[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 98 (Tuesday, June 6, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H2747]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       FREEDOM FOR EVERY AMERICAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to acknowledge June 6, 
1944, D-Day, the day the largest land, sea, and air attack came to 
Normandy to fight Hitler. It was an unbelievable surge of power for 
freedom.
  Just a few years ago, I had the privilege of commemorating D-Day at 
Normandy and being able to see the rows and rows of those who died in 
the name of freedom. Nine thousand of the Allies died, men and women, 
men in particular, from the United States of America.
  I honor them today and recognize that as we stand in this place, as 
we debate on this floor, we have the responsibility to pay tribute to 
why they fought for freedom and their love of America. We have the 
responsibility to do the right thing for the American people.
  That is why I stand today to raise an issue that has plagued us over 
and over again, and that is the enormity of gun violence, the 
proliferation of guns, and the loss of life of our children. Violence 
is impacting our children every single day.
  Yesterday, we held a powerful hearing to talk about how we can stop 
this gun violence. We heard from people who were victims, like Lloyd 
Gock, a victim of the Monterey Park shooting. His words rang so 
powerfully. He heard 42 gunshots, and he heard the bodies dropping, 11 
dead and 9 wounded. He understands that a weapon of war should not be 
on the streets and that we should ban assault weapons.
  We also heard medical testimony, or professional health testimony, 
that indicated that storage, as indicated in the Kimberly Vaughan 
Firearm Safe Storage Act, would be most helpful in saving the lives of 
children. Some 4 million children live in homes where guns are laid 
around and not stored. They lose their lives there. Every single day, 
eight children lose their lives by way of gun violence.
  What about Mr. Kling from the Giffords organization that says 6,500 
veterans die every year due to gun violence, to suicide? It is 
imperative that we understand that their weapon of choice is a gun. 
Some would say that they are suicidal, that they have mental issues.
  It is the proliferation of guns--red flag laws, banning assault 
weapons, raising the age.
  We all still feel the pain of many shootings, but we feel the pain of 
Uvalde. I have come to know those families and the elected officials 
there who have been in pain, the city that has been in pain. The 
families and children remain in pain.
  You see how many of these small caskets they had to watch being 
buried in that community when a child, yes, under the age of 21 got a 
gun online. How outrageous is that?
  I stand here today saying: Are we going to keep the promise of those 
who laid their lives on the line for a free nation, or are we going to 
continually be against what is right?
  Let me quickly indicate that we must do something about the massive 
evictions across America. People are unhoused and need more housing. I 
am going to fight against the high numbers of evictions in all of our 
communities and will introduce legislation dealing with eviction. I 
want to bring it down in Houston and cities around the Nation.
  As well, I want to make sure that whatever rights we have, all people 
deserve the same rights, and that is access to freedom, justice, and 
equality and to recognize their diversity and access to healthcare.
  It was the Democrats who saved Medicaid when a million people were 
going to lose their Medicaid. Had we followed the leadership of our 
friends on the other side of the aisle, with their early bill H.R. 1, 1 
million people--but we stopped it. We are stopping the default and 
negotiating away the idea of taking a million people off of Medicaid, 
their lifeline for healthcare.
  It is extremely important that we recognize that men and women laid 
down their lives or put on the uniform unselfishly. They do so so that 
freedom can be for every American.

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