[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 5492]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              GUN VIOLENCE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, this Nation has simply dealt with too much--
too much--loss during these last few months. Once again I offer my 
condolences to the families who joined us here yesterday to honor the 
loved ones they lost to gun violence and to lobby for stronger 
background checks. The mothers and fathers of the murdered children 
from Newtown were here, family and friends of those who were injured 
and killed in Aurora, CO, were here. We had people here from the 
tragedy where 32, 33 people were killed in Blacksburg, VA, at Virginia 
Tech. They were here yesterday.
  We knew the effort to keep America's streets safe from gun violence 
would not be easy. I commend Senator Manchin and others for setting 
aside partisanship to negotiate this compromise. Unfortunately, even 
though we got a strong, strong majority vote--well over 50--55 Senators 
voted in favor of this. And Frank Lautenberg came. He had not been here 
for a while. He has been ill. He voted. We voted with a strong majority 
to change things here in America so that people who have serious mental 
illness would have to have a background check before they can buy a gun 
or that criminals would have to have a background check before they can 
buy a gun.
  Even people who are selling the guns think there should be some 
background check. The man who sold the gun to the man who walked into 
the courthouse in Las Vegas and blasted away-- that man who sold that 
gun said he sold guns to lots of people who were bad people, but he did 
it legally. He thinks the law should be changed. So the vast majority 
of the Senate agreed that should be the case. But we could not get to 
60, the magic number here in the Senate.
  Yesterday the families of gun violence victims watched as Republicans 
defeated a commonsense proposal to expand background checks that has 
the support of 90 percent of Americans.
  But make no mistake, the debate is not over. This is not the end of 
the fight. Republicans are in an unsustainable position--crosswise with 
9 out of 10 Americans.
  In an event we did out this backdoor yesterday, Senator Schumer 
said--I think he summed it up about as well as you could when he said: 
America today on background checks is in about the same place America 
was a few years ago dealing with immigration, gay marriage, and things 
related to gender equality.
  I believe Senator Schumer is right. This is the beginning, and it has 
to happen. Anytime in America, on those rare occasions when 90 percent 
of the American people agree something should be done, it should be 
done. And it will be done. It is only a question of time.
  The brand of the Republicans is further tarnished by going against 
what 90 percent of the American people want. Democrats will continue to 
stand with the families from Newtown, Aurora, Tucson, Carson City, and 
I assure the 90 percent of Americans who support meaningful background 
check legislation that I personally will continue this fight.

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