[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H1531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              GUN VIOLENCE

  (Mr. ELLISON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is a very important day. Students 
in my district are walking out of school because they expect their 
leaders to do something about this problem of gun violence. For years, 
this body sadly has failed to act; and because we failed to act, our 
young people are acting tomorrow.
  Mr. Speaker, 2,808 people have died in 2018 already because of this 
scourge of gun violence.
  Why isn't that enough for us to act?
  It is only March, and already we have almost 3,000 people dead. I 
guess that is not a surprise because at least 15,549 people died from 
gun violence in 2017 last year.
  Isn't that enough?
  We know why this is going on: powerful commercial interests in 
Washington--gun manufacturers led by their lawyer, I guess the NRA--are 
preventing basic, commonsense approaches to safety.
  You can't even study it. The Centers for Disease Control is 
prohibited from studying gun violence. We don't have enough resources 
to really make a true database so that you can find the people who are, 
in fact, legally prohibited from getting guns, so they sneak through 
the holes. There are many other problems.
  Now is the time, Mr. Speaker. We have to act with those young people 
who are walking out tomorrow.

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