Despite the walkouts

When 17 Florida high school students and adults were shot to death on Valentine’s Day this year, our congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers was quick to offer a Twitter cliche: “My prayers are with those who were killed.”

Words are cheap. Money counts. She’s taken tens of thousands of dollars from the National Rifle Association, which gave her an “A” rating in 2012 for blocking efforts at gun reform.

Her cliches continued at a local school safety forum in March, where she talked about “more resources” for mental health counseling. She didn’t acknowledge she’d voted to cut mental health funding in recent GOP budgets and defended her NRA benefactors.

Despite national student walkouts protesting the carnage, school shootings have continued. As of May 25, they total 23 this year – more than one a week.

McMorris Rodgers recently voted against a Democratic motion to amend a military spending bill, HR 5515, to expand background checks on commercial gun sales.

When my two daughters were growing up in Spokane, they didn’t have to worry about being killed at school. That is no longer the case for today’s children. We need new leaders in Congress to address this mortal threat.

Karen Steele

Spokane