[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 103 (Wednesday, June 19, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3817-S3822]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Gun Violence

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, 6 years have passed since 20 beautiful 
children and 6 wonderful educators were killed in a massacre that 
gripped the Nation's attention in Newtown, CT. That tragedy, for any of 
us who lived through it, remains as real and vivid and grief-stricken 
today as it was then. We have lived with the memories and with the 
families and with countless others who found their lives changed--
literally, transformed--in ways they never imagined.
  In the day or so after that shooting--it may have been the following 
day--I was at one of the numerous calling hours I attended, and I spoke 
with one of the moms of those children. I said to her: When you are 
ready, we should talk about what can be done about gun violence in 
America.
  She looked at me, through her tears, and she said: I am ready now.
  Many of the families of Sandy Hook were ready then. Our Nation was 
ready then. Yet the U.S. Congress proved disastrously and tragically 
unready--in fact, failing in its responsibility to react not only with 
prayers and thoughts, as it did, but also with action to honor those 
wonderful children and educators with action, to honor them before 
others would die in the same way, the result of massacres that are 
preventable.
  The Senate came close to acting. More than 50 votes were there for a 
background check bill, which had bipartisan support, but not the 60 
votes that were necessary. From this Gallery vividly came the shout: 
Shame on you.
  It was well justified.
  Shame on the U.S. Senate for failing to act 6 years ago. Shame on the 
Congress for being complicit in the continuing massacres that have been 
added since Sandy Hook: Oak Creek, Blacksburg, Charleston, Chattanooga, 
Lafayette, Parkland, San Bernardino, Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs. 
That is just a partial list, not to mention the 90 deaths every day, 
often occurring singularly or in twos or threes or by suicide or by 
accident, as claimed the life of Ethan Song in Guilford, CT, when he 
was playing with a friend and a gun killed him--a loss that Kristin and 
Michael Song have made positive by their advocacy of commonsense 
measures to require safe storage of weapons.
  The voices and faces of Sandy Hook have continued to inspire and move 
us. As of Parkland and all of the other tragedies that have occurred, 
they have rallied and written, emailed and called, organized and 
mobilized, and they have created a movement. It is a movement that is 
turning around this country, and it already has the effect of breaking 
the vice-like grip of the NRA on Congress. It is moving us forward. It 
has spawned groups at the grassroots, like Newtown Action Alliance and 
Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action, CT Against Gun Violence, 
Brady, and many others, including Sandy Hook Promise, whose dinner we 
will attend tonight, their annual gathering.
  We have come to the floor of the Senate now to demand action that 
honors those victims and prevents more victims, more survivors, more 
grieving families. I am here with my colleague Senator Chris Murphy, 
who has been an unstinting advocate, a champion, a partner in this 
effort. We are here to demand that this body act on a measure that was 
passed more than 100 days ago by the House, which would require a 
universal background check.
  The fact that the House passed that measure is itself evidence of a 
change that is moving this country. The change in leadership in the 
House is the result of the election of new Members in the House of 
Representatives as a result of the gun violence prevention movement 
that politically is acquiring an undeniable and indisputable force. Gun 
violence prevention was on the ballot in the last election, and gun 
violence prevention won. It won in the new Members of Congress who have 
championed that universal background check measure and closing the 
Charleston loophole, and they have successfully passed it there. They 
are making a critical difference, and they are coming here. Their 
election is the result of that grassroots political movement that is 
changing the narrative, and for the first time, it puts us nearer--in 
fact, nearer than ever before, that I can remember--to commonsense 
measures that will stop gun violence.
  I have been involved in this effort since my earliest days as 
attorney general in the early 1990s, when Connecticut passed a ban on 
assault weapons. I not only advocated for it but then defended it in 
court against many of the arguments that continue to be made today, 
even though they have been rejected by the courts and the American 
people.
  States have moved forward, as Connecticut has done, to adopt these 
commonsense measures: universal background checks; a ban on assault 
weapons and high-capacity magazines; most recently, a safe storage 
bill, Ethan's Law in Connecticut; a ban on bump stocks and 3D weapons; 
and, of course, measures that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous 
people. But the laws of a State like Connecticut--those strong laws--
are no stronger or more effective than the laws of the weakest States 
because guns come across our borders. We are at the mercy of States 
with little or no protection for their people. The solution is a 
national one. It must apply across the country to make our Nation safer 
and to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.
  As near as we are and as much as has been accomplished, the work to 
be done is right here in this body, on this floor, and it must be done 
now. That is why we are here. That is why I have advocated for other 
measures. I have introduced Ethan's Law to provide for safe storage. It 
has been supported here. A number of you have met with Kristin and 
Michael Song, and they will be visiting again. I have introduced an 
emergency risk protection order bill that would enable courts and law 
enforcement to take guns out of the hands of dangerous people as a 
result of a warrant and due process; an incentive program at the 
national level that makes States more aware and more inclined to adopt 
them, which should be bipartisan; a law that repeals PLCAA, the 
protection of lawful commerce in arms. This was adopted with the 
promise that no one would be deprived of a right of action, no one 
would be barred from the courthouse, but in fact PLCAA has prevented 
victims from seeking justice. It has stopped their day in court, and it 
should be repealed.

