Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, like her House colleagues Ashley Hinson and Randy Feenstra, voted in support of the National Defense Authorization Act which contained Red Flag gun language for our military members.
All three have attempted to explain that this is a procedural vote and should the bill contain the same language as the bill they already voted for, then they’ll vote against it a second time.
The belief is a vote against the NDAA — like House Freedom Caucus (conservative) members of the U.S. House were willing to take — would be used in future campaigns against them as being anti-military.
But this is not the first time Miller-Meeks has found herself voting for Red Flag gun language. On March 17, Miller-Meeks joined Democrats in the House when she voted in favor of the Violence Against Women Act. This bill passed with 29 Republican members voting in support.
In this case, Hinson and Feenstra voted against the bill containing Red Flag gun language.
The National Rifle Association opposed the legislation. The Executive Director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action was quoted as saying, “…Speaker Pelosi and anti-gun lawmakers chose to insert gun control provisions into this bill in 2019 to pit pro-gun lawmakers against it so that they can falsely and maliciously claim these lawmakers don’t care about women…This is Washington at its filthiest. It’s proof that anti-gun lawmakers care more about smearing opponents than passing meaningful legislation.”
The Iowa Standard’s Kelsey Kennedy highlighted another major issue with the bill regarding gender identity.
Iowa Firearms Coalition sent a message Sunday afternoon letting Iowans know the problems within the Violence Against Women Act.
They too added Sections 801 and 802 of the legislation include a new form of “Red Flag” gun confiscation orders and new and expanded misdemeanor gun bans. That is not the only issue Iowa Firearms Coalition has with the bill, but it is definitely a major one.
Miller-Meeks signed a letter that “demands” Red Flag language be removed from the National Defense Authorization Act, but to my knowledge, no such letter exists on the Red Flag language she voted in support of within the Violence Against Women Act.
Iowans should prioritize actions over words, votes over speeches. Anyone can deliver a good speech to a conservative crowd or offer a believable explanation to an advocate.
But how someone votes on things like the 2020 Presidential Election (voted to certify it), the January 6 Commission (voted in favor of it), the Violence Against Women Act with Red Flag gun language (voted in favor of it) and the National Defense Authorization Act, again with Red Flag gun language (voted in favor of that too) tells a pretty compelling story.
And it is a very different story from the one you might hear Miller-Meeks give at a rally.
Iowans, however, are not easily fooled. And perhaps that is why there were so many boos and shouts of RINO hurled at Miller-Meeks during Saturday’s Trump rally in Des Moines.
It is important for Iowans to live in reality. The reality is Miller-Meeks has voted in support of bills containing Red Flag gun language not once, but twice. If she is afforded a third time to take such a vote because of re-election in 2022, then that is no longer on her — that’s on the voters who support her.
