[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 109 (Thursday, July 7, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H4482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          BIPARTISAN, COMMONSENSE LAWS TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE

  (Ms. PINGREE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PINGREE. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago I joined with many of my 
colleagues here on the House floor to demand a debate on commonsense 
gun legislation to increase background checks and keep terrorists from 
buying guns.
  Despite the fact that the microphones and C-SPAN cameras were turned 
off, the discussion we held over the next 24 hours was seen and heard 
by millions of Americans. It was seen and heard because my colleagues 
and I took out our smartphones, and we took photos and streamed video, 
and we tweeted. We posted to Facebook and we broadcast on Periscope.
  We call this Chamber ``the people's House.'' In the time that I have 
been serving here, there has never been a moment that has felt more 
like the people's House than that 25 hours. Yet now we hear that some 
are calling for us to be punished for bringing that debate and 
discussion to the American people. It is ``behavior unbecoming'' of the 
House of Representatives, they say.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud of what my colleagues and I did, and if that 
is what it takes to get us a vote on bipartisan, commonsense laws to 
prevent gun violence, I hope we will do it again.

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