NBCNews.com | Rand Paul: Capitol Police Officers are Reason We Survived the ... NBCNews.com Sen. Rand Paul told Lester Holt that he had just batted when he heard the rapid gunshots and took cover, and lauded the officers who he credited with ... |
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Rand Paul: Capitol Police Officers are Reason We Survived the ... - NBCNews.com
Republicans and Democrats in Congress are introducing medical marijuana legislation Thursday protecting states from federal interference in the wake of a request to roll back protections from Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Members of the House of Representatives and Senate are backing a comprehensive marijuana package in an effort to protect state medical legalization laws from a potential federal crackdown. The bill gives the Department of Veteran Affairs the freedom to recommend medical marijuana to patients and removes cannabidiol (CBD), used to treat chronic pain and severe epilepsy, from theControlled Substances Act.
Republican Sens. Mike Lee, Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski join Democratic Sens. Al Franken, Cory Booker andKirsten Gillibrand as initial sponsors of the legislation, which they will announce in a press conference Thursday. A version of the legislation in the House is also attracting bipartisan support.
A majority of states now have comprehensive medical marijuana laws on the books, and a supermajority of Americans support letting patients access cannabis without fear of arrest, Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. Its well past time for Congress to modernize federal law so that people with cancer, multiple sclerosis and PTSD dont have to worry about Jeff Sessions sending in the DEA to arrest them or their suppliers. The diverse group of lawmakers behind this new legislation shows that medical cannabis is an issue of compassion, not partisan politics.
The legislation will also ease restrictions on the research community attempting to study the medical applications of marijuana.Scientists in the U.S. attempting to study the effects of marijuana on various ailments lament the continuedroadblocks to federally-funded cannabis research.The designation of marijuana as a Schedule I substance alongside deadly narcotics means that the U.S. government does not recognize any medicinal benefit to marijuana.
The bipartisan effort comes in the wake of a letter from Sessions to Congress leaked Tuesdaypetitioning lawmakers to scale back legal protections for medical marijuana.
In the letter sent to Congress in May, Sessions asks they dismantle rules that bar the Department of Justice (DOJ) from getting involved in medical marijuana issues at the state level. TheRohrabacher-Farr amendment, which passed in 2014, prevents the DOJ from using federal funds to prosecute individuals in states with medical legalization.
Sessions arguesthatthese protections undermine the DOJs ability to combat the illegal drug trade.
Sessions cites the current drug epidemic involving opioids as reason to remove the restrictions placed on the Justice Department. Federal officials estimate that drug overdoses killed more than 60,000 Americans in 2016. Recent research, however, suggests that legal marijuana is helping reduce abuse rates of prescription drugs.
A studypublished in Drug and Alcohol Dependence in March found that in states with legal weed, hospital visits for complications from prescription painkillers are dropping. The hospitalization rate for opioid abuse and dependence in states with medical marijuana are roughly 23 percent lower than states without legal access.
Emergency room visits for opioid overdoses are on average 13 percent lower than states without medical marijuana programs.
Medical marijuana is legal in 29 states and Washington, D.C., where it is also legal for recreational use.Nearly 20 percent of Americans now have access to legal pot.
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Rand Paul And Al Franken Come Together For Weed - The Daily Caller
Amid reports casting doubts on the valuation of a $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, the Senate on Tuesday considered a resolution by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., which would prevent any such deal from taking place.
The joint resolution was not passed, but Sen. Paul gave an impassioned apology for it.
Diverging from policy under both Republican and Democratic administrations, Paul argued on the Senate floor that rather than advancing American interests to end everlasting conflicts in the region, giving arms to Saudi Arabia would only prolong conflicts.
"This may make the situation with Iran worse," he argued, rather than helping the U.S. keep Iran in check. He continued, "What do you think Iran thinks when Saudi Arabia gets weapons? They think to themselves, 'well, if the Saudis are getting more, we need more.' ... We are fueling an arms race in the Middle East."