  Those measures should be moved forward, and I am hopeful they will 
with bipartisan support. There is no question today about the need for 
a universal background check bill that Senator Murphy and I and others 
who will speak today have advocated and now offers an opportunity for 
bicameral approval.
  This movement has indisputable force. It has a dynamism and drive 
that will only increase regardless of what happens today. We are not 
giving up; we are not going away; and history will judge harshly a 
majority leader and a majority that fails to give us a vote. It will 
judge harshly opponents of these commonsense measures, and the voters 
will judge harshly because gun violence prevention will be on the 
ballot again. We will make sure of it. The American people will have an 
opportunity to vote again for candidates who support commonsense, 
sensible measures to make America safer, to keep guns out of the hands 
of truly dangerous people. The grip of the NRA is breaking. The gun 
lobby is crumbling from within and losing its traction in the field.
  We are on the right side of history, and I hope my colleagues will 
see it that way, too, and will give us a vote. Let us vote on universal 
background checks, the bill that has come to us from the House of 
Representatives. Let's do it today.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I am on the floor to join my colleagues 
Senator Blumenthal and those who will speak afterward.
  It has been 113 days since the House of Representatives passed H.R. 
8, the bipartisan background checks bill. We have a proposal before the 
Senate as well, and we are here to make a simple request: Bring this 
bill up for a debate. Let us do our work as the U.S. Senate on an issue 
that dominates headlines, dominates kitchen table conversation, and 
steals from this country 36,000 lives a year, 3,000 a month, and 100 a 
day. Those are the number of people who are killed by gunshot wounds.

[[Page S3818]]

  Each one of their stories is different. These are mostly suicides; 
many of them are homicides; accidental shootings; some are mass 
shootings that make the headlines, but no one can escape this horror 
today.
  In my son's school, he has to go through an active-shooter drill 
every year. Think about the trauma we put kids through preparing for a 
stranger to walk into their classroom with a weapon.
  Just this past weekend, 32 people were shot and 6 were killed in 1 
city alone, the city of Philadelphia, including 24-year-old Isiaka 
Meite, who died this weekend. He was at a cookout to celebrate a 
graduation and to also celebrate Father's Day, and he along with four 
teenagers were shot while out celebrating. That is the reality of what 
happened in just one single city.
  So I get it that the bill that passed the House of Representatives 
may not be the bill that could get 60 votes in the Senate, but what is 
so offensive to many of us who have lived with this epidemic--it is 
personal to everyone here--because I don't think there is an individual 
in the Senate who hasn't had a one-on-one experience with a victim of 
gun violence or the mother or father of someone who was killed. What is 
so offensive is that we are not even trying. We are not even attempting 
to find common ground.
  The Senate used to do this. The Senate used to take big important 
issues, put them on the floor, and spend at least a week's time trying 
to figure out whether you could get 50 or 60 votes. We are not doing 
that on anything in the U.S. Senate today. This place has become a 
complete, total legislative graveyard. There is really nothing more 
important to families out there than their ability to protect their 
loved ones from harm. The fact that we are not trying to find consensus 
on the issue of gun violence, that there is no interest to put H.R. 8 
before this body so we can attempt to debate it, amend it, and come to 
some consensus in the Senate is unconscionable to many of us.
  I want to narrow my remarks on how exceptional this issue is from a 
public opinion standpoint. I have been on the floor so many times 
before talking about the evidence that points us to why background 
checks are the most impactful intervention we can make.
  In Missouri, where they got rid of their universal background checks 
requirement, and guns started to flow into the community through gun 
shows and internet sales without a background check, homicide rates 
went up by 40 percent and reports of Missouri-bought illegal guns found 
in other neighboring States skyrocketed.
  It is the exact opposite effect in Connecticut. Years ago, 
Connecticut put in place a universal background check requirement tied 
to a local permit. Research showed that reduced our gun homicide rate 
by around 40 percent. So the evidence is there.
  Let's just talk about public opinion on this matter because there is 
really nothing like background checks today in the public 
consciousness. Today polls will show that 97 percent of Americans 
believe that everybody should go through a background check before they 
purchase a weapon. There is nothing else in America today that gets 97 
percent support. I mean, there is nothing else that gets 97 percent 
support. These are actual numbers. Apple pie is supported by 81 percent 
of Americans. Kittens only get 76 percent support from the American 
public today, and baseball, the American pastime, has the support of 
only two-thirds of Americans. Yet 97 percent of Americans believe 
someone should fill out a form proving they are not a criminal or 
seriously mentally ill before buying a gun. Universal background 
checks, while here in Congress seemingly a very controversial, 
politically charged issue, is more popular than apple pie, kittens, or 
baseball. These are actual numbers.

