[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15524-15525]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, just a few floors from here, I am in 
the Homeland Security Committee, and we are addressing issues dealing 
with the security of this Nation. And in my remarks on the legislation 
that we are

[[Page 15525]]

dealing with, I expressed the pain of having this Congress come 
together in a bipartisan manner. I know a couple of sessions ago, we 
worked on a bipartisan border security bill. Sometimes America says 
enough is enough. They want us to work together.
  This morning I rise to mourn and stand with those families--58 of 
them--who are feeling now an unspeakable pain. They are questioning how 
their loved one could be at a joyous country music festival and be 
massacred.
  My hometown newspaper says it right: that the massacre in Vegas was 
an act of pure evil.
  Those of us who believe in this flag, whether we kneel, whether we 
stand as we pledge, we know that America is the greatest country in the 
world; but when she is hurting, it is important for this Congress to 
act.
  The comment that this is no time to discuss how we solve this 
unfettered violence, this massacre, this evil perpetrator, then that 
sentiment is a sentiment I hope will only be a small percentage of this 
body.
  We have tried over and over again in any manner that we could to 
discuss fairly the idea of gun safety legislation, not the diminishing 
of the Second Amendment, as some made the argument, that the kneeling, 
take a knee, or ``I kneel'' was a diminishment of the First Amendment. 
It absolutely was not, because the First Amendment allows one to 
petition one's grievances.
  In terms of the Second Amendment, the procedure of overturning a 
constitutional amendment would be a long journey, which would include 
the two Houses of Congress and the people of the United States.
  Stop fueling fear that any manner of regulating the right to hold 
guns is in any way diminishing the Second Amendment, the right to bear 
arms.
  It is ``enough is enough.'' There were hundreds of mothers and 
fathers outside of the Capitol this morning when Democrats stood up and 
called on this Congress and the Speaker to appoint a select committee, 
of which I join them in. Make it as large as it can be. Have people who 
will disagree. Take members of the jurisdictional committees and others 
who have experienced this violence. Let us solve this dirty problem.
  It is dirty, for you cannot give any support to the idea of civilians 
having military-style weapons and taking them and preying on the 
innocent.
  Beautiful young women, young men, mothers and fathers, grandparents 
now dead, and nothing but their faith will give to their family the 
hope that they may see them again, for we are God-fearing people in 
whatever faith we may have.
  Our hope is vested in seeing our loved ones again, in particular in 
the Christian faith, and others have their ways of seeing their loved 
ones again.
  There must be a ban on assault weapons. There must be a recognition 
that there exists domestic terrorism.
  What was the Pulse nightclub?
  Domestic terrorism comes in different ways. It doesn't have to be 
ISIS. It can be Charleston, South Carolina. That was an act of 
intimidation.
  There were those interviewed who said: I may rethink my life. Why 
should I be going to large venues? Maybe I can't do that.
  That is not America. That is not what we want for our children. Why 
can't this Congress look at the polling numbers of the members of the 
National Rifle Association. They understand the importance of training, 
of putting locks on guns, of not having military weapons in the hands 
of individuals who would kill us dead.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I rise today to say that enough is enough. We cannot 
do nothing. This flag demands that we do something.
  I close by saying that a veteran was killed. He was not killed in 
Iraq or Afghanistan, where he fought; but he was killed in the streets 
of America, where he had overcome post-traumatic stress disorder. We 
know that Texans were wounded.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I leave this podium in respect simply to say: As 
America, we cannot do this any longer, and we must stand up as a 
Congress and do our jobs and find a way to end this gun violence now.

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