NEWSLETTER UPDATE FROM STATE REPRESENTATIVE GARY HOLDER-WINFIELD

Update from Gary Holder-Winfield

Dear Friends,

On Monday the nation watched as Barack Obama stood before us to be sworn in for a second term.  There was much to see, and whether you are someone who agrees with the President’s politics, largely there was consensus that what we witnessed on Monday spoke to a country much different than the country that Martin Luther King Jr, whose name and legacy we remember on that third Monday in January, lived, struggled and died in.
 
The day spoke to possibilities when we act as our better selves.
 
In Connecticut, with our state still reeling from the December 14th Sandy Hook tragedy, the legislature is attempting to act with our better selves in mind and has established a bipartisan super committee that is to look at the Sandy Hook tragedy and craft a response that is not generated by any one side of the political aisle.  The committee had its first meeting on Friday.  It is clear to me that we must carefully think through what if anything we do in response to that singular and shocking occurrence.
 
It is also clear, for me in shocking relief, that we must think about our response to what I have called the more banal slow and almost imperceptible mass murder of young people living in urban environments in our own state. Cursory statements during discussions of our response to Sandy Hook are not nearly enough.  In a previous update I stated that the actions we take now are things that some of us were fighting for and being ignored, put off, or outright rebuked.  That was a mistake. To fail now to address urban guns head-on, too, will prove to be a mistake.
 
House Minority Leader Cafero demonstrated with his admonition to Robert Crooks, a gun lobbyist, just what a different world we inhabit today.  Cafero’s words inspired me to think some about what that means for both sides which generated a blog post on the 15th.  Later in the week a discussion about just how real this is for those making the decisions brought out the pen again.
 
As always it is my intention to keep you informed so I send out this update and participate in several forms of social media: Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. Please feel free to join me there and pass on the word.
 
All the best,
HolderWinfield Sig
Gary Holder-Winfield



Things of Interest Coming up (don’t forget to check the complete calendar):
Wednesday 1/23 – Session day House and Senate
Thursday 1/24 – CT Voices for Children Annual Budget Forum (Cap Old Judiciary Room)
Friday 1/25 - School Security Sub Committee Informational Forum (LOB 2C)



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