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Dear (iching),
Late Tuesday night, Republican Leader Bill Frist interrupted Senate debate on the defense authorization bill, abruptly changing gears to call up a different piece of legislation that apparently demanded our immediate consideration.
Senator Frist assured us that this was a "very important" bill that absolutely required action before the Senate's August recess. Surely Senator Frist would only postpone consideration of the defense authorization bill until September for a very good reason, right?
So was Senator Frist calling up legislation to fix our broken health care system? No.
Was it a bill to improve education for our kids? Nope.
Strengthening Social Security? No, not that either.
No, instead of finishing our work on the defense authorization bill during a time of war, Senator Frist and his buddies over at the National Rifle Association decided it was critically important to consider new legislation shielding gun manufacturers from civil liability lawsuits, and to do it right now.
Can there be a better example of how upside-down the radical right wing's priorities are, and why we need to return control of Congress to the Democrats?
Put a stop to the nonsense of these right-wing extremists -- contribute to PAC for a Change today!
When this terrible bill passes in the next few days, or if we can delay it, in the next month or so, the gun industry will win broad immunity from liability lawsuits, an unprecedented giveaway that no other industry enjoys -- and many innocent victims of gun violence will unfairly be denied their day in court.
It's not like the gun industry is overregulated. There are more safety standards for producing teddy bears than manufacturing some of these handguns. Granting immunity to an industry that has continually fought against technological advances that would make guns safer is ridiculous.
Senate Republicans cry out about the flood of "frivolous lawsuits" that are driving gun manufacturers and distributors out of business. Yet from 1993 to 2003, the State Court Journal reported that out of nearly 10 million total lawsuits filed during the period, only 57 were filed against gun industry defendants. And while more than $80 billion in damages are awarded in lawsuits every year, damages in gun suits amount to less than $500,000 -- a mere 0.000625% of the overall total.
Senate Republicans are just plain wrong on this issue, and so many other issues. Unfortunately, we can't count on them to change their stripes. They're in the pocket of the gun lobby and many other powerful special interests, and that's just not going to change.
That's why we've got to redouble our efforts to elect a Democratic majority in the Senate -- and end these shenanigans, once and for all. Contribute to PAC for a Change today!
Sadly, Senate Republicans apparently believe it's more important to protect gun manufacturers than our brave men and women in uniform. Why else would Senator Frist delay debate on the defense authorization bill, while our soldiers continue serving in Iraq without all of the equipment and support they need?
We may not be able to change the priorities of Senate Republicans -- but we can change the Senate. Let's take a stand, right now -- today -- and commit ourselves to doing just that.
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