[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 77 (Wednesday, May 26, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H3612]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ASKING THE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP TO TAKE UP GUN SAFETY LEGISLATION NOW

  (Mr. MENENDEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, this week we are taking up a bill that 
will fund congressional salaries, fund the cleaning of the marble and 
the brass in the Capitol, and pay for the furniture in our offices.
  Apparently we have time for that, but we do not have time to take up 
legislation to fund more counselors and after school programs for our 
children. While it seems we can find the time to regulate the 
manufacture of toys, it seems we cannot find the time to put some 
modest safety regulations on guns, regulations to keep our children 
safe.
  Mr. Speaker, where are Republican priorities? Is it the guns or our 
children? Is it the marble and the brass, or our schools and our 
communities?
  It is time to make a choice. It is no use passing a bill to keep our 
Capitol marble and brass gleaming if we cannot pass a bill to keep our 
children safe in school.
  The true glory of this Capitol is what we do in this Chamber, so I 
ask the Republican leadership to let us take up legislation to keep our 
children safe today; not tomorrow, not next month, but today, before we 
lose another life.

                          ____________________