ENDORSED
BY GIFFORDS
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has always been a tireless advocate for justice. He first learned about the value of helping others from his mother, a social worker, and his father, a substance abuse counselor. After serving as a clerk for a US district court judge and as a litigator, Leader Jeffries decided to make the transition to public office to continue advocating on behalf of his community in a different way. He spent six years in the New York State Assembly before running for Congress in 2012—where he has fought every day to keep his constituents safe from senseless gun violence.
In Congress, he has long been an outspoken voice for commonsense gun safety legislation and has risen through the ranks of his caucus to become the top Democratic voice in the US House. In 2019 and 2021, he was proud to help usher the historic Bipartisan Background Checks Act through the House—the first step in paving the way for universal background checks to be the law of the land. Leader Jeffries has also consistently pushed to stop the flow of illegally trafficked guns into Brooklyn and to allocate federal dollars to research gun violence as a public health issue.
Throughout his career, Leader Jeffries has understood that gun violence disproportionately impacts communities of color, and he knows that addressing this epidemic will require investing in historically underserved neighborhoods. As the Congressional Black Caucus whip, he led fellow members in a “hands up, don’t shoot” demonstration in 2014 to spark a national conversation about the shooting of unarmed black men by police. As a founder of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Caucus, Leader Jeffries has also been a leading proponent for community violence intervention programs. In response to mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo, Leader Jeffries led the charge in passing the bipartisan Protecting Our Kids Act, which would raise the minimum age for buying a semiautomatic weapon from 18 to 21 and enact new federal criminal offenses for straw purchases of firearms. In 2022, he also joined colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass the landmark Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major gun safety legislation signed into law in nearly 30 years.
With so much on the line, we must do everything in our power to ensure that gun safety champions retake the House majority this fall and make Leader Hakeem Jeffries the next speaker of the House. We know that his skills as a legislator will be crucial in advancing lifesaving reforms, and we are confident he will help build a future free from gun violence.
In Congress, he has long been an outspoken voice for commonsense gun safety legislation and has risen through the ranks of his caucus to become the top Democratic voice in the US House. In 2019 and 2021, he was proud to help usher the historic Bipartisan Background Checks Act through the House—the first step in paving the way for universal background checks to be the law of the land. Leader Jeffries has also consistently pushed to stop the flow of illegally trafficked guns into Brooklyn and to allocate federal dollars to research gun violence as a public health issue.
Throughout his career, Leader Jeffries has understood that gun violence disproportionately impacts communities of color, and he knows that addressing this epidemic will require investing in historically underserved neighborhoods. As the Congressional Black Caucus whip, he led fellow members in a “hands up, don’t shoot” demonstration in 2014 to spark a national conversation about the shooting of unarmed black men by police. As a founder of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Caucus, Leader Jeffries has also been a leading proponent for community violence intervention programs. In response to mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo, Leader Jeffries led the charge in passing the bipartisan Protecting Our Kids Act, which would raise the minimum age for buying a semiautomatic weapon from 18 to 21 and enact new federal criminal offenses for straw purchases of firearms. In 2022, he also joined colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass the landmark Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major gun safety legislation signed into law in nearly 30 years.
With so much on the line, we must do everything in our power to ensure that gun safety champions retake the House majority this fall and make Leader Hakeem Jeffries the next speaker of the House. We know that his skills as a legislator will be crucial in advancing lifesaving reforms, and we are confident he will help build a future free from gun violence.
We are proud to endorse Hakeem Jeffries for the US House of Representatives.
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