[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 99 (Wednesday, June 7, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2768-H2769]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   COMMONSENSE GUN SAFETY LEGISLATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I share with you and with the American 
people a conversation I recently had with a group of children's doctors 
because it has haunted me ever since.
  These busy doctors who work at some of our Nation's finest pediatric 
hospitals and practices took the time to travel to D.C. because they 
wanted to

[[Page H2769]]

help Members of Congress understand the ever-expanding and 
heartbreaking toll that gun violence is taking on children and our 
communities every day.
  They came to D.C. to beg lawmakers, not for thoughts and prayers, but 
to pass commonsense gun safety laws that will help them stop this 
epidemic.
  We now know that firearm injuries are the leading cause of death for 
children and teens, but they see it firsthand.
  The stories these doctors shared of the injuries and death that they 
have to deal with on a daily basis were shocking, but what really 
struck me was the raw pain in their faces and in their voices as they 
shared those stories.
  Think about it. These doctors have dedicated their lives to caring 
for children, and now they are reeling from the trauma of having to 
face day in and day out the toll that our Nation's gun violence is 
taking on those children, knowing that the lion's share of this pain 
and death is preventable if lawmakers only had the courage to act.
  The stories these children's doctors told broke my heart. Today, I 
share their words with you. One said: ``As a primary care pediatrician 
in Philadelphia, my heart stops every time I see on the news that a 
young person has been shot and killed. I fear they are my patient. I am 
sick that these young people that I watch growing up are being murdered 
on the streets by gangs. Something must change.''

                              {time}  1015

  Another said: ``I am haunted by the image of a child's shoe. My 
patient, a young boy with autism, was at a community July Fourth 
celebration with his family when they heard shots. The family ran, and 
in the chaos that ensued, his shoe fell off and was lost. For weeks 
after the shooting, this child didn't have the words to describe what 
he was feeling, but he kept asking: `Where is my shoe?' He was clearly 
impacted by the events and was having trouble sleeping. Although this 
child and his family were physically unharmed, the question, `Where is 
my shoe?' is evidence of a child, family, and community traumatized yet 
again by gun violence.''
  Another is a neonatologist, a baby doctor. She said: ``You might 
think I would never see my patients be impacted by gun violence, but 
sadly, I have seen too many families impacted by it. Mothers tell me 
about close calls they had with gun-related violence. After all, 
pregnant and postpartum women are more, not less, likely to experience 
abuse and assault. I have had patients who were born early, delivered 
frantically in an attempt to save their lives and those of their shot 
mothers. Patients have fathers, siblings, aunts, uncles, and 
grandparents who are disabled or dead because they were shot. I should 
not see this so often, babies whose lives start shrouded in trauma 
because we do not have background checks and red flag policies.''
  Another said: ``As a pediatric emergency physician, I face the 
effects of gun violence daily. I tell devastated parents that their 
toddler has been fatally shot by a sibling playing with a handgun. I 
scramble to rapidly transfuse blood into children caught in the 
crossfire of gang violence. I exit trauma bays covered in the brain 
matter of teenagers who have made the tragically final decision to end 
their lives with a gun. And if I am lucky, I find a moment to grieve 
these losses before moving on to the next patient in need of my care, a 
child struggling with depression after losing a family member to gun 
violence. This is my reality. It is heartbreaking, and it must stop.''
  Finally, one said: ``I am also a mother, a mother who spends 
sleepless nights googling bulletproof backpacks every time an AR-15 has 
turned other mothers' children into sitting ducks at their schools. I 
should not have to worry that someone with a mental health disorder can 
go to a store, buy a weapon of mass destruction, and, that same day, 
shoot my little boys as they sit sounding out letters. But because of 
our laws, that dull, familiar fear rears its head often when I drop 
them off at school. It doesn't have to be this way.''
  She is right. They are right. It doesn't have to be this way. It must 
stop. We don't have to live this way.
  There are laws that could help turn the tide, and this shouldn't be a 
partisan issue. Children are being shot every day regardless of their 
family's party affiliation.
  Mr. Speaker, our communities are begging the Republican majority to 
come to the table and find common ground to pass comprehensive, 
commonsense, and constitutional legislation that will end this 
epidemic.
  The American people overwhelmingly support background checks, safe 
storage, red flag laws, and limiting access to assault-style weapons 
because they understand the Second Amendment is not a suicide pact.

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