Blumenthal Visits BHS for Town Hall Meeting

By Andrew DeBenedictis On Monday, April 2nd, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) visited the Branford High School Auditorium to hold a town hall-style meeting with Branford students. Blumenthal took questions on topics everything from gun control and school safety to immigration, the opioid epidemic, and prison reform.

Students received a unique opportunity to speak to a member of Congress face to face, without limitation or censorship as to what they could ask. For over an hour, students lined up before microphones and grilled Blumenthal on questions they crafted themselves. There was no set script or requirements for questions, and there was no attempt made to limit the sorts of questions asked as well as no attempt to silence those who felt they did not agree with Blumenthal’s views.  Blumenthal stated that he supported the movement of students against gun violence, but affirmed that he supported the Second Amendment and the “rights of law-abiding citizens” to own weapons. He explained that because students are vocal and organizing like nothing ever seen before in the gun control debate, he believes that there will be progress made in the fight for safety in both schools as well as public spaces. Having worked on the first assault weapons ban passed in 1994, Blumenthal supports another assault weapons ban because he believes that it was successful. He also described a new “red flag” bill he is working on that will allow guns to be confiscated by judges when it is decided that an individual is not fit to own a firearm, which again will impact gun violence in the United States, he said. In addition to gun control and school safety conversations, Blumenthal stated that he believes deporting DREAMers – those who were granted legal protection under the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act – would be to go against American values. President Donald Trump has long maintained his support for the deportation of DREAMers, a move that has drawn criticism. In reference to the opioid epidemic, Blumenthal explained his support for regulation of opioid prescriptions as well as education on the prescriptions themselves. In a personal anecdote, he told a story about his son’s experience after a surgery and how he told his son that he could not use the opioid prescription and should heal without the pills to avoid reliance on them. There have been many different arguments and solutions brought up to combat the opioid epidemic, including a contention by the President that it may be beneficial to charge drug dealers with the death penalty. Lastly, Blumenthal described the bipartisan group he is participating in for criminal justice reform that has been opposed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He named reforms such as an end to mandatory minimum sentences – laws that mandate judges to deliver fixed sentences of a specific crime, without taking other mitigating circumstances into account – as well as problems such as prison overcrowding, as our nation maintains the highest incarceration rate in the world. Following the open question and answer portion of the event, reporters from The Buzz were able to approach the Senator about how he would continue to support freedom of the press in the era of fake news. Blumenthal stated that he has opposed stifling of the press before, and wanted to continue supporting and protecting journalists under law. He also expressed support for not changing our current defamation laws. A major takeaway from this event included Blumenthal’s emphasis on bipartisanship. He included his attempts to “reach across the aisle to find solutions” in Washington in many of his answers, and seemed to extend an olive branch to those who held views that did not align with his own. Additionally, it is important to note that student questions were unscripted, the Senator was not briefed on any of the questions beforehand, and that questions were comprised of beliefs not pushed on the students by any other agenda. This event was a chance for students to get their questions answered in time where there seem to be many more questions than there are answers.