter is through my social media accounts, which I update multiple times each day. You can follow my Twitter here, my Facebook page here, and my Instagram here. Thank you for staying engaged in our community.
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P.S. I always enjoy hearing from constituents, so feel free to comment and share my social media posts! Here are the links: Twitter here, Facebook page here, and Instagram here. |
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