At Philadelphia field hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, a witness being questioned by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) refuted Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon's (D-PA) claim that the hearing was a "circus."
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would have been delighted to welcome the Judiciary Committee
00:07to Philadelphia for a thoughtful and honest discussion about how violent crime has dramatically
00:15declined in Philadelphia in recent years, the challenges our city continues to face,
00:21and how the federal government can help. But that's not what's happening here today. Chairman
00:27Jordan has not convened the House Judiciary Committee in the City of Brotherly Love and
00:32Sisterly Affection to explore how Congress can help to reduce violent crime in Philadelphia
00:39or anywhere else. Instead, he's brought his traveling circus to town in order to divide
00:45Americans, scare voters, influence elections, and distract from the crushing failure of
00:53the House majority to govern in this Congress. Chairman Jordan wants to convince people that
00:58gun violence is a Philadelphia problem, but the truth is gun violence is an American problem
01:04that is traumatizing families in every corner of every community across this great land.
01:11So let's start by making three things clear. One, contrary to the statistics cited by the
01:18Chairman, violent crime in Philadelphia has decreased dramatically in recent years. Two,
01:24our entire country continues to face a daily epidemic of gun violence. Three, that senseless
01:32violence is not inevitable. It's enabled by lawmakers who choose to sow chaos with political
01:39stunts like this hearing instead of doing their damn jobs. What makes today's sham hearing
01:46even more offensive is that while our Republican colleagues are trying to score political points
01:51here off the pain of families who have suffered grievous losses, they're simultaneously blocking
01:58votes on bills that would prevent gun violence in Philadelphia and across the country by
02:03keeping weapons out of dangerous hands and off our neighborhood streets. We all know
02:08too many people who've been scarred by gun violence, who've lost loved ones, neighbors,
02:14and friends, and who are crying out for action to address this public health crisis. But
02:20our Republican colleagues are deaf to those cries. We're seeing work on the ground across
02:25the Philadelphia region that offers hope. New violence intervention programs are showing
02:31progress. Homicides in Philadelphia this year to date are down by 35 percent from last year
02:37and down 16 percent from five years ago. Police statistics show that violent crime is at its
02:44lowest levels here in more than two decades. But there is still so much more work to do.
02:51Americans are demanding action and American voters, our children, deserve to know where
02:56their representatives stand on the common sense solutions to stop this carnage. Democrats
03:01have introduced bills that would close background check loopholes, that would implement red
03:05flag laws, promote the safe storage of firearms, and ban assault weapons and ghost guns. But
03:11our colleagues refuse to join us in demanding votes on those bills. Philadelphians and all
03:17Americans deserve a Congress that does its job and passes legislative solutions, not
03:24a Congress that spends all its time mired in political sideshows and dysfunction. Our
03:30country has serious issues that demand serious solutions, not cynical political circuses
03:36like this hearing. Philadelphia deserves better and America deserves better. Now, I have a
03:41direct stake in this subject. Two and a half years ago, I was carjacked at gunpoint by
03:46three teenagers using a firearm they brought from out of state. Obviously, it was scary
03:53to have a gun pointed at my chest. But as I looked down the barrel of that gun, my mind
03:58raced, thinking about all the ways Congress could have prevented that encounter, by closing
04:04loopholes to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them, including
04:10kids, by giving ATF the funding that it needs to enforce gun trafficking laws, and by addressing
04:16the poverty, trauma, and social conditions that led those kids to pick up a gun in the
04:21first place. It also occurred to me that the gun pointed at my chest could have been a
04:25ghost gun. And I heard a snicker, yes, your mind does race in funny ways when you are
04:30facing a gun. So, Mr. Garber, could you talk about how ghost guns, these untraceable, unregulated
04:37firearms that can be bought and sold without a background check, contribute to gun violence
04:42here in Philadelphia, and why we need legislation to address this threat?
04:47We saw a 410% increase in the recovered number of ghost guns just in Philadelphia. And the
04:52thing is, when we're talking about people with criminal records, they may not be able
04:56to walk into a licensed dealer and buy a gun, but they can order a ghost gun kit online
05:01and in a little amount of time have a gun in their home that they can use in these violent
05:04crimes. So it is a massive gap in our safety system that we have to close.
05:10And Pennsylvania recently passed bipartisan legislature through one house to address this
05:14issue, correct?
05:15Correct.
05:17Ms. Dr. Abaya, you work with young people here in Philadelphia. Can you talk about why
05:23it's important to address the toll of gun violence with our youth?
05:28Absolutely. So, one of the things that we know about gun violence is that the trauma
05:33that's sustained early in life has implications for the duration of life. We also know that,
05:38as I had mentioned in my testimony, when gun violence occurs, those who are in immediate
05:43proximity have long-term mental health needs, and that trauma in and of itself can contribute
05:48to future involvement in and exposure to violence. And so it's a very important preventative
05:54measure to identify and intervene upon violence for youth. And that's violence within a community.
06:01So not just the individual, but the community in which they live.
06:04Thank you. I appreciate that. I see my time has expired, although not by as much as some
06:09of our other members, so I will yield back.
06:11I'm trying to be lenient. The gentlelady yields back. The gentleman from Florida is recognized.