  I don't mean to make light of this. I just need to drive home the 
point that no matter if you represent a Republican-leaning State or a 
Democratic-leaning State, a State that voted for Donald Trump or a 
State that voted for Hillary Clinton, your constituents want you to 
vote for universal background checks.
  Let me just give the full panoply of public opinion on this. The 
number of people who support background checks is 97 percent today. 
That includes 90 percent of gun owners. I can back that up with plenty 
of anecdotal experience from my State. When I talk to gun owners, many 
who assume I have a hidden agenda and who believe I want to confiscate 
their guns--when I sit and talk to them about background checks, they 
say: Of course. It took me 5 minutes. I don't want people who are 
criminals to get their hands on guns. Everybody should go through a 
background check. Ninety percent of gun owners think this is a good 
idea.
  This is not new data. Back in 2012, prior to the shooting in Sandy 
Hook, 74 percent of NRA members who were polled said they supported 
requiring criminal background checks. A year later, in April 2013, a 
Washington Post poll showed that 91 percent of Americans supported 
background checks.
  In July of 2014, a Quinnipiac poll found that 92 percent of Americans 
supported background checks, including, in that poll, 86 percent of 
Republicans and 92 percent of Independents, 90 percent of men and 94 
percent of women and 92 percent of gun-owning households. You don't get 
below 90 in any constituency.
  In September 2015, another poll showed 93 percent of Americans 
support it and 90 percent of Republicans.
  A CBS poll from 2016 shows that 89 percent of Americans supported it, 
including 92 percent of Republicans.
  In March of 2017, a Pew Research Center poll found that 77 percent of 
gun owners and 87 percent of non-gun owners supported background 
checks.
  Then the February Quinnipiac 2018 poll found 97 percent of Americans 
support background checks.
  These are stunning numbers. They are stunning numbers. Again, they 
don't require everybody in this Chamber to support the bill that passed 
the House of Representatives, but it has been 113 days since H.R. 8 
passed, which is broadly supported by 90 percent of Americans, and we 
still have not had that bill or any version of this measure brought up 
before this body for debate or an attempt to find consensus.
  This is the running theme. We are talking a lot about the Senate 
becoming a graveyard for legislation because, in my lifetime, I have 
read stories about the Senate working through big issues, having 
serious debates--sometimes not coming to a completed product, sometimes 
ending up stymied but more than not figuring out a way where 50 or 60 
votes could be achieved.
  The House is passing legislation--healthcare legislation, anti-
violence legislation, clean elections legislation--and all of it is 
coming here to die, not because we can't find consensus but because we 
don't even try to find consensus. In those 113 days, approximately, 
11,000 people have been killed by guns. That is a number that finds no 
equal in any other high-income nation. I can talk to you about the 
variety of reasons for it. Some of them can be solved by us; some of 
them can't.
  America is a unique nation with a unique history. We are, indeed, a 
melting pot of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. By virtue of that, 
we were likely going to be a more violent nation from the start. I 
admit that, but we have poured kerosene on this fire by having the 
loosest gun laws, a set of laws that are not supported by 90 percent of 
Americans who are asking us to do something different.
  So we are on the floor today asking, begging, pleading with Senator 
McConnell and Republican leadership to at least bring H.R. 8, the 
Bipartisan Background Checks Act, or some version of it before the 
Senate so we can have a debate on the most important, most vital issue 
to Americans today--their physical safety.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague from 
Connecticut for leading this discussion today on gun violence. We want 
to focus on one bill in particular, one piece of legislation, but I 
want to step back for a moment and talk about this issue more broadly 
in terms of what it means for the American people.
  We are talking about a problem, the problem of gun violence, which is 
a uniquely American problem. No other country has this problem. No 
other country has the amount of mass shootings. I don't know the exact 
number,

[[Page S3819]]

but we have had so many that we know them by the name of the community. 
When we say Newtown, CT, or Sandy Hook Elementary School, when we talk 
about places like Columbine, or Parkland, you know what happened at 
those places because they have become so common. So this is a uniquely 
American problem that Americans have to solve. Some of those Americans, 
obviously, have to be Members of Congress.
  You would never know there was this problem based upon the inaction 
by Congress, by the Senate, and, until recently, the House over many 
years.
  The one question I have to ask is, are we going to surrender to this 
uniquely American problem--because the inaction by Congress over many 
years now would indicate to me that the answer to that question is yes; 
that a lot of Members of Congress, House and Senate, have concluded 
that there is absolutely nothing we can do to reduce even the 
likelihood of another mass shooting or reduce the likelihood of more 
and more gun violence.
  So here we are. The House has passed background check legislation 
that, as Senator Murphy just outlined, is overwhelmingly popular with 
more than 90 percent of Americans who support it, and we are in day 
113. It has been 113 days since the House passed it, and there is no 
action on the Senate floor. There hasn't even really been a debate of 
any kind here in the Senate on gun violence or what to do about it.

