[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 100 (Monday, June 13, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2899-S2900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
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HONORING OUR PROMISE TO ADDRESS COMPREHENSIVE TOXICS ACT OF 2021--
Resumed
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the Senate will
resume consideration of H.R. 3967, which the clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 3967) to improve health care and benefits for
veterans exposed to toxic substances, and for other purposes.
Pending:
Tester/Moran amendment No. 5051, in the nature of a
substitute.
Schumer amendment No. 5065 (to amendment No. 5051), to add
an effective date.
Schumer amendment No. 5076 (to the text proposed to be
stricken by amendment No. 5051), to add an effective date.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Hawaii.
Ms. HIRONO. I note the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Hirono). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Recognition of the Majority Leader
The majority leader is recognized.
Gun Violence
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, yesterday, Democratic and Republican
negotiators announced an agreement on a framework for bipartisan gun
safety legislation, bringing the Senate one step closer to finally--
finally--responding to the plague of gun violence that afflicts our
Nation and terrorizes our children.
For the first time in a long time, the Senate has a path forward on
legislation that will save lives, reduce gun violence, and keep our
communities safe.
Make no mistake about it, we have a lot of work left to do before we
actually pass a bill, but yesterday's announcement was a positive and
necessary step in the right direction.
Now comes the important work of turning this framework into
legislation and legislative language that can pass Congress and be
signed by the President. We must continue working with the urgency that
this moment demands because, if we can save even one life from gun
violence, it will well be worth it.
Once the text of this agreement is finalized, and I hope it will be
as soon as possible, I will put this bill on the floor, quickly, so the
Senate can move quickly to make gun safety reform a reality.
As I said, I will put this bill on the floor as soon as possible once
the text of the final agreement is finalized so the Senate can act
quickly to make gun safety reform a reality. So I urge my colleagues to
continue working with the same good faith and urgency that has brought
us to this point.
Certainly, yesterday's agreement does not have everything Democrats
wanted, but it nevertheless represents the most significant reform to
gun safety laws that we have seen in decades. If enacted, this
legislation will make it harder for mass shooters to access assault
rifles by enhancing background checks for those under 21. It will
prevent tragedies before they happen by helping States with their red
flag laws. It will prevent gun violence at home by closing the so-
called boyfriend loophole and establish new penalties for gun
traffickers. It will make our neighborhoods safer by investing in
mental health and community violence intervention programs. The lion's
share of gun violence happens outside the national spotlight, and these
intervention programs are some of the most effective ways to reduce
crime and make our communities safer.
[[Page S2900]]
Altogether, this framework is a good and necessary first step towards
changing the reality of gun violence in America. It will lay the
foundation for future action. Most importantly, this legislation will
go a long way toward saving lives.
I want to thank Senators Murphy, Sinema, Cornyn, and Tillis for
working assiduously on this framework.
Senator Murphy asked me for space to let the negotiators do their
work, and I was glad to give it to them because we knew that any chance
of getting something real done on gun safety was worth the effort.
I also want to thank my colleagues who were part of the bipartisan
guns working group, including Senators Blumenthal, Manchin, Coons,
Heinrich, and others.
I want to thank all the advocates, families, and volunteers who lost
loved ones, who shared their stories, who marched to make a change.
Without the advocates, the families, and the volunteers who lost loved
ones, this bill wouldn't have happened because year after year after
shooting after shooting, they didn't give up. They persisted, and it
helped bring us to this important moment.
For decades, families across the country have seen the same dismal
pattern play out whenever a mass shooting strikes the Nation--tragedy
followed by inaction. From Columbine to Virginia Tech, to Sandy Hook,
to Las Vegas, to Parkland, to Buffalo, to Uvalde, and to so many
others, gridlock has prevented Congress from bringing solace to
families in grief.
But no matter how many shootings have traumatized this Nation, these
families have never given up in their hope of making change happen.
Rather than curse the darkness, these families have responded to
tragedy by lighting candles. They have shared their stories, they have
marched for change, and they have done everything in their power to
make sure no other parent, spouse, or sibling has to suffer the pain
they have felt and live with every day.
The same is true for all the advocates, and there are so many groups
who have worked on gun safety. Many members of these groups are
survivors of gun violence. I have a person on my staff who is a
survivor of Aurora. They all worked tirelessly for years to enact
commonsense gun safety laws.
Despite decades of frustrating gridlock, I hope that yesterday's
announcement brings some sense of accomplishment to these grieving
families and to all of those who have marched and protested and written
letters and tweeted because it is thanks to them we are at the
threshold of progress.
Nearly 30 years ago, I was the author of the Brady background checks
bill, and that was the last time Congress took meaningful action to
address gun violence. It was a different era back then, but the lesson
of that experience remains relevant today: The right law can decrease
gun deaths. I believe that there are tens of thousands of people alive
today because the Brady law was passed in 1994. They don't know who
they are, we don't know who they are, but it is virtually certain that
that law saved thousands and thousands of lives.
I urge my colleagues to think of all the lives we can now save by
turning this framework into law. Americans have waited long enough for
us to take action. Too many lives--too many--have been already lost.
Too many families--too many--have been left grieving.
While we can't undo the tragedies of the past, we can act now to make
them less likely in the future. If this framework is enacted into law,
it will do precisely that, and I urge all of us to continue working to
pass gun safety legislation soon.
Honoring our PACT Act of 2021
Madam President, now on the PACT Act, as negotiations continue off
the floor on gun safety reform, today, the Senate will move forward
with the most significant expansion of veteran healthcare benefits in
decades--in decades. In a few hours, the Senate will vote on cloture on
the substitute amendment for the PACT Act, which Chairman Tester and
Ranking Member Moran have been working on for months. It is my hope
that we can finally pass this legislation in the next few days, well
before the week is out.
The changes outlined by the PACT Act are long overdue. It would make
sure any veteran suffering from toxic exposure in the line of duty
could get the VA benefits they deserve. It would end the indignity that
too many veterans face right now of carrying the burden of toxic
exposure on their own and being forced to jump through hoop after hoop
after hoop by the VA before they can get any benefits, and many of them
never get them. As many as 3\1/2\ million veterans could benefit from
the reforms brought about by this bill.
I urge my colleagues to keep working so we can push this bill over
the finish line A-S-A-P because both sides want it, our veterans
deserve it, and the veterans service organizations--the VSOs--have been
telling Congress for years that change is needed at the VA. So before
the week is out, the Senate should do its job and pass this bill.
Shipping Reform
Madam President, now on the shipping bill, a few months ago, the
Senate unanimously passed legislation to fight inflation by fixing
unfair shipping practices that are clogging our ports and straining our
supply chains. Tonight, the House will finally act on that bill and
send it to the President's desk.
Inflation is the greatest frustration America has right now, and
backlogs at our ports are one of the biggest drivers of price hikes
that we will address through this bill.
By now, we have all seen pictures of scores of ships lining up in
ports from Las Vegas to Savannah, to Seattle, to New York and New
Jersey. These backlogs have not only caused great harm for American
exporters trying to send their products out into the world, they have
also skyrocketed the price of goods coming into this country. The
backlogs create a brutal double whammy that ultimately leaves American
families paying the price.
I applaud Speaker Pelosi and all of my House colleagues for taking
action on this shipping reform bill, and I want to thank my colleagues
here in the Senate--Senators Klobuchar and Thune, the authors of the
legislation; Chairwoman Cantwell, who shepherded it through; and others
for their leadership when this bill was before the Senate.
By reforming unfair shipping practices, Congress is taking a much
needed step to lowering costs, clearing our ports, and relieving supply
chains. I thank all of my colleagues for a job well done.
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