Jacob Ogles
Two Florida lawmakers known for partisan jabs at congressional colleagues are now joining together in a national call for civility.
U.S. Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Jared Moskowitz, who serve together on the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter to all members of Congress days after an assassination attempt on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. Trump suffered a minor injury, but an attendee at his rally was killed, two others were injured and the Secret Service killed the shooter.
“As Democrat and Republican Members of Congress, we call for peace and civility in our nation’s politics,” the letter reads.
“The cycle of animosity and hate that has permeated our country’s political system needs to stop.”
Luna, a St. Petersburg Republican, and Moskowitz, a Parkland Democrat, have both engaged in their share of partisan rancor.
Moskowitz has most frequently sparred with Republican House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer. During an impeachment inquiry last year reported by The Hill, Moskowitz went after a loan history between Comer and his brother, contrasting that to loans in President Joe Biden’s family that Comer was investigating.
That back-and-forth deteriorated as Comer famously called Moskowitz a “smurf,” with Moskowitz later retorting online, “Gargamel was very angry today.”
Luna, who is expected to speak at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, pushed earlier this month for the House to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in “inherent contempt” after the administration exerted executive privilege over an audio recording of Biden.
Initially, Luna wanted the House to send its Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest Garland, but she later pushed instead for the House to impose daily fines until Garland produced the audio. The measure failed on the floor.
But Luna and Moskowitz also have worked together on bipartisan issues, most notably pushing last year for a hearing on military transparency around UFOs. The two lawmakers were both elected in 2022, and when Moskowitz announced his intention to lunch once a week with a colleague from across the aisle, Luna was his first guest.
“We have the ability to lead by example and show people we can disagree without dehumanizing each other,” the lawmakers’ bipartisan letter reads.
“Considering the current political division in our nation, we understand that this may be easier said than done. There is a system of hatred and grifting that has infused itself into our politics. We see it on TV and social media daily, making this task challenging. We must find ways to find commonality with each other.”
But the two said the stakes are high. Both lawmakers have young children, and said it’s the next generation that dominates their concerns about the state of rhetoric now.
“Like the two of us, many of you are parents with sons and daughters who are going to inherit what we leave behind,” Luna and Moskowitz wrote.
“As collective Members of the same body, we must ensure that we do everything possible to bring down the temperature. If we do not do this, we continue to risk the safety of our colleagues and the American people.”
Reps. Moskowitz Luna Civility Letter by Jacob Ogles on Scribd
2 comments
My Take
July 17, 2024 at 12:04 pm
MAGA is the epicenter of hate, threats of violence, and occasional actual violence.
Greg Atwater
July 17, 2024 at 3:51 pm
Thank you! Their calls for calm are a joke. Shame he wasn’t 💀 because that’s the only way they’d actually change even to the slightest degree..any of them. They do the same thing.
Comments are closed.