Late Wednesday, the House voted 260-169 to approve the legislation, with 168 Republicans and one Democrat (Wisconsin Rep. Ron Kind, who is not running for reelection) voting in opposition.
The Active Shooter Alert Act — which was sponsored by Reps. David Cicilline, D-R.I., and Fred Upton, R-Mich. — would allow law enforcement to deploy the alert system to notify the public when there is an active shooter threat in schools and community centers.
“If your child were in a school where there was an assault, wouldn’t you want to know? How can these Republicans vote no?” Pelosi said during her weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill. “These people think their political survival is more important than the survival of our children.”
“One hundred sixty-eight Republicans voted, ‘No, we don’t want an Amber Alert if someone is shooting up a school nearby,’” Pelosi added.
Forty-three Republicans and 217 Democrats voted in favor of the measure, which now heads to the Senate.
Its passage comes following a string of recent deadly mass shootings, including the massacres at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, and a parade in Highland Park, Ill., on the Fourth of July.
The suspected gunman in Highland Park was at large for nearly eight hours, and police said he was able to drive to Wisconsin before his arrest near Chicago. In that case, law enforcement could have used the proposed alert system to notify the public of the threat rather than rely on television and social media.
“We have to give law enforcement every tool they need to neutralize these threats and keep our communities safe,” Cicilline said while introducing the legislation. “This bill helps do that in a simple, effective way.
“Law enforcement deserves better than Twitter to communicate with the community they serve,” he added.
The bill also calls for a Justice Department official to assume the role of national coordinator of the communications network. That individual, selected by the attorney general, would be responsible for coordinating alerts on federal, state, and tribal lands.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, one of the Republicans who voted against the bill, described it as “an unnecessary gimmick to cede more authority to the already highly politicized Biden Department of Justice.”
Jordan argued that federal, state, and local officials already use the Integrated Public Alert Warning System, also known as IPAWS, to send emergency alerts to mobile devices.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who also voted no, called the bill “another example of Washington creating another department, another position, spending more money we don’t have in order to have a policy objective of continuing to advance fear among the American people.”
Here they are sorted by state:
Aderholt Republican Alabama NAY
Brooks Republican Alabama NAY
Carl Republican Alabama NAY
Moore (AL) Republican Alabama NAY
Palmer Republican Alabama NAY
Rogers (AL) Republican Alabama NAY
Biggs Republican Arizona NAY
Gosar Republican Arizona NAY
Lesko Republican Arizona NAY
Schweikert Republican Arizona NAY
Crawford Republican Arkansas NAY
Westerman Republican Arkansas NAY
Issa Republican California NAY
LaMalfa Republican California NAY
McCarthy Republican California NAY
McClintock Republican California NAY
Boebert Republican Colorado NAY
Buck Republican Colorado NAY
Lamborn Republican Colorado NAY
Bilirakis Republican Florida NAY
Buchanan Republican Florida NAY
Cammack Republican Florida NAY
Donalds Republican Florida NAY
Dunn Republican Florida NAY
Franklin, C. Scott Republican Florida NAY
Gaetz Republican Florida NAY
Mast Republican Florida NAY
Posey Republican Florida NAY
Rutherford Republican Florida NAY
Salazar Republican Florida NAY
Steube Republican Florida NAY
Waltz Republican Florida NAY
Webster (FL) Republican Florida NAY
Allen Republican Georgia NAY
Carter (GA) Republican Georgia NAY
Clyde Republican Georgia NAY
Ferguson Republican Georgia NAY
Greene (GA) Republican Georgia NAY
Loudermilk Republican Georgia NAY
Scott, Austin Republican Georgia NAY
Fulcher Republican Idaho NAY
Bost Republican Illinois NAY
Davis, Rodney Republican Illinois NAY
LaHood Republican Illinois NAY
Miller (IL) Republican Illinois NAY
Baird Republican Indiana NAY
Banks Republican Indiana NAY
Bucshon Republican Indiana NAY
Hollingsworth Republican Indiana NAY
Walorski Republican Indiana NAY
Feenstra Republican Iowa NAY
Hinson Republican Iowa NAY
Miller-Meeks Republican Iowa NAY
Estes Republican Kansas NAY
LaTurner Republican Kansas NAY
Mann Republican Kansas NAY
Barr Republican Kentucky NAY
Comer Republican Kentucky NAY
Guthrie Republican Kentucky NAY
Massie Republican Kentucky NAY
Rogers (KY) Republican Kentucky NAY
Higgins (LA) Republican Louisiana NAY
Johnson (LA) Republican Louisiana NAY
Letlow Republican Louisiana NAY
Scalise Republican Louisiana NAY
Harris Republican Maryland NAY
Bergman Republican Michigan NAY
Huizenga Republican Michigan NAY
McClain Republican Michigan NAY
Moolenaar Republican Michigan NAY
Walberg Republican Michigan NAY
Emmer Republican Minnesota NAY
Fischbach Republican Minnesota NAY
Stauber Republican Minnesota NAY
Guest Republican Mississippi NAY
Kelly (MS) Republican Mississippi NAY
Palazzo Republican Mississippi NAY
Graves (MO) Republican Missouri NAY
Hartzler Republican Missouri NAY
Long Republican Missouri NAY
Luetkemeyer Republican Missouri NAY
Smith (MO) Republican Missouri NAY
Wagner Republican Missouri NAY
Rosendale Republican Montana NAY
Smith (NE) Republican Nebraska NAY
Amodei Republican Nevada NAY
Van Drew Republican New Jersey NAY
Herrell Republican New Mexico NAY
Stefanik Republican New York NAY
Tenney Republican New York NAY
Bishop (NC) Republican North Carolina NAY
Budd Republican North Carolina NAY
Cawthorn Republican North Carolina NAY
Foxx Republican North Carolina NAY
Hudson Republican North Carolina NAY
McHenry Republican North Carolina NAY
Murphy (NC) Republican North Carolina NAY
Rouzer Republican North Carolina NAY
Balderson Republican Ohio NAY
Carey Republican Ohio NAY
Davidson Republican Ohio NAY
Gibbs Republican Ohio NAY
Johnson (OH) Republican Ohio NAY
Jordan Republican Ohio NAY
Latta Republican Ohio NAY
Wenstrup Republican Ohio NAY
Bice (OK) Republican Oklahoma NAY
Hern Republican Oklahoma NAY
Lucas Republican Oklahoma NAY
Mullin Republican Oklahoma NAY
Bentz Republican Oregon NAY
Joyce (PA) Republican Pennsylvania NAY
Keller Republican Pennsylvania NAY
Kelly (PA) Republican Pennsylvania NAY
Meuser Republican Pennsylvania NAY
Perry Republican Pennsylvania NAY
Reschenthaler Republican Pennsylvania NAY
Smucker Republican Pennsylvania NAY
Duncan Republican South Carolina NAY
Norman Republican South Carolina NAY
Timmons Republican South Carolina NAY
Johnson (SD) Republican South Dakota NAY
Burchett Republican Tennessee NAY
DesJarlais Republican Tennessee NAY
Fleischmann Republican Tennessee NAY
Green (TN) Republican Tennessee NAY
Harshbarger Republican Tennessee NAY
Kustoff Republican Tennessee NAY
Rose Republican Tennessee NAY
Arrington Republican Texas NAY
Babin Republican Texas NAY
Brady Republican Texas NAY
Burgess Republican Texas NAY
Cloud Republican Texas NAY
Crenshaw Republican Texas NAY
Ellzey Republican Texas NAY
Fallon Republican Texas NAY
Gohmert Republican Texas NAY
Gooden (TX) Republican Texas NAY
Jackson Republican Texas NAY
Nehls Republican Texas NAY
Pfluger Republican Texas NAY
Roy Republican Texas NAY
Sessions Republican Texas NAY
Taylor Republican Texas NAY
Van Duyne Republican Texas NAY
Weber (TX) Republican Texas NAY
Williams (TX) Republican Texas NAY
Owens Republican Utah NAY
Stewart Republican Utah NAY
Cline Republican Virginia NAY
Good (VA) Republican Virginia NAY
Griffith Republican Virginia NAY
Miller (WV) Republican West Virginia NAY
Mooney Republican West Virginia NAY
Fitzgerald Republican Wisconsin NAY
Gallagher Republican Wisconsin NAY
Grothman Republican Wisconsin NAY
Steil Republican Wisconsin NAY
Tiffany Republican Wisconsin NAY
Cheney Republican Wyoming NAY
