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Quality of Life and Fairness |
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Louise is an original cosponsor of H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, legislation that enhances penalties for willfully causing bodily injury to any person because of perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability of the victim. This bill passed the House in April of 2009 and is awaiting Senate action.
Louise is cosponsoring legislation that would extend family and medical leave protections so that grandparents and siblings can take time off of work to care for ill family members. One such bill is H.R. 2460, the Healthy Families Act, which requires certain employers, who employ 15 or more employees for each working day during 20 or more work weeks per year, to permit each employee to earn at least one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.
Louise is an original cosponsor of H.R. 3017, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. |
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Louise has been a long time supporter of improved gun safety. She is leading the fight in Congress against the powerful gun lobby to pass proposals that would require non-licensed gun sellers to conduct criminal background checks on buyers at gun shows, restrict access to guns for juveniles, and mandate child safety features on handguns.
The Congresswoman cosponsored and successfully fought for enactment of the Brady Handgun Purchase Waiting Period and Assault Weapon Ban laws. Since 1995, these laws have successfully blocked 1.8 million purchase attempts by dangerous people from a gun dealer.
Louise is a cosponsor of legislation to reauthorize a ban on assault weapons that will help keep guns out of the hands of people who committed violent crimes as juveniles.
Rep. Slaughter is working to close the gun show loophole. She is a cosponsor of H.R. 2324, the Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2009, which would help stop criminals from getting around the Brady laws by buying guns at gun shows.
The Congresswoman joined her colleagues in signing an Amicus Curie brief to the Supreme Court in support of the City of Chicago’s 25 year-old ban on handguns. The statute was being challenged under the 2nd Amendment in McDonald v. City of Chicago. The brief addressed the question of whether and to what extent the 2nd amendment applies to the states, and thus the extent to which deference is given to local governments to enact sensible gun control legislation based on their intimate knowledge of local problems and insight into appropriate solutions.
Louise voted against an amendment to the Omnibus Parks Bill which passed and was signed into law, allowing people to carry loaded, concealed weapons in our national parks. She will continue to work with her colleagues to repeal this harmful provision of law.
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Protecting Your Civil Liberties |
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Louise believes that efforts to protect the nation from terrorism are vital, but that constitutional civil liberties need protection too. She has cosponsored legislation to protect legal protections for libraries and bookstores.
The Congresswoman has also cosponsored legislation to restore the rights of Habeus Corpus for anyone detained by the United States, whether domestic or foreign. The erosion of our civil rights cannot be condoned in the face of our efforts to protect our nation.
The USA Patriot Act, passed days after the terrible events of September 11, 2001, allows federal law enforcement officers to conduct "sneak and peek" searches without telling anyone. Louise is cosponsoring legislation to place limits on these searches. |
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Louise has long supported legislation to put more police officers on the streets through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants program, which has provided local law enforcement agencies in Western New York with funding for 95 police officers. She also voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which provided the 28th district of New York with $13,768,020 in COPS grant money.
The Congresswoman is a cosponsor of H.R. 1022, the Gang Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression Act. This legislation would create a gang-specific tool to attack street gangs in the same way traditional organized crime figures were brought down using the federal racketeering statute (RICO). This bill is also designed to facilitate anti-gang efforts by bringing together Federal, State and local law enforcement, providing them with effective and tailored legal tools, and authorizing funds to make these partnerships effective. It allocates $700 million for community-based efforts to keep kids out of trouble.
Louise cosponsored legislation to create a national AMBER alert network. AMBER alert communication networks help law enforcement officers quickly to inform broadcast media of critical details when a child is kidnapped and considered endangered. Radio and TV stations then use the Emergency Alert System to interrupt their programming with the emergency information. |
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Contact Louise
Louise Line
