Home control1/26/2024 ![]() "If we can do it in the South, the South is going to set the tone for the rest of the nation," he said. "I cannot emphasize that enough. Jones said he told Biden that "sometimes we have to do something outside of the ordinary" to produce change. In Tennessee's Republican-supermajority legislature, Democrats are virtually powerless, relegated to play to their bases with speeches and long-shot bills, but lacking the votes to pass laws.īut the "Tennessee Three," as they became to be known, are no longer backbenchers even though their push for gun reform in Tennessee hasn't succeeded. ![]() "What the Republican legislature did was shocking, it was undemocratic." "You're standing up for our kids, you're standing up for our communities," Biden told the lawmakers, kicking off their meeting. The decision, led by Tennessee's Republican House speaker, Cameron Sexton, turned the trio into national heroes of the left. Johnson was targeted by Republican leadership but kept her seat by a single vote. Tennessee Republicans voted this month to expel Jones and Pearson, who are both Black, after they broke decorum by protesting for gun control on the House floor. "We come from a state where we have an NRA-endorsed governor calling a special session on guns –something that's unheard of – because of people power." It is a movement," Jones said, adding that "continued people pressure" will be required to pass gun reform in Tennessee and beyond. The lawmakers said they're out to show gun reform is possible even in a solidly Republican state like Tennessee. It marked the culmination of the lawmakers' rising profiles as they've come to symbolize the push for stronger gun laws – and, to some, democracy itself – amid Republican resistance. ![]() Justin Jones, D-Nashville, Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, and Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, sat down with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for about an hour in the Oval Office. WASHINGTON – State Democratic lawmakers who make up the "Tennessee Three" said Monday they want the conservative Volunteer State to become a "model for the nation" on gun control following a meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |