[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19438-19439]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              GUN VIOLENCE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I hope all Members of Congress--Democrats 
and Republicans, Members of the House and Senate--take a long, hard 
look this morning, maybe in the mirror, and ask themselves: Where do I 
stand?
  Yet again our country is faced with another sickening act of gun 
violence. Yesterday's shooting rampage took the lives of 14 people and 
wounded at least 17 more, a number of those grievously injured. That 
wasn't the only shooting yesterday; a gunman in Georgia killed a woman 
and injured three others.
  So where do we stand? We have an epidemic of gun violence in America, 
and it is nothing less than sickening.
  Fort Hood, 13 dead; Tucson, 6 dead; Carson City, 4 dead; Aurora, 12 
dead; Newtown, 20 little children, 6 educators; the Navy Yard in 
Washington, DC, 12 dead; Las Vegas, 3 dead, two of whom were police 
officers. And I have heard this talk: Oh, it is so unusual, a husband 
and wife. These three people killed in Las Vegas were killed by a 
husband-and-wife team. In Charleston, nine dead; Moneta, VA, two dead--
on live television, he came to kill two people. At Umpqua Community 
College, nine dead; Colorado Springs, three dead.
  That tragic list is nowhere close to being comprehensive. The one in 
Georgia yesterday--one dead, two wounded. It hardly made the press. But 
the ones I just mentioned are a few that we picked up earlier this 
morning in my office.
  It would be very difficult to list all the mass killings that have 
taken place in recent years. Why? Because we are 337 days into 2015 and 
we have had at least 355 mass shootings--355 mass shootings in 337 
days. We are averaging more than one a day.
  Two months ago I came to the floor very sad. I was here mourning the 
murder of innocent community college students attending class in 
Roseburg, OR. I said then that each time our Nation endures one of 
these mass killings, we go through the same routine. First we are 
shocked. Then we ask questions about the killers, their motives, and 
how they got their hands on those guns. Then we wonder, what could we 
have done to prevent this terrible thing from happening?
  As I said, the disturbing part is that we don't do anything. We don't 
do anything. We, as the legislative body of this country, do nothing. 
So I have a question for every Member of this body: How can we live 
with ourselves for failing to do the things that we know will reduce 
gun violence? Will it get rid of all of it? Of course not. But will it 
reduce it? Yes. We are complicit through our inaction, and if we 
continue to fail to act, we will be complicit today and every day into 
the future. We will keep ending up right where we are, mourning 
innocent victims in San Bernardino, CA, or Charleston or Newtown. When 
victims turn to us for leadership and help, we will have nothing to 
show but empty hands and a few empty gestures. It is despicable.
  For far too long we have done nothing, even as the gun violence 
shakes our Nation to its core. We must do something. We can start by 
passing improved background check legislation. Is it asking too much 
that if someone is crazy or a criminal, they shouldn't be able to walk 
into any gun shop and buy a gun? Of course not. But that is the law in 
America.
  I know the thought of upsetting the National Rifle Association scares 
everybody--oh, especially my Republican colleagues. Do you know what 
scares the American people? Gun violence. These mass shootings at 
holiday parties frighten the American people. Is it unreasonable that 
they are frightened? Of course not. People are afraid to go to a movie 
theater or to a concert.
  The bill before the Senate today is to get rid of ObamaCare, and 
everybody knows it is just a gesture in futility. They have tried it 60 
times or 48 times--I don't know; we lost track--in the House, and every 
time, the same answer: No. In the Senate, we have done it 14, 15 
times--always the same answer. Einstein said the definition of 
``insanity'' is when someone does the same thing over and over again 
knowing they are going to get the same result. So we are wasting our 
time today. Everyone knows the result.
  But we have the opportunity to cast a vote here today--or we will 
shortly--because we are focused on doing something. People on this side 
of the aisle are focused on doing something to stop this gun violence, 
and we are going to force amendments to that end today--not many but a 
few. We will try to do something, anything.
  Are we going to vote on expanded background checks? Shouldn't we do 
that at least? We are going to vote to prevent criminals convicted of 
harassing women's health clinics from buying a gun, owning a gun.
  Senators will have to decide where they stand on these amendments. Do 
they stand with babies who were killed in Connecticut, families who 
want to do nothing more than go about their day without the daily 
threat of shootings? My friends in Nevada, two police officers in 
uniform sitting down to have a lunch break, and two people walk in 
behind them and shoot them in the back of the head and kill them. They 
went over to Walmart and killed another person.

[[Page 19439]]

  People are afraid.
  There was a time in my legislative career that I tried to work with 
the National Rifle Association, but the NRA today is a far cry from the 
sportsmen's organization I once supported. The NRA once called 
mandatory background checks ``reasonable.'' That is what they said; I 
am not making this up. But now its leadership and organization have 
transformed into a quasi-militant wing of the Republican Party. They 
are being pushed more and more into the camp of guns for everybody 
anytime they want them, and they are being pushed by the--they have a 
competitor now: Gun Owners of America.
  Those who choose to do the NRA's bidding will be held accountable by 
our constituents. Their vote against these sensible measures will be a 
stain for all of the American people to see.
  Something has to be done. We must take a stand. The American people 
are desperately looking for help--some help, any help. It will never be 
possible to prevent every shooting. We know that. But we have a 
responsibility to try. There are certain things we can do. If someone 
is mentally deranged and a criminal, should they be able to walk in and 
buy a gun anyplace? Of course not. We have a responsibility as 
lawmakers to enact commonsense reforms that have been proven to stop 
attacks and save lives. I hope Republicans will find the courage to 
join with us and pass meaningful legislation to prevent further gun 
violence.
  I apologize for speaking before the Republican leader, but I was told 
he was going to be late.




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