06:16When Philadelphia was coined the city of brotherly love, I don't think Cain and Abel were the
06:22brothers they were referring to. But it seems, if you look at the major crimes in this fair
06:29city, they're increasing. The latest Pew report indicates that the number of major crimes,
06:35which is the combined tally of violent crime and property crime, has now reached a 20-year
06:41high. I was deeply moved by the testimony of Ms. O'Connor, Ms. Fitzgerald, and Dr. Fitzgerald,
06:49and I was stricken and a bit insulted that my previous colleague made mention of this
06:54as a circus, as you're here to hopefully lend greater understanding to policymakers about
07:03how to make death and violence less likely.
07:08Ms. Fitzgerald, your testimony almost brought Mr. Biggs and I to tears. We are sympathetic
07:12criers. But what was it like hearing Ms. Scanlon describe this as a circus?
07:19We certainly aren't circus animals. We are people. I'm born and raised in this city.
07:27My entire family is here, and this city is suffering.
07:30How did you feel, Dr. Fitzgerald?
07:34We just met this morning, Ms. Scanlon. However, and with all due respect, we aren't circus
07:41animals. My wife, my daughter-in-law that are here because we've suffered tremendous
07:49pain, as you suffered when you were carjacked, I remember reading that article. So I keep
07:54very much in tune with what's going on here in the city. We have generations of Fitzgeralds,
07:59of heroes that give back to this city. Her brother-in-law commutes back and forth from
08:07the county into the city, to the poorest section of this city to give out food to...
08:12My brother.
08:13I'm sorry, your brother. Excuse me. But my point being, we have a vested interest in
08:19care, and we wouldn't be used as circus animals. We're telling a story, and we're smart enough
08:25to be intent enough to communicate properly and share what we feel and what our family
08:33feels. Again, we didn't move here. We were born and raised here. We still have tremendous
08:40connections with this city. So we get feedback, and it goes back to...
08:46Well, Dr. Fitzgerald, if you don't mind, I want to zero in because I was looking at really
08:52the election contest for Mr. Krasner, who most folks here seem to have some objection
08:58with. And he won overwhelmingly, and he said in his victory speech, in Philadelphia, this
09:04is a movement that has been led by black and brown and broke people and progressives. And
09:12if you're black or brown or broke, you better be progressive because there isn't much of
09:17an alternative. It seems to me that living would be an alternative, right?
09:26Living is an alternative that is the reality for folks that live in communities like I
09:31grew up in, in West Philadelphia, or in East Division, where my wife grew up. These are
09:37the neighborhoods that are the poorest. These are the neighborhoods that have most of the
09:42gun violence within this city. And these are the ones that no one surveys, that no one
09:47talks to, that perhaps one or two representatives from those ends of the communities speak,
09:54and they don't necessarily speak for the people on the ground.
09:56Well, I also want to talk, zoom out a little bit, because Mr. Krasner made a remarkable
10:02admission in his election victory speech. He said, this is about a movement of progressive
10:10prosecutors who have taken office around the country. It is not about us as individuals.
10:16So, Ms. O'Connor, I wanted to give you a chance to react to that, that this dynamic, this
10:20soft on crime progressivism, it's not just an isolated circumstance in one area, but
10:27the DAs who are doing these policies, they actually see themselves as part of a broader
10:32movement to impact the whole country this way. What's your reaction to that?
10:39I'm going to try to keep it nice. I think people are delusional. There's no one here
10:44in this room that can come at me with any of the facts about Jim's job. These guys
10:50are all lengthy, lengthy past criminals. How can somebody not understand what's going
10:59on that these men, my husband could still be here today if these men were prosecuted
11:03the way they should have been and been behind bars over multiple, these guys have combined
11:09eight to ten murders underneath them. It's insane. They have been let out, and they know
11:14this. These are not, when people are killed in Philadelphia, people just can't wait to
11:20see the rap sheet of the person that did the shooting and how many times they have been
11:24let out. It is ridiculous. They, my son is a police officer. He, again, he has locked
11:31someone up who laughed in his face and said, I will be out in a few hours. He was right.
11:37And our district attorney, oh my God, my son was in the police academy and this man came
11:42up to him as he was standing around the hero wall. And he said, how you doing there, sir?
11:48And my son looked at him like, are you crazy? He said, how am I doing? That's my father
11:52on the wall right there. And Larry couldn't even look at him and just turned away. Like
11:56it is, the policy is, everything is totally out of control. And people that respect this
12:02man or want to vote for him, let it happen to your family and then you'll see how you'll
12:07feel about everybody walking free and what goes on in this city. I see what the police
12:11officers go through. They are scared to do their job. You have nobody going into the
12:16academy. Why would they? He is looking to prosecute the police more than keep people
12:19in jail where they should be. It's ridiculous.
12:21Mr. Chairman, I see my time has expired, but I just wanted to thank all of the witnesses
12:26and certainly express my appreciation for the hearing and my understanding that this
12:30is no circus. This is a very serious endeavor that is life or death. And I yield back.
12:35Chair recognizes, the gentleman in the back, chair recognizes the gentlelady from Pennsylvania.
12:39Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I yield Ms. Scanlon a bit of time and then I'll get to my question.