KANSAS CITY, Mo. — U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II is reintroducing a bill that would withhold one month's pay from every member of Congress for each month a mass shooting occurs in the United States.
Cleaver, a Democrat, first filed his "No Pay Until Peace Act" in May 2022. He said he's reintroducing the bill after 80 mass shootings have impacted the nation. Three of those mass shootings took place in Cleaver's own district — Missouri District 5.
Six people were shot and injured at Crown Center on Jan. 18, approximately two dozen people were shot following the Chiefs' Super Bowl rally on Feb. 14 and an Independence police officer and civil process server lost their lives, and two other officers were injured just last week.
“Whether it’s kids in classrooms, believers in their place of worship, or families at the local grocery store or community parade, it’s become abundantly clear that no amount of death or trauma will push far right politicians to take the action necessary to address America’s horrific gun violence epidemic—but maybe losing a paycheck or two will,” Cleaver said in a statement. "How many more beloved members of our community must experience gun violence, and the trauma that comes along with it, before we implement the gun safety reforms we know save lives?”
The full bill proposed by Cleaver can be accessed online.
The bill says that if a mass shooting occurs in the United States — which is defined as four or more individuals injured or killed by gunfire in the same incident — one month's pay for each member of Congress would be held in an account until the final day of the 118th Congress on Jan. 3, 2025.
"The No Pay Until Peace Act will not solve all the problems related to gun violence in America—but I hope it will at least force some members to realize their inaction comes at a very serious cost, not just to their communities but to their pocketbooks as well," Cleaver said in a statement.
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