[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 5, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H4203-H4204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NO MORE EMPTY GESTURES
(Mr. HUFFMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, the whole point of the Democratic sit-in to
demand congressional action on gun violence was to say that empty
gestures and moments of silence for 30 seconds, followed by the bang of
a gavel and resumption of business as usual will not be tolerated
anymore in the face of this national gun violence epidemic.
Yet this week, our Republican colleagues are bringing forward a bill,
written and blessed by the NRA, that is yet another empty gesture--a
glorified moment of silence--because it establishes a completely
arbitrary and artificial 72-hour timeframe and unreasonable standards
that must be met within that timeframe.
I can't get my dry cleaning back in 72 hours, yet the NRA and our
Republican friends expect the Attorney General to come forward, serve
process, have a defendant hire an attorney, show up at a hearing, and
prove with probable cause as the standard that this individual is about
to commit an act of terror? Give me a break.
No more empty gestures. No more moments of silence that are
completely disingenuous, including this glorified moment of silence
that Republicans are bringing forward this week.
[[Page H4204]]
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