[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 38 (Monday, March 5, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S1328]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Gun Safety

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it is nice to hear my colleague's words. 
I would also want to mention a few things about the same issue.
  Mr. President, it has been nearly 3 weeks since the shooting at 
Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. Still, unfortunately, the 
majority leader hasn't committed to any floor time for the debate on 
the issue of gun safety--no time to debate universal background checks, 
a policy that over 90 percent of Americans support, including the vast 
majority of gun owners; no time to debate protective orders to allow 
law enforcement to temporarily disarm individuals who have shown 
credible signs of being a harm to themselves or others, especially 
relevant after Parkland; no time to at least have a debate on assault 
weapons and high-capacity magazines on the floor of the Senate.
  The kids who survived that horrific shooting are speaking up and 
speaking out and are demanding that we address this issue head-on. I 
believe they are moving the conscience of the Nation. I met with them. 
They are fine young men and women. Instead of just cursing the darkness 
after what they went through with the losses of friends and colleagues 
they suffered, they are trying to light a candle, urging us to debate 
and do something real. Yet, the majority leader is moving to a banking 
bill today with no promise of time to consider a package of commonsense 
gun safety measures.
  We need to debate them on the floor. We can't just try to do one 
little bill by UC with no debate or put it into some other big bill. 
This needs a national debate. This issue is consuming America, and for 
the Senate to turn its back and do nothing, or to try to just slip some 
minor measure through, doesn't work.
  Last week, America watched President Trump whipsaw on gun safety 
issues in a matter of days. All of America felt pretty good when the 
President met with a bipartisan group. He seemed to be open to tackling 
gun safety in a bipartisan way in a nationally televised meeting. Then, 
the next day, he met with the NRA behind closed doors and seems to once 
again have backed off.
  It is a show we have seen before, and it is getting old. Too many 
times we have watched the President say the right things when the 
cameras are on but refuse to follow through the moment they are 
switched off--oftentimes doing a 180-degree reversal of his position.
  On the issue of gun safety, just like the issue of immigration, we 
could find a bipartisan consensus. It is very possible, but it requires 
the President to show some leadership, some followthrough, and some 
consistency. Otherwise, Congress will do what it has done after every 
mass shooting for the past decade--nothing.
  Those brave, young students will be here in a few weeks, having 
watched Congress do nothing again. What a black mark that will be--
lowering the even low ratings of this body.