Paul also argued against the deal on behalf of Israel. "Saudi Arabia is no friend of Israel. Do they cooperate with Israel some? Yes. But their missiles are pointed at Tel Aviv."
Paul's other main argument involved Yemen.
Yemen is a nation ravaged by war, man-made famine, and a cholera epidemic, but it is often forgotten. "Everybody is listening to some silly show trials and silly stuff going on in committee. Nobody is talking about this stuff [Yemen] at all. They say it is worse than Syria. Many people have fled Syria, hundreds of thousands have died, and now many are predicting Yemen may be worse."
In his view, the Yemen conflict tragedy, really is only prolonged by Saudi Arabia, which backs the regime and has repeatedly bombed civilians.
The position of non-intervention was represented well yesterday, even though it lost the vote on Saudi arms. In the end, Paul exhorted the public to remember this conflict: "It's being done without your permission, but with your weapons."
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Sen. Rand Paul uses Israel, Yemen to argue against Saudi arms deal - Washington Examiner
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said it's likely many people would have died during a shooting that occurred at the Republican baseball practice Wednesday morning had it not been "for the bravery of the Capitol Police."
"As you have likely heard a gunman with a rifle opened fire on congressmen, senators, staff and police this morning. I was there and am shaken but unharmed," Paul said in a statement.
"Many people likely would have died this morning if not for the bravery of the Capitol Police," he continued. "My thanks to them are inadequate but heartfelt. They never hesitated to put their lives on the line to save everyone. Please pray for those who were injured."
Paul and several other Republicans were practicing for Thursday's annual congressional baseball game when a gunman armed with a rifle opened fire on the practice in Alexandria, Va.
Five people were transported to local hospitals, including Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., who was shot in the hip. Scalise went into surgery Wednesday morning.
The No. 3 Republican, Scalise travels with a security detail, and Paul said had they not been there, the shooting would've been a "massacre."
Paul and others at the practice said the shooter fired at least 10 to 20 rounds before the security detail engaged him.
Multiple reports identifed 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson of Belleville, Ill., as the shooter. President Trump said shortly before noon on Wednesday that the suspect had died as a result of police counterattack.
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Rand Paul: Bravery of Capitol Police kept us alive in congressional baseball shooting - Washington Examiner
Sen. Rand PaulRand PaulList of GOP lawmakers at the congressional baseball game practice GOP rep: Before shooting, man asked whether we were Dems or GOP GOP rep recounts using belt as tourniquet at baseball practice shooting MORE (R-Ky.) was in the cage waiting for one more turn at the plate when shots rained down on the field, hitting Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and at least four other people.
Paul told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he probably heard 50 to 60 shots and saw Scalise "trying to drag himself through the dirt out into the outfield."
Paul, who couldn't see the gunman from his position, said he believed the shooter reloaded, and he described the gun as sounding like an AR-15.
He said lawmakers and aides were lucky that Capitol Police were at the scene.
"One of the things that's really fortunate and probably why everybody probably would have died expect for the fact that the Capitol Hill police were there," he said.
Capitol Police were at the scene because of the presence of Scalise, the third-ranking Republican in GOP leadership.
"If Scalise wouldn't have been on the team unfortunately, he was hit and I hope he does well but also by him being there it probably saved everybody else's life because if you don't have a leadership person there, there would have been so security there," Paul said.
"They do a great job. These are brave men and women, and we were really lucky they were there," he said.
Paul said it is common for GOP lawmakers to get to the field as early as 6:15 a.m. He said people know that lawmakers practice at the field, and described a normal morning in which dog walkers and other early risers share pleasantries in the morning.
The senator said he had been ready to leave the practice but had told Sen. Jeff FlakeJeff FlakeList of GOP lawmakers at the congressional baseball game practice GOP senator: I called Scalise's wife after shooting so she wouldn't find out on the news GOP rep's 10-year-old son was at practice when shooting broke out MORE (R-Ariz.) that he wanted to take one more turn at bat before heading back into Washington, D.C.
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Rand Paul gives dramatic first-hand account of shooting - The Hill