[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 29 (Thursday, February 14, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H2025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              PASS UNIVERSAL BACKGROUND CHECK LEGISLATION

  (Mr. HIMES asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HIMES. Madam Speaker, it is Valentine's Day, and we have all 
spent the evening together, which is kind of funny. We did it in the 
service of keeping the government open with a bill that funds the 
government in a strong, bipartisan vote, and that is a good thing.
  But, Madam Speaker, Valentine's Day will never again be a truly happy 
day because, of course, it is the 1-year anniversary of the Douglas 
shootings in Florida in which 17 young people, with their lives ahead 
of them, had those lives snuffed out at the end of a gun.
  It is a particularly poignant moment for me and for those of us from 
Connecticut because we still can't forget, of course, the 20 children, 
6 to 7 years old, and six adult staff who lost their lives in December 
of 2012 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
  So, Madam Speaker, I just rise to point out that we are hearing a lot 
tonight about an emergency declaration; and if 30,000 to 40,000 
Americans, including these young angels, losing their lives every 
single year is not an emergency, I don't know what is.
  This House, after 8 years of inaction and pathetic moments of 
silence, moved a bill, H.R. 8, for universal background checks out of 
committee yesterday. The least we can do as an institution is to take 
the small step of passing that bill into law to keep young and all 
Americans safe.

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