[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 22, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H1177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NRA'S GRIP ON CONGRESS RESPONSIBLE FOR CHILDREN DYING
(Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, the Republican majority and the National
Rifle Association keep blaming everyone but themselves for this
country's epidemic of gun violence, but the American people know that
the tactics of the NRA have misfired again.
Guns kill; it is that simple. Until the Republican leadership takes
aim at the real culprit, the proliferation of guns in the United
States, 13 children a day will continue to die as a result of gun
violence.
According to the Justice Department, Federal gun prosecutions are up
16 percent and State and local gun prosecutions have risen 22 percent.
But still, our children are dying.
Our children need effective background checks, they need child safety
locks, and they need the NRA to loosen its grip on the Republican
leadership, and they need this now.
I urge my Republican colleagues to stop playing politics with
children's lives and start working on meaningful gun legislation. Our
children's lives depend on it.
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