Rep. John Delaney Meets with Delegation; Discusses Priorities

ANNAPOLIS, MD - Congressman John Delaney, who's been serving Maryland's 6th congressional district for about a month now, met with the Western Maryland Delegation Thursday morning in Annapolis.

Making sure people in Western Maryland are able to find work is one of the goals for Delaney.

"My priorities for Western Maryland is first of all to do a really good job representing them on whatever issues they care about," Delaney (D) says. "There's a lot of issues across both Western Maryland and Montgomery County but also to work on the issue I've been passionate around from the beginning, which is job creation."

Another hot topic at the meeting was gun control. Delaney says he supports President Obama's proposals to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazine clips.

"I'm supportive of the president's efforts, but I do think it's a broader issue as well," Delaney says. "I think there's a mental health component, and I think there's things we have to do around the violence in society in general."

Those things include limiting violence in video games, which is something the delegation agreed on.

"The congressman I think was accurate about video games and the desensitization that it has on particularly our youth and how some of that goes on, but we're running into certain impediments in making sure the background checks can be done properly," says Sen. David Brinkley, (R) - Frederick County.

Brinkley says HIPPA laws prohibit sharing some information during background checks.

Delegate LeRoy Myers, Jr., chairman of the delegation, doesn't think assault weapons should be banned.

"More killings have been done with hammers than have been done with assault weapons in the country, and what is an assault weapon? Is it a knife? Is it a screwdriver? I believe they're trying to target one specific weapon because it sounds good," says Myers, (R) - Allegany and Washington Counties.

Some other major issues the delegation and Delaney discussed include drilling for natural gas and immigration reform.

Delaney is also asking FEMA for emergency assistance for Garrett County after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the area.

"Garrett County was hit extremely hard by Hurricane Sandy and the people of Western Maryland will remember this storm and the damage it did for a long time," Delaney says. "Of specific concern to me is that at least 23 homes were damaged by the storm and without the Individual Assistance designation from FEMA, these residents and homeowners will not be able to receive federal assistance."

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley requested FEMA assistance for Garrett County on December 12, but that request was denied.