Several days after the horrific murders in Charleston, S.C.’s, Emanuel AME Church, our U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, cast a vote on the House Appropriations Committee to deny funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research gun violence in our nation. How is it possible, after Sandy Hook and the numerous gun murders to follow, that our own representative in Washington, D.C., can’t see how important it is to find out the facts behind this epidemic and fix it based on what research shows?
As a nurse with a master’s degree, I deeply value the integrity and power of research. How can we really solve a problem when we don’t have all the facts? Did Herrera Beutler hear her constituents when almost 60 percent of us voted just eight months ago for universal background checks? Our vote is a clear message Clark County residents care about gun violence and want something done about it.
Rep. Herrera Beutler, can you hear us? Are you willing to work with us to solve it?
Joanne Pinelli
Camas
