[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 43 (Monday, March 12, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1618-S1619]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               GUN SAFETY

  Mr. SCHUMER. Now, Madam President, after the deadly shooting at 
Stoneman Douglas High School, the American people are wondering if 
Congress can do something meaningful to curb the epidemic of gun 
violence--an epidemic that has gone on far too long and taken the lives 
of far too many.
  For years, Democrats have proposed commonsense gun safety policies to 
ensure that dangerous people can't get their hands on dangerous 
weapons. Recently, Democrats have reiterated our support for several 
specific measures, including universal background checks, protection 
orders, and a debate on banning assault weapons.
  Americans of all political stripes support a debate on these 
policies, and yet the majority leader, who has given gun safety no time 
on the floor of the Senate, has also given us no indication we might 
consider the issue anytime soon. He is sweeping it under the rug. The 
NRA is powerful around here.
  At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, President Trump failed to 
show the conviction and steady leadership required to make progress on 
this issue. After indicating support for a host of reasonable gun 
safety measures a few weeks ago and in front of the TV cameras he 
invited in, yesterday President Trump released a list of administration 
policies which represent a 180-degree reversal. What President Trump 
said at the public meeting and what he proposed yesterday are 
opposites.
  After signaling, for instance, he would be for raising the age of 
purchase of assault weapons from 18 to 21--a modest measure--President 
Trump backed off saying he would leave it to the States and the courts 
to decide. That is a copout, and we know that. After indicating support 
for universal background checks, President Trump makes no mention of 
closing the dangerous gun show loophole or internet sales loophole. 
There is no mention of anti-domestic violence legislation, no mention 
of assault weapons or support for significant changes to protection 
orders. The President's plan consists only of small-bore, NRA-approved 
policies, including the absurd proposal to send more guns into 
classrooms by arming teachers.
  In the wake of so many American tragedies, the Trump proposal on gun 
safety is utterly insufficient as a response. Even if you discarded the 
idea of arming teachers and took the Fix NICS proposal and the changes 
to mental health in President Trump's proposal, that wouldn't be close 
to enough to address the issue of gun violence. The Nation is clamoring 
for significant, meaningful progress on gun safety, but President 
Trump's proposal is just a baby step, when America needs to take a 
giant leap.
  The administration's proposal makes it perfectly clear that President 
Trump has an obeisance to the NRA. Even when President Trump 
momentarily departs the NRA script, he quickly gets reeled back in. If 
President Trump, his staff, and some of our Republican friends are 
wondering why his ratings are so low, it is because he does this all 
the time. At the meeting, he publicly challenged conservative 
Republican Senator Toomey. He said: Oh, I guess you are afraid of the 
NRA.
  Well, Toomey is not afraid of the NRA. He has taken them on. It is 
President Trump who is afraid of the NRA. He is afraid to do anything 
that doesn't meet their approval. We all know what this Fix NICS bill 
is about. It is tiny, but it is OK with the NRA, so my good friend from 
Texas is happy to come to the floor and talk about it. When is he going 
to come to the floor and say something we really need that the NRA 
doesn't support? We are all waiting, not just for him but for our 
Republican colleagues. We all know the game going on here--make it seem 
like you want to do something but don't offend the NRA, which is way to 
the extreme when you look at where Americans are at on this issue.
  After watching the same sequence of events take place on guns, on 
immigration, no one should be surprised when President Trump initially 
talks about bipartisanship but ends up caving to hard-right special 
interests. No one should be surprised that the Republican leadership in 
the Senate, when it comes to guns, does the same exact thing. In this 
case, the gun lobby is the hard-right special interest.
  President Trump's behavior on the most sensitive political issues is 
turning into a predictable Kabuki theater, where he invites the cameras 
in, talks the good talk but then refuses to walk the walk. It shows 
great weakness in this President, and if he doesn't have the guts to 
move forward, he shouldn't invite the cameras in and act like he

[[Page S1619]]

does. Now, that may give him a temporary little high, but it is not 
what the American people want. It is not leadership and, in my judgment 
at least, that is why the President is down so much in the polls no 
matter what he does. That is why even a race in the southwestern corner 
of Pennsylvania, in a district he won by 20 points, is a nail-biter.
  I hope the President will change, I hope he will become a leader, and 
I hope he will stop just focusing on the show but actually get things 
done. So far, the American people, not just us, are disappointed.
  Now, Democrats in the Senate are going to keep fighting to go much 
further than the President's proposal. We are going to fight to pass 
universal background checks, to actually get Federal legislation on 
protection orders, and to start debating banning assault weapons. This 
is the conversation the country needs to have. We will keep pushing our 
Senate colleagues and President Trump to do something real, not just 
something they think they can talk about that the NRA rubberstamps 
approval of.

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