[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 8783]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1230
                                ORLANDO

  (Mrs. DAVIS of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, as we have heard repeatedly, 
this past weekend, Omar Mateen walked into a nightclub that had been a 
fixture of Orlando's LGBT community for over a decade and opened fire, 
killing 49 people and wounding dozens more.
  This tragedy was many things. It was an act of terror and the 
deadliest mass shooting in American history. It was an attack targeting 
the LGBT community in what was meant to be a safe space on what was 
meant to be a night of celebration.
  Information is still coming in about the perpetrator and his past, 
and we will continue to learn more in the days ahead. But we do know 
now that Mateen had been investigated by the FBI for possible terrorist 
ties and placed on the terrorist watch list. Despite this, he was able 
to pass a background check and legally purchase a gun.
  There were other warning signs as well. He was described by coworkers 
and family as a violent and unstable person with a history of domestic 
abuse. But the loophole by which suspected terrorists can purchase guns 
is something that we have the power to fix right now with one simple 
change. The vast majority of Americans agree with us: if you are too 
dangerous to ride on a plane, you are too dangerous to own a gun.
  Let's fix this commonsense loophole.

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