[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 27-28]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            PRESIDENT OBAMA'S GUN VIOLENCE EXECUTIVE ACTIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Ms. Kelly) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud President 
Obama's executive actions taken this week to reduce gun violence in 
America. These policies will help keep guns out of the hands of 
criminals and dangerous individuals and will prevent gun trafficking, 
while also protecting the Second Amendment rights of responsible, law-
abiding citizens.
  With over 30 Americans killed by guns every single day, inaction is 
not an option. In my nearly 3 years in Congress, House Republican 
leadership has refused to do anything on gun violence, not one hearing, 
not a single vote.
  In facing Congress' inertia, President Obama did what was necessary 
to address a threat to our long-term national security and economic 
stability. While we can't stop every criminal from committing every 
crime, we can take actions that will save lives, and President Obama's 
executive actions will do just that.
  Under these commonsense changes, everyone who profits from the sale 
of firearms will be required to obtain a license. It shouldn't matter 
if you sell a gun in a store, online, or at a gun show. It is the sale 
of a dangerous weapon, and the seller should make sure the buyer is 
safe, responsible, and law-abiding.
  It is a sobering fact that the majority of gun deaths in the United 
States is from suicide. Expanding Federal funding for mental health 
services and streamlining States' abilities to report data to the 
background check system are essential to keeping guns out of the hands 
of the dangerously mentally ill.
  President Obama's executive actions make essential strides in 
advancing smart gun technology. If you can use a thumbprint to get into 
your iPhone, there is no reason that the same technology can't be 
invented so that guns won't fire without the right fingerprint. If a 
gun would only fire when it is held by the right owner, stolen guns 
would be inoperable, drastically decreasing firearm deaths.
  Similarly, just like there are childproof caps on aspirin, there 
should be childproof guns. This will help protect children from 
accidentally discharging firearms. Smart gun technology is centuries 
old. Smith & Wesson invented the first childproof trigger over 150 
years ago.
  While President Obama's executive actions are crucial steps to 
reducing the senseless gun violence that is plaguing our Nation, they 
don't absolve Congress of its moral responsibility to act. There are 
gaps in existing gun laws that leave us all vulnerable to gun violence. 
These holes are ones that only Congress can plug.
  I have two commonsense bills which will complement President Obama's 
executive actions and help bring a reduction in firearm mortality.
  The first bill, H.R. 224, the Recognizing Gun Violence as a Public 
Health Emergency Act, would require the Surgeon General to submit an 
annual report to Congress on the public health impact of gun violence. 
The bill currently has 135 cosponsors, and I hope that this commonsense 
proposal can get an up-or-down vote this year.
  For the past 20 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
and the National Institutes of Health have been prevented from 
conducting research on firearms. This lack of data has limited academic 
research on guns, and it has prevented Congress from obtaining the data 
it needs to craft impactful legislation.
  The second bill, H.R. 225, the Firearm Safety Act, would close the 
loophole which prevents the Consumer Product Safety Commission from 
creating rules regarding the safety of firearms.
  Quite simply, if the Consumer Product Safety Commission can regulate 
teddy bears, bicycle helmets, and car seats, it should be able to 
regulate firearms. Simply improving safety lock quality and improving 
storage safety

[[Page 28]]

will reduce accidents, misfires, and will prevent theft, saving 
thousands of lives.
  These bills would give Congress the data it needs to pass meaningful 
and impactful gun violence prevention legislation, and they would 
ensure firearms are as safe and consumer friendly as possible, all 
without obstructing the Second Amendment rights of responsible gun 
owners.
  Senseless gun violence has been plaguing our Nation for too long. It 
is simply unacceptable in the United States of America that gun 
violence is the leading cause of death for people under 24. It is time 
for us to come together to end the gun violence that is taking a 
generation of young Americans.
  I applaud President Obama's leadership and his important actions to 
curb the violence that is plaguing our communities, actions he took 
because Congress has done nothing, not even calling up bipartisan bills 
with many cosponsors. Congress must now carry the torch and pass 
meaningful gun violence prevention legislation.

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