[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 131]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




EXECUTIVE ACTIONS TO REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE AND MAKE OUR COMMUNITIES SAFER

  (Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, nearly 5 years ago to the day, I 
rose to offer my support for one of my closest friends and our former 
colleague, Gabrielle Giffords. That day, many of us, from both sides of 
the aisle, mourned the six Americans whose lives were taken by a 
deranged gunman in Tucson, Arizona.
  Since then, it has become eerily commonplace for a Member to lead a 
moment of silence to honor their murdered constituents: a colleague of 
ours whose life changed forever, twenty 6-year-old children, a Federal 
judge, worshippers in church.
  How does Republican fervor over the right to own a gun trump the 
right not to be murdered by someone who shouldn't have a gun?
  President Obama's executive actions are a critical step to reducing 
this national epidemic. They are well within his legal authority and 
will help keep guns out of dangerous hands. They are so critical 
because of Republican inaction on closing loopholes, which a majority 
of Americans support, and their failure to rise above the NRA's 
fearmongering.
  Democrats will continue to bring meaningful, commonsense solutions to 
this floor so we can keep our Nation safer.

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