Dear Friends,

It’s rare that I am at a loss for words, but the horrific massacres in El Paso and Dayton this weekend have left me shocked and heartbroken. We must never get numb to these tragedies. We can never deny the victims a place in our heart with sincere thoughts and prayers.
But we also need real action. Thoughts and prayers are meaningless unless we back them up with specific steps as a nation to prevent these tragedies. We need stronger gun safety laws, like the universal background check legislation still waiting for a vote in the Senate. We need more robust mental health programs and resources. We need to expand economic opportunity in communities suffering from daily violence. And we must also stop and defeat the growing ideology of bigotry and hate that is motivating so many of these horrific acts of domestic terrorism.
Earlier this year, I introduced in the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2019 (H.R. 1931). Senator Durbin has introduced the same bill in the Senate. We need to move this legislation forward to because it’s time we update our laws to reflect the growing threat of domestic terror. We must work to make our communities and our nation safe from those who seek to divide and terrorize us.
As fate would have it, I was in El Paso last week to investigate conditions on the U.S.-Mexico border and see firsthand the impact of the Trump Administration’s immigration policies on both our people working at the border and the migrants waiting to come into the U.S. This was an eye-opening trip, and below I share some of the things I learned from this trip and how it will affect my work in Congress.
Lastly, my team and I are planning a number of events around the district this month, including a panel discussion on the issue of affordable housing in Grayslake, and a hiring event in Zion. Details to RSVP are included below, and stay tuned to our newsletter for more summer event announcements.

Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
Bradley S. Schneider
Member of Congress