[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 28, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1257-S1258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               GUN SAFETY

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, yesterday, I met with a group of 
survivors from the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, 
FL. Two weeks after losing classmates, friends, and teachers, these 
kids have not given themselves over to grief or cynicism. They 
organized and resolved to change their country. They went to 
Tallahassee. They traveled to Washington. They are committed, and they 
are inspiring.
  We just went to the observance of Billy Graham's death in the Capitol 
Rotunda, and a man of the cloth probably would have said that instead 
of cursing the darkness, these kids are lighting a candle, which is a 
beautiful thing to do.
  As I was sitting with them, I remembered meeting with the young 
people who survived the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. I 
remember sitting with parents of the kindergartners and first graders 
killed at Sandy Hook Elementary. I still ache for them and their 
parents, parents who had presents stashed under the Christmas tree that 
were never opened. Photos of those beautiful children still sit on my 
desk.
  All of them--the students of Stoneman Douglas, parents from Newtown, 
parents of the victims in Orlando, Las Vegas, Columbine, Charleston, 
and everyday gun violence in cities and towns all across our country--
all of them are calling on us to act. The slow-motion massacre of 
American children must end. The time has come to make meaningful 
changes to our laws to keep Americans safe from the epidemic of gun 
violence.
  Let me tell you, the students of Stoneman Douglas will not stop until 
we achieve meaningful change. They know small measures will not get the 
job done. That is why they told me, every one of them: The Fix NICS 
bill is not close to enough of what we need to do. Fix NICS has wide 
support in this Chamber. I am a cosponsor. But it is just the first 
tiny step that addresses one specific issue. We have a whole host of 
other issues to address, not one.
  It is true that the records of NICS need to be fixed, but it is also 
true that we need to close the gun show loophole. It is also true that 
we need to make sure online sales go through background checks so that 
felons or those adjudicated as mentally ill or spousal abusers can't 
get guns. Over 90 percent of America agrees with that. But our 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle are so afraid of the NRA that 
they can't even embrace universal background checks, which 90 percent 
of America addresses. Special interest lobbying--the kind of thing 
President Trump campaigned against, the NRA is doing it. The NRA is 
doing it.
  We need to stop writing bills that address only the last shooting and 
start

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making laws that prevent the next one. When you have a sick patient, 
you don't just treat one symptom; you cure the disease. That is what 
universal background checks will do. Fix NICS would be a good thing to 
do, but it is a tiny step when we need a giant leap. It can't be the 
only thing we do. In fact, the only reason it hasn't cleared this 
Chamber already is that the Republican Senator from Utah objected to 
it. Such is the vice grip that the ideologues from the gun lobby have 
on the entire Republican Party. They are so against what America wants. 
They are so against what rank and file Republicans want. Even on 
something as limited as Fix NICS, the gun groups find a way to get in 
the way.
  I believe the priority of this Chamber should be to pass universal 
background checks. That would accomplish what Fix NICS does and a lot 
more. President Trump has said that he would push ``strongly 
comprehensive background checks'' in the wake of Parkland. We Democrats 
are calling on him today to keep his word. We sent him a letter asking 
him to support existing legislation, bipartisan legislation, to close 
the loopholes that allow anyone to purchase a gun at a gun show or on 
the internet without a background check. These loopholes make no sense. 
Leaving these loopholes unclosed would be as if we checked someone's ID 
at the liquor store but not at the bar. That is what you could say 
about Fix NICS. It would be as if we checked someone's ID at the liquor 
store but not at the bar. We should have the same checks across the 
board.
  Today, I call on President Trump to come out in support of 
legislation that would close dangerous loopholes in our background 
check system. The NRA vehemently opposes that, but I say to President 
Trump: Show some leadership, buck the NRA. They are way out of touch 
with the American people, with gun owners, and rank and file 
Republicans. I say to the President: Show some leadership, buck the 
NRA, endorse these policies, and you can finally break the gridlock and 
get something meaningful done.

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