[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 108 (Wednesday, July 6, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H4287-H4288]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              VOTE ON NO FLY, NO BUY AND BACKGROUND CHECKS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Honda) for 2\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, Omar Mateen should not have had access to a 
gun, yet he walked into the Pulse nightclub and murdered 49 people and 
injured many more.
  Syed Farooq and Tashfeen Malik should not have had access to guns, 
but were able to buy several weapons, which they used to kill 14 people 
in San Bernardino.
  Gerald Villabrille should not have had access to a gun, yet he shot 
two police officers in Fremont, California, early last month. That is 
in my district.
  These aren't isolated incidents. Rather, they represent an epidemic 
in this country. With most epidemics, we immediately set about trying 
to find a cure, or at least a treatment. But with gun violence, we have 
settled for moments of silence. Well, enough of that.
  A couple of weeks ago, Democrats got together and said, Enough is 
enough. We took to the House floor to demand House Speaker Ryan and 
Republican leadership bring bills that would counter this epidemic to a 
vote. In response, Speaker Ryan called our efforts to get a vote a 
stunt.

[[Page H4288]]

  Eighty-five percent of Americans support no fly, no buy gun 
legislation and more than 90 percent support universal background 
checks. Yet, Speaker Ryan has refused to bring these two measures up 
for a vote, shutting out the voices and views of the American people. 
He is opposing popular commonsense legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, you have the power to allow people to take the vote on 
the floor. Mr. Speaker, you have the power to make sure that people in 
this country will be safe with commonsense laws to prevent gun 
violence.

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