[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 14, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H1550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        THE DO-NOTHING REPUBLICAN CONGRESS IS MISSING IN ACTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Jeffries) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, exactly 1 month ago, 14 innocent students 
and 3 innocent teachers were massacred at a high school in Parkland, 
Florida.
  We are in the midst of a gun violence epidemic in this country; mass 
shooting after mass shooting after mass shooting; massacre in the 
workplace in San Bernardino, California; massacre at a nightclub in 
Orlando, Florida; massacre at a concert in Las Vegas, Nevada; massacre 
in churches down in Charleston, South Carolina and in Texas; massacre 
in schools, in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida.
  We are in the midst of a gun violence epidemic in this country, yet 
the do-nothing Republican Congress is missing in action.
  The overwhelming majority of the American people support universal 
background checks. The overwhelming majority of the American people 
support limiting access to weapons of war. The overwhelming majority of 
the American people support raising the age of purchase from 18 to 21. 
Yet the do-nothing Republican Congress is missing in action.
  Our students should be able to go to school and focus on reading, 
writing, and arithmetic; but, instead, they are often in school with 
their hands in the air, participating in active shooting drills. Yet 
the do-nothing Republican Congress is missing in action.
  All throughout the country today, tens of thousands of students in 
blue States and red States; students in urban America, rural America, 
and suburban America; students in the North, the South, the East, and 
the West, are walking out of class for 17 minutes to demand that 
Congress pass commonsense gun violence prevention legislation.
  I salute your courage. I salute your conviction. I salute your 
determination to make a difference.
  The students of this great country have stepped up. Now it is time 
for Congress to do the same. It is time for Congress to choose. We can 
either stand with the students, or you can stand with the NRA. History 
will judge us all.
  The students of this country are being cut down in the classroom in 
cold blood, yet the do-nothing Republican Congress is missing in 
action.
  We don't work for the NRA. We don't work for the gun manufacturers. 
We don't work for the merchants of death. We work for the American 
people, and it is time for us to finally address the gun violence 
epidemic in America.
  Enough is enough. The American people deserve a better deal.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All Members are reminded to direct their 
remarks to the Chair and not to a perceived viewing audience.

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