A resolution approved Tuesday by a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives has made it legal for House members to use taxpayer funds to buy bulletproof vests and other security equipment.
The Committee on House Administration, which does not need approval from the full House to enact decisions about internal procedures, approved the security measures resolution Tuesday.
The decision comes at a time when concerns about gun use are heightened by the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, but also after the shooting of five people — including House Majority White Steve Scalise of Louisiana — at a baseball field last June. A gunman opened fire at a practice session of Republican House members and staff in Alexandria, Virginia.
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., acknowledges President Donald Trump's introduction during the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 30, 2018.
Scalise, shot in the pelvis, was critically injured, but recovered and returned to service in the House in September 2017.