[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 149 (Tuesday, September 17, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5500-S5501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Background Checks

  Madam President, now, on guns, a week and a half after our return 
from the August work period, Senators from both sides of the aisle are 
still waiting to hear what the President proposes in order to combat 
the epidemic of gun violence. According to reports, the President's 
yet-to-be-released plan will likely not include universal background 
checks or even a significant expansion of background checks. If those 
reports are true, it will be a profound shame.
  Without closing the loopholes in our background check system, most 
other gun safety measures, like emergency risk protection orders, would 
be severely compromised. Background checks must be the base, the 
foundation, of gun safety legislation. If background checks aren't 
included, we will still be allowing guns to fall into the wrong hands--
those of convicted criminals, domestic abusers, the adjudicated 
mentally ill.
  You can have one of these emergency risk protection orders issued to 
someone--let's say to Mr. John Smith. Yet, if we don't close these 
loopholes, John Smith, the next day, will be able to go online and get 
a new gun because there will be no background check, and the seller of 
the gun will have no way of knowing there will have been a protection 
order against him. Without having background checks, a lot of this 
other stuff isn't going to do the job. It isn't going to save the most 
lives that we can.
  I hope the President thinks long and hard before releasing a proposal 
that falls short of making meaningful progress, particularly on 
background checks.
  In the past, Republican Senators, Congressmen, and candidates 
promised action after mass shootings, only to have announced support 
for legislation that was specifically designed not to offend the NRA. 
We have seen that before.
  This is a chance for the President to do something different and, 
frankly, something courageous. It would be a terrible shame if he were 
to squander that very much needed opportunity. If

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whatever the President announces this week falls short of what the 
American people are demanding, the Democrats will continue to press the 
issue.
  Later tonight, I will join several of my Democratic colleagues on the 
floor for an extended debate on the issue of gun violence. Many of my 
colleagues have seen their communities torn apart by gun violence--some 
by horrific mass shootings, others by a relentless, daily stream. Many 
of them have worked for years to put commonsense gun safety measures 
before the Senate. Tonight, the Democrats will hold a forum to bring 
those stories to the Senate floor--the stories of families who have 
been shattered by gun violence and the stories of our constituents who 
demand that we take action.
  My Republican colleagues, I hope, will listen closely and, more 
importantly, will join the Democrats in working to pass meaningful 
legislation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.