[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 14, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H1547-H1548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              GUN VIOLENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Pelosi).
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, today, thousands of students across the 
Nation are walking out of their schools to demand real action to end 
the tragedy of gun violence. Young men and women across the country--
children, really--from coast to coast and in the heartland of America 
are standing up and speaking out for change. Members of Congress will 
meet some of them on the west front lawn to join them in saying this: 
Enough is enough.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank our distinguished colleague from Florida (Mr. 
Deutch) for his extraordinary leadership, whether it is with the 
students, with legislation on the floor, or in the community at large 
to help make the difference.

                              {time}  1015

  Here we are, community after community, reeling from the horror of 
gun violence, perpetrated against our children, our families.
  Our hearts ache for those in Orlando, San Bernardino, Mother Emanuel 
Church, Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, Parkland, Newtown. The list is a 
very long one, and it is, in addition, on the streets and in the homes 
across our country.
  There has been too much violence and too much pain. This should not 
be a political issue. The American people overwhelmingly want action. A 
full 97 percent of Americans support requiring background checks for 
all gun buys, including 97 percent of gun owners. There is a 
commonsense, bipartisan path forward in the Congress. We can take 
action today on comprehensive background checks without the dangerous 
Concealed Carry Reciprocity bill, allowing the CDC to study gun 
violence, and gun violence restraining orders that empower law 
enforcement to intervene when someone is a threat to themselves or 
others.
  We should all be listening to the American people on both sides of 
the aisle, and we should allow the House to vote on bipartisan gun 
violence solutions. The families and students suffering from the 
heartbreak of gun violence deserve real leadership in this body, not a 
Republican White House and Congress that are saying one thing and doing 
another. It is deeply disappointing that, just days after embracing the 
need for commonsense, bipartisan gun violence prevention, still we have 
nothing coming forward.
  House Democrats have filed discharge petitions to force votes on the 
Thompson-King bipartisan background check bill with 200 cosponsors. Two 
hundred cosponsors for a background check bill. That is a start. That 
is remarkable. And also the Background Check Completion Act. Democrats 
will continue to press for bipartisan progress to reduce the epidemic 
of gun violence in our Nation.
  Let me say, as we go out in a little bit to join the students who are 
doing their walkout across the country, an enormous thank-you to them. 
An enormous thank-you to them. While we have sympathy for everyone who 
has loss of life because of gun violence across the country--they are 
always in our prayers, in our thoughts, and in our determination to 
make a difference--the eloquence, the courage, the determination of 
these young people in Florida to come forward in such

[[Page H1548]]

an eloquent and articulate way. They have been on the other side of a 
gun. That shouldn't happen to our children.
  So while we all respect the Second Amendment and what that means for 
our country, and while we all want to do something very important, we 
must listen. And what the kids are doing is on top of a lot of positive 
action taken by the Bradys, taken by every town, taken by our former 
colleague Gabby Giffords and her initiative, The Promise of Newtown, 
and all over the country. So much activity has happened, and now it has 
hopefully culminated at a place where the children, with how savvy they 
are about social media and the rest, identifying with each other across 
the country, will be the tipping point that will make the difference to 
make our country safer.
  We thank them for what they are doing, for their leadership. We also 
thank them for taking their grief and turning it into action to save 
lives. And to remember how important, in all of this, the vote is.
  And so I say to my colleagues, there isn't one of us in here whose 
political survival compares in the slightest bit to the survival of our 
children. These kids have the courage to come forward. We have to have 
the courage to vote and take action to save lives. Ninety-five percent 
of the American people support us supporting legislation to do just 
that.
  As we pray and have our moments of silence, let's act upon those 
sentiments with real action, again, to make a difference. Again, I 
salute the kids, the young people. I look forward to seeing them on the 
steps outside on the west lawn. We will gather in the rotunda. All 
Members are invited to gather in the rotunda, to go outside and 
associate ourselves and sing the praises of these young people for 
their courage.

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