[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 8974-8975]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        MASS SHOOTING IN ORLANDO

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, Marcelle and I, along with all Vermonters, 
were devastated by the news of the attack in Orlando, and our hearts go 
out to the victims and their families. All Americans deserve to feel 
safe in their communities regardless of their race, age, sex, 
ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. In the wake of the worst 
mass shooting in American history, all of us must stand with the people 
of Orlando who have been so shaken by this hateful act of terrorism and 
violence. And in particular, as we celebrate Pride Month, we must stand 
with and support the LGBT community, both in Orlando and throughout the 
Nation.
  We are so thankful for the law enforcement officers and first 
responders who rushed to the scene in the middle of the night to 
confront the killer and save lives. We also are grateful for the work 
of the doctors and nurses who fought and continue to fight to save even 
more. My wife, Marcelle, is a registered surgical nurse, and we have 
been deeply moved to see the outpouring of support by people across 
Florida and the country who are donating blood and doing what they can 
to support the victims and their families.
  In the wake of tragedies like this, whether the victims are members 
of the LGBT community, African-American church parishioners, first 
graders in an elementary school, college students, moviegoers, or 
others in our community, we are called as Americans to come together in 
solidarity. We come together in grief and in shock. We come together in 
support of the victims, their families, law enforcement personnel and 
first responders, and the entire community. And we come together to try 
and find a way to prevent further acts of senseless violence. We are at 
our best as a nation when we come together. When we are united in 
strength and in courageous acts of selflessness and kindness, our 
country can move forward with a greater sense of purpose and hope.
  We must not allow ourselves to be divided by the bigoted actions of a 
murderer or by any fear that the killer sought to foment. He took an 
assault rifle into a nightclub, one that was known as a special place 
in Orlando's LGBT community. He fired on a crowd of innocent, unarmed 
people. This man was no fighter and certainly no soldier. This was 
either the act of a murderous bigot trying to shroud his hatred by 
professing allegiance to ISIL or the actions of a cowardly terrorist 
seeking to paralyze and divide us with fear--or perhaps both. In either 
case, we cannot let his heinous acts lead us to turn on one another.
  Some are already using this horrific attack as an opportunity to 
further divide us. The Republican Party's presumptive Presidential 
nominee continues to peddle his corrosive rhetoric of fear by proposing 
to ban all Muslims from entering the country. This week he went even 
further by suggested that the entire Muslim American community was 
somehow complicit in this heinous act. This is irresponsible fear-
mongering--plain and simple. It is guilt by association. And it makes 
us less safe. We should all condemn this bigotry and reject attempts to 
foment fear and hatred. We are stronger and safer when we reject such 
attempts to divide us.
  The Republican standard bearer has also questioned the motivations 
and patriotism of the President of the United States. These 
insinuations are dangerous. They are beyond the pale, and I reject them 
emphatically and categorically. I call on every Member of this body to 
do the same. We are a better nation than this.
  The American people are rightfully demanding action instead of 
rhetoric. They are tired of hearing that the tragedy in Orlando and the 
countless others we have endured are not about our gun laws. We must 
recognize that we have a security weakness in this country and ISIL is 
exploiting it. Our enemies know that in the United States you can go 
online or to a gun show and buy a gun. You don't need to have 
identification. No background check will be run. You can simply acquire 
a semiautomatic weapon that can kill dozens of people in a matter of 
minutes.
  We must have universal background checks. That is simply common 
sense. We have had background checks for decades. I am among millions 
of responsible gun owners in this country who undergo background checks 
when we purchase a firearm. And, like millions of responsible gun 
owners, I understand that this check is necessary to help keep guns out 
of the hands of criminals and terrorists. It is common sense that we 
need to close the loopholes that allow people to evade background 
checks altogether. And we must also make sure that the background 
checks are effective. That means giving law enforcement the power to 
stop a suspected terrorist, or someone who has recently been under 
investigation for terrorism, from buying a gun. It is also common sense 
that assault weapons designed for the battlefield have no place on our 
streets, in our schools, in our churches, or in our communities. I have 
moved and supported an assault weapons ban for this simple reason.
  These changes make sense, and they fix glaring vulnerabilities in our 
system. This is not about politics. This is about keeping Americans 
safe. This is about stepping up and taking action and not just 
resigning ourselves to the repeated call for moments of silence, 
tragedy after tragedy. I am a responsible gun owner, and I do not take 
this issue lightly. I have fought for years to pass these commonsense 
measures, and I will continue to do so.
  Americans have shown throughout the course of history that we can 
live up to the principles of freedom, equality, and liberty that have 
guided us for so long. Now is the time to stand defiantly against the 
petty politics of fear.

[[Page 8975]]

Despite what others may say, we are a great nation. Now is the time for 
Congress to act to pass commonsense measures that have languished for 
too long and could save American lives.

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