  So consider that time frame and all the time that has gone by since. 
The one bill that dealt with this issue of gun violence that passed 
either House in probably 25 years is now 113 days from having any 
action in the Senate. So with no action on something as popular and as 
well-supported as that bill and on such an important issue as gun 
violence, I have to conclude that without any action here in the 
Senate, in this particular legislative graveyard, the Senate is 
surrendering to this problem. It is just letting this bill die in the 
Senate over time.
  Among the many examples we could talk about, I will give you two 
examples from both ends of our State of Pennsylvania. In the city of 
Pittsburgh, we witnessed the deadly act of violence against the Jewish 
community. The worst act of violence against a Jewish community in 
American history was at the Tree of Life synagogue back in October, 
when a shooter opened fire on three congregations worshipping during 
Shabbat services. Three different congregations were worshipping at the 
same place. This deadly mass shooting--a targeted, cowardly, hateful 
attack on the Jewish community--resulted in the deaths of 11 innocent 
Pennsylvanians and injured 6 more, including 4 members of law 
enforcement. Eleven people were gone in a matter of minutes, and in 
this case they range in age from the ages of low fifties, I guess, to 
the oldest being 97 years old, if memory serves me.
  While this attack was horrific for so many reasons, it is just one 
example of the ongoing and systemic problem of gun violence across our 
country. It is an epidemic. I will say it. It is a uniquely American 
problem, and we are acting as if there is no problem at all here in the 
Senate.
  Just consider this. Through the month of April, nearly 400 
individuals have been shot in the city of Philadelphia. In many cases, 
if that doesn't lead to death itself, it leads to grievous permanent 
injury.
  Just this past weekend in Philadelphia, there were 19 shootings in 
one city--19 shootings in one weekend with 5 deaths and 28 others 
wounded. One of the shootings occurred in a public park during a 
graduation party. Six people were shot and one was killed. They were 
all under the age of 25.
  Here is what the toll so far is this year. This year the gun-related 
death toll in Philadelphia is 152--in one city. Needless to say, the 
national statistics on this--the national numbers--are staggering, in 
addition to the numbers I cited from Philadelphia. Gun violence affects 
more than 100,000 people every year, impacting their lives year after 
year in numbers like that.
  On February 27, as I mentioned, the House passed H.R. 8, the 
Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019--113 days ago--but the 
majority leader has refused to call this bipartisan bill to the floor 
of the Senate. Shouldn't we even debate it? Is that really where we 
are--that this uniquely American problem of gun violence is not even 
worthy of a debate? We are looking for a vote, obviously, but is it not 
even worthy of a debate and then a vote?
  We know that there may not be the votes in the Senate to pass this, 
but we are not even going to debate something on such an important 
issue? This is a piece of legislation supported by more than 90 percent 
of the American people. If you don't want to be for it, just tell us in 
the debate and register your vote. At least we will have debated the 
one bill that passed the House in 25 years. We have this one 
opportunity on one bill, and it is not even worthy of a debate here in 
the Senate.
  I am a proud original cosponsor of the Senate version of the bill, 
the Background Check Expansion Act, because it is a type of commonsense 
legislation that makes Americans safe from the horrors of gun violence. 
In fact, expanding background checks is supported by more than 90 
percent of Americans because they know--we all know--that background 
checks make our community safer.
  Since 1994, background checks have prevented more than 3.5 million 
gun sales to dangerous criminals and others prohibited from owning 
guns. Yet these background check bills haven't seen the light of day 
since H.R. 8 was passed in the House. I will say it again: 113 days 
ago. They were sent to this legislative graveyard. I have to ask my 
Republican colleagues: Why don't you ask the majority leader to 
schedule just one debate? It could be a limited debate. Then, let's 
have a vote up or down. I hope there may be a vote on some other 
measures, but at least let's debate and vote on a background check bill 
that passed the House of Representatives.
  The time for talk about this issue and the time for lamenting the 
problem has long passed. We have to do something about it. That means 
debating and voting. That is what we are supposed to do here--debate 
big issues and vote. Vote how you want, but at least debate and vote on 
this issue, which will reduce the likelihood that we will see more and 
more tragedies like we have seen.
  We are told that 100 people are shot and killed every day in the 
United States of America. One hundred people are shot and killed every 
day. We go not just days but weeks and months and now years without a 
single bill getting the kind of debate and vote that it should get and 
without a single bill passing.
  At least let's get a start with this piece of legislation. Let's 
debate it and vote on it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Scott of Florida). The Senator from 
Maryland.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Casey for his 
passion on this issue, and I want to thank Senators Blumenthal and 
Murphy for bringing us here together.
  The logic here is inescapable. I can't explain to my constituents, 
nor can Senator Casey explain to his, why the universal background 
check has not been on the floor of the Senate for a vote.
  Let us do our will. This is an issue that we have talked about for 
years. The majority leader has refused to bring this up for a vote so 
that the will of the majority can prevail. That is what we are simply 
asking for.
  It was in February of this year that the House of Representatives 
passed a bipartisan bill to deal with universal background checks. It 
passed by a large majority, and we now understand the urgency of our 
considering legislation.
  Inaction is not an option. We have to do what we can to deal with the 
crisis at hand. What is the crisis? One hundred people are killed every 
day in this country by gun violence; 310 are shot, by the way; 210 are 
injured; and 100 are killed every day of the week, 7 days a week.
  Since the House has acted on this bill, about 11,000 Americans have 
been killed. This is urgent. Every day makes a difference. In my State 
of Maryland, over 180 people have been killed by gun violence since the 
House passed the bipartisan universal background check legislation in 
February of this year. It is the second leading cause of death among 
children and first among African-American children. Rarely does a month 
go by without our having another mass shooting take place here in the 
United States.

