Rep. Seth Moulton says he wishes a sit-in wasn’t needed for Paul Ryan to ‘do his job’
Rep. Seth Moulton wishes it hadn’t come to this.
But after the worst mass shooting in American history in Orlando and a raucous two weeks in the House chamber in Washington, D.C., the Massachusetts Democrat finds himself at the forefront of the debate over gun policy.
But, whether it be toward his colleagues in Congress or the American people, Moulton is quick to deflect credit for the recent Democratic rebellion against House Speaker Paul Ryan and the Republican majority in the House.
“We’re just answering the call of the people we represent, who are demanding action on guns,” he said Thursday in a brief interview, frustrated with Congress’s lack of action in the wake of yet another mass shooting.
“I wish we didn’t have to have a sit-in for the speaker of the house to do his job and let us vote on these bills,” said the North Shore native, who represents the Bay State’s sixth district.
A 37-year-old Harvard graduate and Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, Moulton has the profile of, if he isn’t already, a rising star on Capitol Hill.
And along with fellow Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark, who led Wednesday’s sit-in, he has found himself center-stage amid Democrats’ push for gun control.
“I give a tremendous amount of credit to Katherine Clark for getting together with civil rights legend [Rep.] John Lewis and leading this sit-in,” he said. “It’s another great example of how the Massachusetts delegation is leading the country.”
Democrats ended their sit-in Thursday morning, after Republican House leaders adjourned in the wee early hours Thursday morning, amid demonstrations by Moulton and his colleagues.
“They’ve cut and run. We’ve just begun,” he tweeted at 3:23 a.m., after the House adjourned.
“I did go to sleep at one point, but I was there almost the whole night,” Moulton said Thursday.
Both Moulton and Clark refused to participate in Ryan’s moment of silence for the victims of the Orlando shooting last week, following the lead of Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, who first announced his intentions to boycott the tribute over the lack of action on gun policy reforms.
.@HouseGOP routinely holds “Moments of Silence” after each mass shooting–underscoring their cowardly silence on even VOTING on gun reform.
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) June 14, 2016
Moulton’s singular moment in the spotlight came two days later, when he sent out, as he described it, a “simple tweet explaining how I know assault rifles and I don’t think we should have them in our communities.”
I know assault rifles. I carried one in Iraq. They have no place on America’s streets. #Orlando pic.twitter.com/ibKQE2PpqF
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) June 14, 2016
One day later, Moulton’s image was plastered across the New York Daily News front page, accompanied by a column he wrote elaborating on his support for an assault weapons ban.
“I just wrote that tweet on my couch one night and 14,000 retweets later it’s on the front page of the New York Daily News,” he said. “So I think there’s a national sentiment that Congress is out of touch with the American people in ignoring this and pandering to the [National Rifle Association].”
Moulton says despite some “legitimate, principled concerns” what his political counterparts disclose in private is that the reason for inaction is the potential repercussions of voting for expanded gun control.
“What Republicans tell me privately, is it’s all about the NRA,” he said, referring to the national lobbying organization for gun rights.
Citing public opinion polls showing upwards of 90 percent support, Moulton says that universal background checks—expanding them to cover firearm sales to cover not just licensed dealers, but to gun shows and online transactions—is not only a popular policy, but also the most effective in reducing gun violence.
“The analogy I always use is imagine if when you bought your airline ticket at a ticket counter, you had to go through security, but if you bought online, you didn’t have to,” he said. “That’s the way our gun laws are written today.”
Moulton is also a co-sponsor of a bill that is set be introduced Friday with Rep. Carlo Curbelo, a Florida Republican, to keep suspected terrorists from purchasing guns—a sibling to a Senate amendment proposed by Maine Republican Susan Collins.
Moulton said taking part in the sit-in Wednesday and Thursday was “incredibly energizing” but also “sad” due to the weight of the tragedy that prompted the demonstration.
“There was a sense of sadness that it took this, that we couldn’t just do our job the way we’re supposed to,” he said. “It’s really the leadership of the American people that is calling for action.”
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