[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 25, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H3509]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CONGRESS OWES AMERICAN PUBLIC LEGISLATION ON GUN SAFETY PRIOR TO 
                          MEMORIAL DAY RECESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Myrick). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 19, 1999, the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. 
DeLauro) is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I listened to the Speaker of the House 
this morning tell us that we cannot pass gun safety legislation in this 
body before we leave for the Memorial Day break for vacation. We owe it 
to the American people, to American families, to move on this 
legislation before we go home. We need to work on the people's 
timetable and not on the congressional timetable.
  To delay this issue is politics. That is what this is about.
  We have 13 children in the United States who die every single day 
because of gun violence. If this is not an emergency, I do not know 
what is an emergency. This House of Representatives has risen to 
occasions where there have been crises in this country. We can move on 
a dime. We can pass legislation in 24 hours or less if we have the will 
to do it.
  The juvenile justice bill has been sitting in committee for the last 
3 to 4 weeks. It is a bipartisan piece of legislation. It can be passed 
in a heartbeat if we have the will to do it. We have to pass gun safety 
legislation in our country if we are going to meet the pleas and the 
cries of American families today.
  I saw a grandmother yesterday in my district in Connecticut. She 
lives in Connecticut, her family is in Indiana. And she said to me, 
``Ms. DeLauro, when you go back, please pass gun safety legislation. My 
two grandchildren were evacuated from their schools just last week.'' 
And I am not the only one who is hearing the plea of the American 
public. Let us do what is responsible, let us respond to American 
families.
  Last week the other Chamber did the right thing. They passed common-
sense gun safety legislation. The House of Representatives this week 
has that opportunity. Let us take up this legislation and pass fair and 
sensible measures that we, in fact, know will save lives.
  There are some who want to wait until mid-June. I say we have waited 
too long. We have done nothing despite repeated tragedies in our 
schools, and we sit idly by while, as I said, 13 children are killed by 
guns every single day.
  Youth violence is a complex problem. It requires several answers. We 
need parental involvement, safe schools, guidance counselors, mental 
health services, and less violence in our media. But gun safety laws 
that protect children are part of a sensible response to a crisis that 
is killing our kids in the United States.
  I call upon the Republican leadership, I call upon the Speaker of the 
House, to schedule that vote this week. Like the other Chamber, we must 
ensure that firearms are sold with child safety locks, that we have 
background checks at gun shows, and that a person is 21 years old 
before he or she buys a gun.
  Let us take these steps. Our families, our children are relying on 
us, those of us who have been sent here to do the people's business. 
Let us take the people's House and let us be responsive to the American 
public this week, when they are in need of knowing that, in fact, we 
can represent them and their families and their children in this body. 
That is what our responsibility is this week.
  My God, I hope that we are up to the task in this body.

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