[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15528]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
                   COURAGE TO ACT ON GUN LEGISLATION

  (Mr. QUIGLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, 4 years ago, 26 small children and teachers 
were massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary, and Congress lacked the 
courage to act. Two years ago, the Emanuel 9 were murdered by a White 
supremacist, and Congress did nothing. Last year, in a hate crime 
against the LGBT community, 49 people were killed in the Pulse 
nightclub terrorist attack, and Congress did nothing.
  This week, at least 59 people have been killed and over 500 injured 
in the worst mass shooting in modern American history. Will Congress 
yet again lack the courage to act?
  Will we prioritize thoughts and prayers at the expense of substantive 
action that saves lives? Will we hide behind the ``it's too early to 
talk about gun violence'' excuse? If so, when is the right time? A week 
from now? a month? a year? or perhaps after the next mass shooting?
  For the over 1,500 mass shooting victims since Sandy Hook, the right 
time to talk about gun violence has tragically come and gone, but we 
can and must turn the page today. Let us not continue dishonoring their 
memories because of political pressure and fear to do what is right.

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