[[Page S3820]]

  It was 1 year ago, on June 28, in Annapolis, MD, at the Capital 
Gazette, that we saw the shooting that took the lives of reporters. At 
that time, I took the floor with others saying: What more does it take 
for us to debate gun safety in this country? Why can't we take up 
legislation and have a debate? Isn't that what our job is here in the 
Senate?
  The Gun Control Act of 1968 established a framework for legally 
prohibiting certain categories of people from possessing firearms. The 
list of prohibited persons has grown over the years, but it includes 
felons, fugitives, domestic abusers, and those found by the court or 
other tribunal to be seriously mentally ill. I would hope that all of 
us agree that these individuals shouldn't have guns. How do you know 
that they are going to get a gun without a background check?
  Since the Brady Law took effect, it has blocked more than 3 million 
prohibited gun sales and processed over 278 million purchase requests. 
The technology is there. We know how it works. We have the FBI run a 
background check. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System 
is there to see whether you have been a convicted felon or are a 
fugitive, a domestic abuser, or other prohibited purchasers. We have 
the technology. We know that background checks work at the State level 
as well.
  According to the Brady Campaign, States that have expanded the scope 
of their background checks have seen impressive results, including that 
53 percent fewer law enforcement officers are shot and killed in the 
line of duty, 47 percent fewer women are shot by intimate partners, and 
cities in States with expanded background checks have seen a 48-percent 
reduction in gun trafficking.
  Does it solve the problem? No. Does it take a bite out of gun 
violence? Yes. It is a significant improvement in dealing with gun 
violence. It is part of the solution. Yet when the Brady Law was 
enacted, it was before the internet. America has changed, and our 
Nation's gun laws need to change with it.
  Today about one out of every five gun sales is either made online, 
made privately, or made at a gun show and they are not subject to the 
background check which is the law. It is our responsibility to make 
sure that the laws are kept up-to-date and are effective. These sales 
are largely unregulated and unchecked. That is simply wrong. These 
sales can avoid the background check.
  Passing legislation to expand background checks to nearly every gun 
sale, including those conducted online, at gun shows, and through 
private transfers should be a top priority in Congress for commonsense 
gun safety legislation to save lives.
  I am not going to repeat the numbers that Senator Murphy and Senator 
Casey mentioned about the popular support. It is over 90 percent--97 
percent, the last poll showed--and by all categories, because it is 
common sense. In fact, I think the public has a hard time understanding 
why we haven't passed this long before now.
  I agree that gun laws alone can't solve the problem, but it will make 
a difference. There is no single answer, but we should take steps that 
can help us deal with this crisis. Sitting on the sidelines is not an 
option when our children are being killed, sometimes by other children.
  Surrendering to the false logic that the problem is too big to 
address falls well short of what the American people deserve and expect 
us to do. They sent us here to the Senate to make tough decisions. This 
isn't even a tough decision, but we have to make decisions.
  From my hometown of Baltimore to many towns across America, there 
have been names in the headlines because of gun-related tragedies or 
mass shootings. People are calling on us to act. My message is simple: 
Let's bring the bill to the floor of the U.S. Senate. Let's follow the 
example of the House of Representatives. Let's not be the graveyard. 
Let's be the greatest deliberative body in the world. Let's take up the 
issue. Let's debate it. Let's vote on it, and let's do right for the 
American people.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I rise to echo the comments of my 
colleagues on these bills that are pending here in the Senate.
  I hold up the Calendar of Business for the Senate for Wednesday, June 
19, 2019, which is today. On page 15 of the calendar, item 29 is H.R. 
8, ``An act to require a background check for every firearm sale.'' The 
status, which is listed in every Senate calendar, is ``Mar. 4, 2019.--
Read the second time and placed on the calendar.'' It is pending here 
before the Senate.
  The next item, No. 30, is H.R. 1112, an act to amend chapter 44 of 
title 18, U.S. Code, to strengthen the background check procedures to 
be followed before a Federal firearms licensee may transfer a firearm. 
On March 5, 2019, it was read the second time and placed on the 
calendar.
  In this body, we are not asking for something that isn't before us. 
No. The Senate calendar for today says these bills are before us. Yet 
