[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 114 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H4984]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       LEAVING FOR AUGUST RECESS

  (Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico asked and was given 
permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend 
her remarks.)
  Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico.
  Mr. Speaker, when we Democrats held our sit-in on the floor of the 
House, I proudly stood up and said that call to action was, in fact, 
the reason I came to Congress--not so much the act itself, but the 
rationale behind it.
  I came to Congress to get things done on behalf of my constituents. 
In fact, it baffles me, along with my constituents, that we aren't even 
allowed to debate, much less vote, on an issue as dire and as important 
as gun violence.
  Now House Republicans have left town for 7 weeks without addressing 
this very issue, and this part of the debate is in every community in 
America. It is not just gun violence. We have not adequately dealt with 
the Zika health crisis, and we have not dealt with the Flint water 
crisis.
  I am going to go home to New Mexico soon, where forest fires are 
raging across the West. But we did nothing to support those States and 
the Forest Service that battles those fires at home.
  I wasn't elected to apologize to my constituents every time I see 
them for the inaction of the Republican leadership. We should stay in 
this Chamber, and we should do the work that our constituents expect 
and demand of us.

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