Dear Neighbor,

In State-Level Government, I’ve heard a typical rule of thumb is about 3-5 days to receive a bill/resolution, read it, assess it, seek wise counsel, garner feedback and develop an educated plan to vote.  This sounds like a dream compared to what I’ve experienced thus far as your State Representative in Michigan.  The most consistent pattern of finding out what exactly will be up for vote has been hours before the time to vote! 

Yesterday, this pattern came down to mere minutes and seconds:

1:40pm – During the middle of a Record Roll Call Vote, as the votes were being recorded for all to see, the Vote Board was abruptly closed and we were hastily directed to meet away from the House Floor.  This had never happened before.  On my way out, I was told this was happening due to a “New Resolution” (HR68) that was about to come up for vote immediately without any forewarning whatsoever.  I had never heard anything about this Resolution prior to this moment.

1:48pm – I returned to my desk on the House Floor and quickly accessed the Resolution language to read for the first time, send to others for review, and prepare for what I was told would be a Record Roll Call Vote.  Simultaneously, the Speaker quickly moved through a Voice Vote, which was over in seconds, at 1:49pm.

This extreme circumstance begs the question…what about HR68 caused such a drastic, spastic rush?  From what I can gather, HR68 was rushed to prevent time for strong, educated votes.  Click here to read it for yourself.  Here’s my take on HR68:

The resolution condemns the use of “divisive rhetoric” related to the Holocaust to oppose gun control legislation and abortion measures. 

As your State Representative, my heart breaks for the 60 million people that died during World War 2, a worldwide travesty that we should not take lightly. 

Wise leaders learn from the successes and failures of prior generations, so historical failures don’t repeat.  I believe we should be having more conversations around the failures of strict gun laws in Communist countries, so we can learn from them and be better for it.

This resolution ignores an important part of world history:  many times, historical tragedies have been preceded by the implementation of very strict gun control laws.  Gun control laws in Communist China, the Soviet Union and elsewhere eventually led to disarmament, leading to the defenselessness and deaths of tens of millions of innocent people.

History shows us power-hungry leaders always enact more and more laws to infringe on the rights of citizens, until they lose their freedom and ability to defend themselves in an irreversible way.

That’s why I disavow all acts of senseless violence, perpetrated by both private citizens and governments around the globe.  I also stand firmly against unconstitutional gun control, which has led to the death of hundreds of millions worldwide throughout history. 

I oppose HR68.

I was unable to formally enter this vote on the Vote Board due to the rapidly rushed Voice Vote. This precluded those who wanted to vote NO from voting their conscience.  If there hadn’t been an unprecedented rush with this on the House Floor, I would have stood tall and said “NAY!”  I will learn and adapt from this to make better decisions under these extreme circumstances in the future.

I did find some interesting and important background behind why this Resolution (HR68) included this type of content.  This week, Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Kristina Karamo held a press conference, sharing some timeless wisdom from the architects of our Constitution about the consequences of strict gun control, including, but not limited to the following:

• Our Founding Fathers put the 2^nd Amendment in place to protect American citizens from a tyrannical society and government. 
• Our Founding Fathers understood human nature.  They knew that a government “for the people” needs to have checks and balances. 
• Our Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution after examining history to identify what kinds of governments have worked well in the past – and which ones have not. 
• To fully honor our Sacred Oath to uphold the Constitution, we need people in government willing to stand up for what it’s right, even when it’s not politically convenient. 

I support Kristina Karamo.

Our Founding Father John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”  Before we took God out of our public schools, mass shootings were rare.

My hope is that these insights help you understand my stance on the importance of history, the “play-by-play” of yesterday’s events, the reasons why things transpired in this unprecedentedly rushed manner, and the background of why the HR68 included the rhetoric it did.

We must take full responsibility for letting our opposition manipulate us in this manner, which is damaging to our country. Excuses won’t cut it. We were elected into a well-known adversarial environment moving swiftly toward government tyranny. Also, we must be fully aware of how deceptive and aggressive our opposition is, and act accordingly.

I, for one, take full responsibility for failing to implement the right strategies and tactics to stand up to this deception. Our opposition, with superior resources, will make Michigan unrecognizable if this continues.

Your feedback is extremely important to me.  Please reach out to me through phone/email/letter with any desires and concerns you have related to the full scope of my position as your State Representative!

Sincerely,
Josh Schriver

State Representative
Michigan House District 66

CONTACT REPRESENTATIVE SCHRIVER
(517) 373-0839    
[email protected]
www.RepSchriver.com

Stay in the loop with the latest from Rep. Schriver here.