[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 125 (Friday, September 20, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H5772-H5773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           BACKGROUND CHECKS

  (Mr. PASCRELL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PASCRELL. Madam Speaker, tragedy happens, and we say we are 
shocked. ``This is a quiet neighborhood.'' ``This is a quiet town.'' 
``This is a quiet city.'' When you examine the mass shootings in 
America over the last decade, it becomes abundantly clear that there 
are serious cultural and spiritual problems that have not been 
recognized. Any attempt to be reasonable, thoughtful, earnest in facing 
the recognized horror is, even in the Congress of the United States, 
met with downright skepticism or outright hate.
  I wonder if we want to resolve this unique national paralysis. 
Somewhere between taking everyone's guns away and maintaining the 
status quo, we must find some workable answer. Do Senators and House 
Members have to be directly threatened before we agree to work 
together? One of our own has been shot down in her own district. We all 
said all the appropriate things and didn't do anything to prevent this 
kind of violence from happening again.
  It would seem to me, Madam Speaker, to be very desirable to review 
the

[[Page H5773]]

biography, at least, of any person who applies to own a gun. Oversight 
of the process could be left to citizens representing the entire gun 
issue. We won't accept these violent acts in America any longer.

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