one individual, the Senate majority leader, is keeping us from having a 
debate and a vote on these two matters. We could vote on it. Maybe we 
wouldn't have the votes, but we ought to be able to at least vote and 
be accountable to the American public for the positions on these 
issues.
  I rise in the shadow of yet another tragedy in Virginia. Every 
Senator in this body has had tragedies like these. I know the Presiding 
Officer has suffered multiple tragedies in Orlando and Parkland. I was 
the mayor of Richmond when we had one of the highest homicide rates in 
the United States, which had been driven by gun violence. I was the 
Governor of Virginia when the shooting happened at Virginia Tech. I was 
in the U.S. Senate when two Virginia journalists were murdered on live 
television by a disgruntled ex-colleague. Then, three Fridays ago, on 
May 31, in Virginia Beach, just as I had left the city after giving a 
talk there to a local bar organization, the news came about the 
shooting of 12 innocent people--11 city employees and 1 contractor who 
was at the city just to get a building permit--who had been gunned 
down, in this case, by an individual who had used weapons that had 
massive magazines--the 30-round magazines. They were the kind of 
magazines that were also at issue in the shooting in Parkland. This is 
why I take to the floor today.
  In thinking about these tragedies in Virginia and the repetitive 
nature of them, when the shooting happened at Virginia Tech when I was 
Governor, I had always hoped that it would have been the worst shooting 
in the history of the United States. It is a weird thing to say about 
your own State. What a bizarre thing to say about your own State--that 
this tragedy had happened on April 16, 2007, and that I had hoped it 
would have been the worst shooting in history whereby there had been 32 
people killed. Yet, at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, 49 people were 
killed. In Las Vegas--and my colleague from Nevada is here--over 50 
people were killed, and hundreds were injured.
  There is an escalating nature to these. Our teachers now have to do 
live shooting drills because of school shootings. They didn't have to 
do that when they were going through ed schools 10 or 15 years ago. 
They have to hold practices with little elementary school students. A 
teacher was telling me the other day about what it is like at the 
beginning of the year to take a group of second graders into a 
restroom, which is their designated spot near their classroom. The 
teacher is then instructed to stand in front of the door so that if a 
shooter starts to shoot through the door, it will be the teacher who 
will be killed rather than the students.
  The fact that we have normalized this and that we have practiced it 
is evidence of a sickness. Yet there are cures for sicknesses. These 
bills are cures for a sickness. We don't have complete cures, but they 
would make us safer.
  As was indicated, the Federal background requirement has prevented 3 
million people since 1994 from getting weapons that they shouldn't have 
had. Some of those individuals, no doubt, may have found weapons in 
other ways, but the moment people are turned away from getting weapons 
they can't have, society is safer on those days. Sometimes they are 
turned away, and they never get the weapons--3 million times. Yet, 
because of glitches and weaknesses in the background check system, too 
many people who have

[[Page S3821]]

been prohibited for decades from having weapons are still able to get 
them.
  The New York Times recently did a study of 19 mass shootings in which 
the firearms that had been used had been bought legally after there 
having been Federal background checks--19 instances in which the 
firearms had been legally purchased after there having been background 
checks. It discovered, though, in looking at those 19 cases that at 
least 9 of the instances had been those in which the background check 
systems had had glitches and flaws so that the people were able to get 
the weapons even though they shouldn't have been able to. Let me give 
you just three powerful examples.
  The young man who murdered 32 people at Virginia Tech was a student 
by the name of Seung-Hui Cho. He went to high school in Fairfax, which 
is not far from here. He had a serious mental illness. His counselors 
and teachers at his high school knew this young man. They knew his 
capacity and strengths, and they knew he had problems. They were able 
to wrap services around him so that he not only graduated but was a 
successful student.
  Then he went on to a college campus that was 200 miles away, and all 
of that knowledge was locked up in his high school and didn't transfer 
to the college campus. He was then with a new group of 35,000 people. 
The folks didn't know him, and they didn't know of the challenges he 
had. They didn't know what it took for him to be successful, because he 
would have been able to have been successful if the right things had 
been done.

