Congressman Bruce Braley says now is not the time to draft legislation in response to Saturday’s mass shooting in Arizona that critically injured a congresswoman. “Any discussion of legislation at this time is premature because everyone is hurting from this tragedy that befell our good friend and colleague and her staff and constituents,” Braley says.
Some lawmakers have called on the Federal Communications Commission to crack down on so-called “hate speech” on talk radio and other media outlets like FOX News, but Braley, a Democrat, says he’s “not interested” in commenting on attempts to “restrict” speech. Braley doesn’t expect additional security for congress either.
“Because of the nature of how we do our jobs, I don’t anticipate any change in the level of access that constituents have to me,” Braley says. “I think the thing that everyone should be doing in the wake of this tragedy is looking at your own existing security measures — making sure that you’re doing everything not just to protect yourself but to protect your staff and your constituents and make sure that you have an environment where you can have the full exchange of ideas that this country was founded on.”
One of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ staff members and a nine-year-old girl who had been taken to meet her congresswoman are among those who were slain in Saturday’s shooting. Braley was in the state capitol in Des Moines today, attending Governor Culver’s last big speech to lawmakers.