South Florida Congressman Jared Moskowitz to Marjory Taylor Greene: "Dead kids can't read"

Freshman U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz is trending on social media after firing a sharply-worded salvo at far-right superstar U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in an exchange on gun violence in schools in the wake of this week's Nashville school shooting.

During a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability meeting on Monday, Moskowitz criticized Greene, a George Republican who is a vocal member of the U.S. House, for sponsoring legislation banning books with LGBTQ+ content instead of focusing on gun violence prevention in schools.

“You guys are worried about banning books,” Moskowitz, a Parkland Democrat whose district covers large swaths of Palm Beach County, said. “Dead kids can’t read.”

The fiery back-and-forth came after a shooter killed three children and three adults in a Nashville private school on Monday. Moskowitz graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where a mass shooter took 17 lives on Valentine’s Day in 2018. Moskowitz's district includes the high school and surrounding communities.

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Greene, who saw yet another restriction placed on her Twitter account Tuesday after she repeatedly posted an anti-transgender message, recounted a line often used by gun advocates — that it takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun.

That's what drew the retort from Moskowitz.

“If you want to have a good talk about schools and protecting children, we need to talk about protecting our children the same way we protect our president, we protect our celebrities, we protect this building,” Greene said, until Moskowitz interjected with his passionate criticism of her legislation and of her advocacy.

Moskowitz is just three months into his congressional term, which he won last November replacing another gun safety advocate, former Congressman Ted Deutch. Much of his political platform so far has been devoted to gun violence prevention.

In 2018, after the high school massacre at Stoneman Douglas, he played a key role in passing gun safety legislation in the Florida House that implemented red flag laws.

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The freshman congressman was named vice chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force in the U.S. House after being sworn in this year. The panel includes a bipartisan group of lawmakers working to reduce gun violence in the country.

Stephany Matat is a politics reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY-Florida network. Reach her at smatat@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jared Moskowitz fires back at Marjorie Taylor Greene on gun violence