[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 60 (Tuesday, May 4, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H2520]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              MAKING THE BAN ON ASSAULT WEAPONS PERMANENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, this Sunday is Mother's Day; 
and while many of our colleagues will be spending time with their 
families and their wives, thousands of women will be coming down here 
to Washington again to have their voices heard. We are going to have an 
Assault on Washington to make sure the assault weapons ban stays in 
place. We only have until September 13 to make sure a vote comes up on 
this floor.
  As you can see by the poster, when our children go back to school, 
when your kids go back to school, will assault weapons be going back 
too?
  Mr. Speaker, on Sunday of last week, I went to a memorial service for 
our police officers that have died in the line of duty, and they were 
put on the Wall. Many of those police officers came up to me and they 
said, What is going on in Washington? Why in heaven's name would anyone 
down there want to have assault weapons back on the streets?
  Well, the million moms, the grandmothers, their husbands, 
grandfathers will be here on Sunday. Our voices will be heard once 
again. But this is only going to be the kickoff; because from Sunday 
on, throughout the United States we are going to be touring the country 
and raising our voices and awareness. The American people have to 
realize, come September 13, assault weapons, Uzis, AK-47s, Bushmasters 
will be back on the street.
  Do we want to go back there? Do we want to go back to the time when 
these guns were gunning down children in our communities, gunning down 
our police officers? Does anybody remember why we banned the assault 
weapons in the first place? Because too many people were dying.
  The American people do not want assault weapons back on their 
streets. They can do something about that. Call the Speaker of the 
House. Call the President, who has promised to sign the bill if it gets 
on his desk. That is an empty promise. If we cannot have a vote here in 
the House to make sure the assault weapons ban is renewed and made 
permanent, they will be back on our streets. Even gun owners across 
this Nation agree that assault weapons should not be on the streets.
  Mr. Speaker, we have to do an awful lot of work between here and the 
end of this session, but I am saying to my colleagues that we must all 
come together to make sure the assault weapons ban stays in place. We 
have to do this. It is common sense. It is not taking away the right of 
anyone to own a gun.
  I know there are people out there that feel they should have an 
assault weapon. Well, unfortunately, when we see gangs in our 
communities growing every day, when we see drug lords coming into our 
communities every day, when they talk about having terrorists in our 
communities waiting who can go to a gun show or go into your local gun 
store now and buy assault weapons, is that what we wanted?
  When I first got involved in this issue, it was for personal reasons. 
Many of the people that will be here on Sunday are victims. Many have 
lost their children, many have lost their husbands, many have lost 
their wives. This is something the American people can do, but we must 
hear from you.
  Again, the American people on a grassroots level can make a 
difference. There are so many nurses out there, teachers out there, 
doctors out there that are behind us on making sure it gets through. 
But you cannot just say you want this. You have to call.

                              {time}  1930

  You have to call your Representative. You have to call your Senators. 
You have to make sure that they hear from you.
  With this election season coming up, this should be an issue. We can 
save lives. We can save an awful lot of lives. Why should we go forward 
and let these assault weapons back on our streets, and then, all of a 
sudden, a tragedy happens in our school yard or on a train, or anywhere 
in this country? And again, the panic that comes here. We have to do 
something; we have to do something.
  This is a bill that has worked. This is a bill that does work. I 
happen to think we should make it stronger by making it permanent. I 
happen to think the gun manufacturers should be held accountable for 
making copycats. But the main issue should be assault weapons of any 
kind should not come back onto our streets. This is something that we 
can do. I need your help. I need the American people's help. Come out 
on Sunday. Come out and support the assault on assault weapons bans. 
Protect our children.

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