CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript Interview with Steven Horsford

Interview

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WHITFIELD: All right, Natasha Chen, thank you so much in Atlanta.

All right, these mass shootings come as Congress weighs action on gun reform. My next guest knows the pain felt by families of gun violence all too well. At 19 years old he lost his father in a shooting.

Here with me now, Democratic congressman from Nevada, Steven Horsford.

Congressman, so good to see you. So this issue is deeply personal for you and your community. Las Vegas was the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Two bills were recently passed in the House addressing expanded background checks. But what do you want your colleagues in the Senate to understand as they take up this issue?

REP. STEVEN HORSFORD (D-NV): Well, I want my colleagues in the Senate and I want Republicans in the House and the Senate to actually listen to their constituents and not to the gun lobby. As you said, my father was shot and killed when I was 19 years old. I never had a chance to say goodbye. And my home city of Las Vegas where I was born and raised is the place of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

We have passed two comprehensive bills out of the House with Republican support, but I also want those bills passed by the Senate and put on President Biden's desk so that we can address the fundamental issues that are contributing to gun violence in our country. Also, to support the Break the Cycle of Violence Act that Senator Booker and I have introduced to really target community-based interventions so that we can stem gun violence wherever it may occur.

WHITFIELD: But what's it going to take to get this gun legislation or anything related passed? I mean, it seems to be an uphill battle, particularly now with such polarization, especially in the Senate where Democrats only, you know, hold a one-vote majority. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine tweeted last night, and this is his tweet, "We cannot stand by as more families lose loved ones. The time for Congress to act on gun violence is now."

So do you believe the momentum is there because following a mass shooting, a horrific occurrence in this nation, there seems to be momentum, and then suddenly it disappears? HORSFORD: Eighty-five percent of Americans support comprehensive

background check legislation and closing the gun show loophole and other commonsense reforms. So all we need Congress to do is to listen to their constituents and not to the gun lobby.

If we do that, and if we center the voices of those who have been affected by the violence and the pain, then I believe that we will get this bill passed by Congress, and I know because of President Biden's compassion, his resolve to pass this legislation, that he will sign it.

WHITFIELD: What are the areas in which you believe there will be and could be bipartisan support in the Senate?

HORSFORD: Well, definitely the commonsense background checks bill has bipartisan support. The gun show loophole, as I said, is a bill that many Americans believe should be passed so that only law-abiding citizens can purchase guns, and then the legislation that Senator Booker and I have advanced, the Break the Cycle of Violence Act, we will be reintroducing this bill because it's about putting resources in communities.

It's not just about guns themselves, but it's also the things that are contributing to gun violence in many of our communities throughout the country.

WHITFIELD: Another big issue facing Congress, immigration. And again, you have a personal connection to this issue. Your mother came to the U.S. as a young girl from Trinidad and Tobago with your grandmother. So what can you tell us about their story?

HORSFORD: Well, my mother, who has shown me what it means to be resilient and to never give up, came to the United States with my grandmother when she was just a teenager. Like many people who immigrate to the United States, they came here for a better life, initially to New York and then they made their way to Las Vegas. But after my grandmother fell sick, my mom ended up getting trapped in a broken immigration system.

So I know all too well the families that are dealing with this broken immigration policy. They want to see Congress act. And so when I hear from the Dreamers, when I hear from TPS holders, when I hear from people who are trying to seek asylum like the families that I've met at the detention centers in my very own district, I listened to them. And all they want is to be able to keep their families together and to live the American dream.

Yes, we need to secure our border, but we can do that while also respecting and having dignity for those who are seeking immigration status in our country. We are a nation of immigrants, and it's all about keeping our families together.

WHITFIELD: Congressman Steven Horsford, thank you so much for your time and your story, and sharing that with us.

HORSFORD: Thank you, Fredricka. Appreciate it.

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