  Over the course of his college career, he experienced increasing 
instances of mental illness and, at one point, was adjudicated by a 
local behavioral services board as being mentally ill and dangerous. 
That is one of the nine categories under Federal law. It is not just 
one's being mentally ill, because mentally ill people are, more often, 
the victims of violence rather than the perpetrators of violence. You 
have to be adjudicated mentally ill and likely be a danger to others. 
He was adjudicated in that way, and that prohibited him from getting a 
weapon.
  The local court system failed to introduce the record into the 
national criminal background check system. So, a few months later, when 
he went to a federally licensed gun dealer in Roanoke to purchase the 
weapons that led to the mass atrocity, even though he was prohibited, 
the weakness in the background check system allowed him to get the 
weapons and carry out the murders.
  I was able to fix some of this glitch by executive order when I was 
the Governor when what I really needed at the time from my legislature 
in Virginia was a commitment to universal background checks. The better 
the system, the safer we are. I could not get that from my legislature, 
but that was an instance in which, clearly, glitches in the background 
check system had led to this massive atrocity.
  In Charleston, this deranged young man who had sat in on a Bible 
study, had worshiped with people who had prayed for him and who had 
later forgiven him, and had then used his weapon to murder nine people 
had acquired a weapon despite his having been prohibited. He had been 
prohibited under Federal law from having a weapon.
  There is a part of the Federal law that is the subject of one of the 
two bills that is pending now before the Senate that says, if you are 
buying at a licensed gun dealer's and if the background check can't be 
completed within 72 hours, the dealer has to put the weapon in your 
hand even though you are prohibited from having the weapon.
  In the case of Dylann Roof, they could not complete the background 
check within 3 days. The weapon was put in his hand, and he murdered 
these people as they were at a Bible study in the middle of the week. 
Again, there was a weakness in the background check system.
  How sad they are, these shootings. They are sad however and wherever 
they occur--at a nightclub, at a school, at a corner in Richmond. We 
had the murder of a 9-year-old and the injury of an 11-year-old 2 weeks 
ago in a neighborhood park because of a driveby. Wherever it happens, 
it is horrible--but at synagogues and churches in Charleston?
  You will remember the instance in Sutherland Springs, TX, in November 
2017 when someone went into a church and killed 26 people. Again, there 
was a weakness in the background check system. The gunman had been in 
the Air Force. While in the Air Force, he had been convicted and 
sentenced to 12 months confinement and had had his rank reduced because 
he had assaulted his wife and had broken the skull of his infant child. 
He had had a bad conduct discharge from the Air Force.
  With that adjudicated offense and with that discharge, he should have 
been prohibited from getting a weapon. Yet, in 2016 and 2017, he had 
purchased two firearms and had passed the Federal background check 
because the military adjudications had not been introduced into the 
system.
  The two bills I mentioned that are on the floor would do two things. 
They would make the background check system universal. However a weapon 
is transferred--in a Federal gun licensing, in a gun show, or between 
relatives and whether for payment or as a gift--you must determine 
before the gun is placed in the hand of an individual whether that 
individual is allowed to have a weapon or is prohibited. That is the 
first bill.
  The second one I mentioned would fix the Charleston loophole. It 
would establish that you don't just get the gun put in your hand if 
there is a glitch and it slows down the processing of your request. You 
have to be approved. There has to be a green light that says you are an 
allowed person before you get the weapon. To the extent that it might 
take longer than 3 days, it is in the interest of public safety to make 
sure that the person who is getting the weapon isn't prohibited.
  These measures are effective. The States that have gone to universal 
background checks can compare data pre and post, and they can compare 
their data with that of their next-door neighbors. The States that have 
moved to universal background checks have seen a reduction in gun 
violence. It is not the complete elimination. We are not able to do 
that. We didn't completely eliminate auto deaths when we required that 
there be air bags, but we have made people a lot safer, and that should 
be the standard here too. These laws are effective, and they are 
popular. Overwhelmingly, Americans support background checks.

  Finally, this is not even, really, a new law. The NRA used to take 
the position that it didn't want new laws but that it wanted to enforce 
existing laws. The background check bill isn't even a new law; it is 
just the enforcement of existing laws. If you have a group of people 
who are prohibited from having weapons but the only way to enforce that 
is through a comprehensive background check system, then the way to 
look at these two bills is that these are bills that are necessary to 
enforcing existing laws that have been on the books since 1968 and with 
a bipartisan consensus.
  We deserve a vote. These matters shouldn't just sit here on the 
Senate calendar day after day, week after week, and month after month 
without there being the opportunity to have a vote.
  As I conclude, there was a time in the Congress when there was 
something called the gag rule--for decades in the 1820s and 1830s. I 
think my timing is right. There was, essentially, something called the 
gag rule. Petitions with respect to the abolition of slavery were not 
able to be debated, and I fear that this is what we have come to in 
this body with respect to these issues. We haven't had a meaningful 
debate and vote on the floor of the U.S. Senate about the scourge of 
gun violence since the debate and vote in April of 2013, which was in 
the aftermath of the shooting in Sandy Hook. It has been more than 6 
years, and I think it is time to do it. The bills are pending on the 
calendar. We should have that debate and have that vote.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Virginia 
for his eloquence and passion on this issue.
  I have never talked to him about this, but there is one thing we had 
in common across the country when I was the attorney general for the 
State of Nevada and when he was the Governor of Virginia. It was the 
Virginia Tech shooting.
  As the attorney general, after that horrific, horrific shooting, I 
wanted to

