Florida Parish News

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), and Congressman Dave Taylor (R-Ohio) in Washington, D.C., to discuss efforts by President Trump and House Republicans to focus on public safety as the National Guard is deployed in the capital.

Scalise acknowledged the recent tragic shooting in Minnesota, saying, “Our prayers are with [Whip Emmer] and the people of Minnesota for that tragic shooting."

He noted improvements in safety within Washington, D.C., attributing these changes to actions taken by President Trump. "And as we come back to DC, it is encouraging to see a much safer nation's capital. And it is clearly the result of the work of President Trump, who said early off he was going to make America safe again. And you don't just do it through words, you do it through actions. And those actions have been significant. Those actions are noticeable when you go around the district, when you talk to people here in DC who can feel the presence of those National Guard troops. I want to thank all the states who have sent National Guard troops. Proud that my home state, the Speaker's home state of Louisiana, is one of those who have sent over 100 of our Louisiana National Guard to be a part of helping make our nation's capital safe.”

Addressing concerns about crime and judicial policies in D.C., Scalise said Congress would continue its efforts: “We're going to continue to take steps to do things here in Congress to address some of the other problems in our nation's capital. Worked closely, in fact, spoke with President Trump just a few days ago about some of the actions Congress needs to take to address the things that DC has done, self-inflicted wounds, so to speak, that they have passed through the council to make it easier for hardened criminals to walk free, even if they get arrested. Carjackings. You could carjack somebody at gunpoint. Frankly, a lot of the people who commit some of those violent crimes are younger people under 25. You could be 23 years old and walk out the next day if you get caught without serving any time in jail. I think a lot of people are outraged by that. But it's ordinances on the books in DC that lead to that. It's soft on crime judges because of a weak judicial nominating commission that is stacked with far leftists who are themselves soft on crime. And because of that, you get judges that are soft on crime. And all that does is create more victims. Senseless, needless victims of crime that shouldn't be if you only had better ordinances.

“And so our Oversight Committee is going to be going to work next week, passing a package of bills to address a lot of those problems that DC created to fix it so that criminals can't just walk free if they want to go commit tough crimes. They'll have to do the time for what they do on the streets. I think that's a good thing that we're going to be addressing that problem even more than what President Trump's already done.”

Scalise also highlighted recent activity by Chairman Comer and members of the House Oversight Committee related to transparency around Jeffrey Epstein files: “You can look at what the Oversight Committee has already done over the break. While a lot of people were home, a lot of Oversight Committee members were here getting that testimony that Chairman Comer talked about from those victims of the horrors of Epstein. We're going to continue through the rule today, have a vote to force a lot of that information to be made public, to support the subpoenas that the committee is doing, to go even further than others want to go at getting that information out to the public, including going after the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, something others have refused to do. We're not done, but it's going to be an important vote today on the House floor to show our support there.”

He discussed legislative achievements over recent months: “Then, of course, we are going to continue to talk about all the things that we passed just in these first six months. Obviously there's a lot more we want to do. There's a lot more we're doing just this week. Some great energy production bills, Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. Appropriators are having negotiations... We prevented a massive tax increase on families all across this nation by passing the One Big Beautiful Bill... All of the things that are going help families have more money in their pockets...and best is yet come.”

Scalise recognized Speaker Johnson’s leadership: “The person leading that charge is fellow LSU alum... He has exhibited great leadership... He's gotten very narrow House Republican majority together time and time again deliver big wins for American families..."

Steve Scalise represents Louisiana’s 1st district in Congress since 2008 after succeeding Bobby Jindal (source). He previously served both in Louisiana’s House and Senate before joining Congress (source). Born in New Orleans in 1965 and currently residing in Jefferson (source), Scalise holds a Bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University (source).