(Monday, March 5, 2001) — Thanks to your very hard efforts, 89 Representatives joined Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN) in petitioning HUD Secretary Mel Martinez to eradicate part of Bill Clinton’s anti-gun legacy.

The Department of HUD is spearheading the Communities for Safer Guns Coalition, a group that is helping cities and localities all around the country in bringing lawsuits against gun makers. Grassroots pressure encouraged 89 other Representatives to sign onto the Hostettler letter which asks Secretary Martinez to pull the plug on the anti-gun coalition.

Your phone calls were so incessant that a few Congressional offices even called GOA headquarters, as well as Hostettler’s office, to ask that we “call off the dogs.” Their beleaguered cry was to please make the phone calls stop.

Well, now that the deadline for jumping on the letter has passed, you guys merit a well-deserved pat on the back. Following is the list of those who signed onto the letter — some of them kicking and screaming the entire way:

Akin (MO)       Green (TX)        Pence (IN)
Baker (LA)      Hall (TX)         Peterson (MN)
Bartlett (MD)   Hansen (UT)       Petri (WI)
Brady (TX)      Hart (PA)         Phelps (IL)
Brown (SC)      Hastings (WA)     Pombo (CA)
Burr (NC)       Hayes (NC)        Putnam (FL)
Buyer (IN)      Hayworth (AZ)     Rehberg (MT)
Callahan (AL)   Hilleary (TN)     Reynolds (NY)
Calvert (CA)    Hoekstra (MI)     Riley (AL)
Camp (MI)       Hostettler (IN)   Rohrabacher (CA)
Cannon (UT)     Hulshof (MO)      Ryan (WI)
Cantor (VA)     Hutchinson (AR)   Ryun (KS)
Chambliss (GA)  Istook (OK)       Sandlin (TX)
Coble (NC)      Jenkins (TN)      Schaffer (CO)
Combest (TX)    Johnson, S. (TX)  Sessions (TX)
Cooksey (LA)    Johnson, T. (IL)  Shimkus (IL)
Cubin (WY)      Largent (OK)      Shows (MS)
Cunningham (CA) Lewis (KY)        Simpson (ID)
Deal (GA)       Linder (GA)       Skeen (NM)
DeFazio (OR)    Manzullo (IL)     Stenholm (TX)
DeMint (SC)     McCrery (LA)      Strictland (OH)
Doolittle (CA)  Miller (CA)       Stump (AZ)
Duncan (TN)     Moran (KS)        Taylor (NC)
Ehrlich (MD)    Nethercutt (WA)   Thornberry (TX)
English (PA)    Ney (OH)          Tiahrt (KS)
Everett (AL)    Norwood (GA)      Traficant (OH)
Flake (AZ)      Ose (CA)          Vitter (LA)
Gibbons (NV)    Otter (ID)        Weldon (PA)
Goode (VA)      Oxley (OH)        Whitfield (KY)
Goodlatte (VA)  Paul (TX)         Wicker (MS)

Webnote added later to this alert:

Hostettler extended the deadline a couple of days to accommodate 10 last-minute Representatives. The additions of Bob Barr (R-GA), Joseph Pitts (R-PA), Nick Rahall (D-WV), Joe Scarborough (R-FL), Lamar Smith (R-TX), Mark Souder (R-IN), Floyd Spence (R-SC), Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Zach Wamp (R-TN), and Don Young (R-AK) brings the total number of signatories to an even 100.

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