{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://summerlee.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rep-summer-lee-joins-cbc-members-and-black-mayors-to-champion-community-driven-public-safety-solutions", "Rep. Summer Lee Joins CBC Members and Black Mayors to Champion Community-Driven Public Safety Solutions", "2026-07-31", "2026", "2026-07", "Democrat", "House", "PA", "Summer L. Lee", "L000602", "summerlee.house.gov", "summerlee", "https://summerlee.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "VIDEO\n\nPITTSBURGH, PA \u2013 JULY 31, 2026 \u2014 Yesterday, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) joined members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Black mayors, and public safety advocates for a virtual roundtable highlighting the community-driven strategies helping cities across the country reduce violence and make families safer.\n\nHosted by the Vera Institute of Justice, the conversation featured Congresswoman Lee (PA-12), Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11), Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott, Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, and Durham Mayor Leonardo \u201cLeo\u201d Williams. Vera Institute President Insha Rahman moderated the discussion.\n\nParticipants discussed how investments in housing, education, healthcare, economic opportunity, violence prevention, trauma recovery, and other community resources are helping drive crime rates down across the country. They also warned against the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to cut effective public safety programs while returning to failed policies that criminalize Black communities and use fear to justify federal overreach.\n\n\u201cCommunities in Western Pennsylvania and across the country are seeing declines in crime because leaders are investing in the resources that help people thrive--safe housing, good schools, accessible healthcare, living-wage jobs, and community-led violence prevention,\u201d said Congresswoman Lee. \u201cInstead of doubling down on failed policies that criminalize our communities, we should be scaling the solutions that make families safer and stronger. I'm proud to stand with the Congressional Black Caucus, local leaders, and advocates who are advancing a vision of public safety rooted in dignity, opportunity, and justice.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhile Trump focuses on \u201ctough on crime\u201d fear-mongering and counter-productive gimmicks like deploying the National Guard, Black Mayors across the country are doing the real work to make cities safer. I\u2019m proud to stand with my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus to set the record straight and advocate for real public safety solutions,\u201d said Congresswoman Shontel Brown.\n\n\u201cIn Baltimore, we know how to solve the issue of public safety,\u201d said Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott. \u201cIt's about investing in public health, it's about getting rid of vacant houses and providing opportunities. It's about being focused on the very small percent who are responsible for the overwhelming amount of violence in our communities\u2014going after guns and getting them off our streets. We are currently seeing a historic reduction in violence and homicides, and we want to push it even further. You don't do that without the support of the community.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur approach in Newark is to treat crime and violence as a public health issue,\u201d said Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka. \u201cAnd what we see now in our city \u2014 with a homicide rate that hasn\u2019t been this low since Eisenhower was president \u2014 is the result of us focusing on the kind of things that have been absent from our neighborhoods: investing in housing, investing in our young people, literacy, education, recreation and opportunity. When you start to add that, and at the same time address some of the symptomatic issues and build a community-based public safety ecosystem centered on violence prevention and trauma recovery, you\u2019ll see that violence and crime gets reduce gradually. It\u2019s all about putting the 'public' back into 'public safety.'\"\n\n\u201cCrime rates continue to fall across the country to historic levels thanks to bold, community-first approaches to public safety like the ones discussed today. While the Trump administration continues its assault on immigrants and cities, while simultaneously gutting programs that we know increase safety, local and federal leaders\u2014specifically Black leaders like Rep. Summer Lee, Rep. Shontel Brown, and Mayors Scott, Baraka and Williams are charting a path forward for all to follow. Their serious approach to safety is a model for how we can prevent crime before it happens and continue to help communities thrive,\u201d said Vera President Insha Rahman.\n\nCongresswoman Lee is the founder and co-chair of theCongressional Community Safety Caucus, where she works to advance proven, community-led solutions that prevent violence and address its root causes. She has fought toprotect federal funding for community violence intervention programs and expand access to trauma-informed services. Through legislation including thePeople\u2019s Response Act, Lee is working to build a public safety system that prevents harm, supports survivors, and gives every community the resources it needs to not only survive, but to thrive.\n\nThe full conversation and Q&A can be viewed HERE.", 1, "2026-08-01T07:27:26Z", "2026-08-01T07:28:22Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://summerlee.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rep-summer-lee-joins-cbc-members-and-black-mayors-to-champion-community-driven-public-safety-solutions"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.342869061976671, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}