The Heritage Foundation’s Amy Swearer recently testified before Congress in opposition to a federal assault weapons ban. Her remarks not only drew attention in the hearing room. Swearer’s testimony has been viewed by millions of people on social media platforms.
Her testimony has reached over 1.3 million views on Facebook, another 650,000 views on YouTube, and 340,000 on Twitter.
“These types of firearms are rarely used to commit crimes,” Swearer said in her testimony before the House Committee on the Judiciary. “They are used countless numbers of times every year by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, including self-defense.”
Swearer is a senior legal policy analyst in Heritage’s Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. She has published several reports on Second Amendment issues, including a monthly update for The Daily Signal featuring real-life examples of gun owners who use firearms for self-defense.
Her recently testimony went viral thanks to social media shares from Dana Loesch, Katie Pavlich, PragerU, Antonia Okafor, Jessie Jane Duff, Liz Wheeler, Charles Cooke, Stephen Gutowski, Kyle Kashuv, Cam Edwards, and thousands of others who contributed to the video’s success.
Committee members Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, also shared videos of their exchanges with Swearer on Twitter and other social platforms, increasing the reach of her message.
Swearer’s testimony helped bolster Heritage’s presence on Capitol Hill in 2019. On the same week she spoke to the House Judiciary Committee, Heritage experts Hans von Spakovsky and Rachel Grezler were also testifying before Congress.
Von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow in Heritage's Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, testified on the Trump Hotel and the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“When state government officials choose to stay in the Trump Hotel and pay the fair market value of their hotel room and room services, that is not a gift, a present, or an emolument tied to the president's official duties,” von Spakovsky said. “They are engaging in a normal, standard business transaction, no different from staying in any other hotel in the nation's capital.”
Grezler, a research fellow in Heritage’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, testified on how the federal government can build the most effective workforce and methods to engage federal employees throughout their careers.
“The federal government provides three to five times as much in retirement benefits as the private sector, yet workers tend to undervalue pension benefits. The government could provide a more appealing and competitive compensation package by allowing pension benefits to instead go toward higher pay and larger 401(k) contributions,” Grezler said.
Since 2018, The Heritage Foundation has had over 65 experts make the case for conservative solutions in congressional testimonies.
