Representative Adriano Espaillat Statement Following Today’s House Judiciary Committee Field Hearing to Address Crime in New York City

NEW YORK, NY – Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) issued the following statement on attending the House Judiciary Committee field hearing earlier today in New York City.

Watch clip of Rep. Espaillat's remarks.

Watch video of today's full hearing.

“As someone who has been a victim of violent crime, stood with far too many families ravaged by gun violence, and who has built my career in public service fighting drugs and violence in my community, I offer my deepest condolences to the witnesses joining today to talk about the losses they have suffered.

“I stood with Jose Alba as our community rallied around him and all the Bodegeros and applaud District Attorney Bragg for dropping the charges against him in his case. As the former President of the 34th Precinct Community Council in the 1980s, I spent years fighting crime in Manhattan during one of the most violent periods in the history of New York City. My family and I have also been held up at gunpoint in my own neighborhood, so believe me—I know these issues deeply.

“There is flat out no justifiable reason for Chairman Jordan to be holding this hearing in New York. Unfortunately, we have experienced a nationwide increase in crime in the years that followed the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate of murders in the United States has gone up at an alarming rate. But, despite a media narrative to the contrary, this is a problem that afflicts Republican-led cities and states as much or more than Democratic ones.

“Additionally, the Washington Post reported that crime in Chairman Jordan’s district of Mansfield, Ohio, appears to be higher than New York City’s according to several metrics. So why, are we in New York City right now instead of a Republican run city?

“The reason is because Alvin Bragg’s office is located here. It is insensitive of Chairman Jordan and House Republicans to use real pain of gun violence victims for political purpose. We simply cannot talk about crime without talking about guns. And still, Republicans have routinely refused to help reduce gun crime.
Until then, the gun violence and senseless homicides that are occurring in my neighborhood and around the nation—the blood is on their hands.”

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Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill and the north-west Bronx. First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat is serving his fourth term in Congress. Representative Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities and serves as Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the committee during the 118th Congress. He is also a member of the House Budget Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), where he serves in a leadership role as the Deputy Chair as well as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). Rep. Espaillat is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/.

For media inquiries: Candace Randle Person at Candace.Person@mail.house.gov