[[Page S3822]]

make sure that we were passing commonsense laws so that nothing like 
that could ever happen again. So, in the State of Nevada, when I was 
the attorney general, I introduced legislation to ensure that when our 
courts would adjudicate an individual who was mentally ill, the 
information would get to our law enforcement by way of a background 
check. We passed that legislation. Yet I am here to tell you that more 
needs to be done.
  I agree with my colleague in that I would have hoped that the 
Virginia Tech shooting would have been the last that we would have ever 
seen in this country, but it was not. Almost 2 years ago, hundreds of 
people were wounded, and 58 were killed in my hometown of Las Vegas at 
the Route 91 Harvest music festival. It remains the deadliest mass 
shooting in modern American history. It is not something for which we 
would have ever imagined citing a statistic in the State of Nevada nor 
could anyone ever want that.
  Two weeks after that shooting, I delivered my first official address 
on this Senate floor. My maiden speech, I called it. I called for 
action to prevent the next mass shooting. Among other things, I asked 
for universal background checks on firearms.
  Americans support these virtually unanimously, and you have heard the 
statistics from my colleagues on the floor today--that 97 percent of 
them want sellers to look closely at who exactly is trying to buy a 
gun. Yet the Background Check Expansion Act, which is supposed to close 
loopholes on background checks, hasn't received a vote in this Chamber. 
Not only has it not received a vote, but we can't even debate it. We 
can't even come to the floor and debate the issues about which we know 
Americans across the country want us to do something. Not only have we 
not had a vote on the Background Check Expansion Act, but neither have 
we had a vote on dozens of other vital pieces of legislation that would 
make us safer.
  I have sat here for the last 2 years and watched as the Republican 
leadership has been perfectly happy to have stopped the Senate from 
voting on these laws. In fact, I have heard, unfortunately, Senator 
Mitch McConnell jokingly call himself the Grim Reaper, whose job it is 
to bury legislation. That is why we have this legislative graveyard. I 
will tell you that the American people don't think that it is funny. 
The mothers and fathers of children who have died as a result of gun 
violence aren't laughing, and neither is my hometown of Las Vegas--a 
community that is still healing from the pain of that night. It does 
not have to be this way.
  In the State of Nevada, we have closed the loophole that lets private 
sellers skip background checks before they hand over a gun. I am so 
proud of my State. Voters in Nevada approved this commonsense reform in 
2016 for universal background checks. Thanks to our newly elected 
Governor Sisolak, Attorney General Aaron Ford, and other fierce leaders 
in the Nevada State Legislature, as well as the incredible people in 
the State of Nevada, we have finally made it law. This is just basic 
common sense. It is supported by Americans throughout the political 
spectrum and households with and without guns.
  Listen, I support the Second Amendment. We own guns in my family. My 
husband is former Federal law enforcement. I come from a family of 
sportsmen. Throughout Nevada, we have friends who are sportsmen. But I 
will tell you, those Nevadans who are gun owners and almost every 
American agree we need to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, 
violent criminals, domestic abusers, and others who may pose a threat 
to themselves or their communities. Nevada, with a strong western 
history of self-reliance and a culture of safe, responsible gun 
ownership, has done this.
  It is long past time for the Senate to do what the House has done and 
what the American people demand and pass commonsense gun reform. The 
Senate majority leader must stop putting a roadblock in the way and let 
us act. At the very least, let us have a debate and move this issue 
forward--a debate the American people want us to address and an issue 
they want us to find a solution for.
  Listen, we can't take back what happened that day in Las Vegas or 
Orlando or Sandy Hook or Charleston or so many cities and towns all 
across this Nation that are scarred by mass shootings and daily gun 
violence. We can't heal the pain of those whose friends and family 
members were killed. We can't erase the trauma so many survivors 
continue to endure. But we can save lives in the future, and isn't one 
life saved worth it? Isn't one life saved worth it?
  So I ask all of my colleagues, let's stop the delays and denials and 
excuses, and let's pass this bill. Let's bring back to the floor of the 
Senate the time for debate on important policy issues that address the 
problems we see in this country. At the very least, let's save a life.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.