[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3155]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     SENSELESS ACTS OF GUN VIOLENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Torres) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Jonah 
Min Hwang, another victim of a senseless act of gun violence. Jonah was 
only 8 years old when he was killed last week in a drive-by shooting in 
my home city of Pomona.
  Jonah, his parents, and his brother were enjoying dinner hosted by 
friends of his parents, two schoolteachers, when a bullet ripped 
through the house and hit Jonah. Crimes like this are heartbreaking.
  A talented soccer player, an avid reader who loved superheroes, Jonah 
was an adopted child from a Taiwanese orphanage just 3 years ago. It 
eats at your soul to think that such a young child with his whole life 
ahead of him could be taken so ruthlessly. Perhaps most frustrating is 
that Jonah's killer is still at large.
  When I first heard of Jonah's death, it brought me back to a similar 
tragedy when I served as mayor of my home city of Pomona. In 2006, 
little Ethan Esparza was shot and killed while he was playing in his 
front yard during his birthday party. He would have turned 4 years old.
  Ethan's murder shocked our community and was a stark reminder of the 
violence that plagues our city. Sadly, over 10 years later, we are 
still fighting those same battles.
  The murders of Jonah and Ethan were completely senseless, but they 
are not rare. In fact, Pomona was recently ranked California's eighth 
most dangerous city, which doesn't surprise those of us who have seen 
gangs take ahold of our city.
  Our local police department puts their lives on the line every single 
day to try to keep us safe, and our local officials have made 
significant investments in law enforcement. During my time as mayor, we 
implemented gang injunctions to try to get hold of the problem.

                              {time}  1015

  But as the number of guns on the streets continues to rise and 
ruthless gang members get their hands on these deadly weapons, it often 
feels like a losing battle. We are alone fighting these battles.
  As a matter of fact, today marks the 23rd anniversary of the Brady 
Handgun Violence Prevention Act, better known as the Brady bill, which 
has blocked more than 3 million people who had no business owning a gun 
from buying a gun from a federally licensed dealer.
  As the new President makes his first address to Congress today, it is 
especially infuriating that, despite the countless gun-related 
tragedies occurring across our country, this Congress and this new 
administration have not taken one single step to reduce gun violence. I 
have come to this floor before demanding action, and I stand here 
before you yet again today, Mr. Speaker, to demand action on behalf of 
Jonah, of Ethan, and of the millions of innocent lives lost.
  There are steps that we can take immediately to expand the Brady bill 
to save lives and make our communities safer:
  First, we should close the loophole that allows guns to be sold 
online or at gun shows without background checks.
  Second, we should make sure that there are resources available to 
research gun violence--research. We can't find effective solutions if 
we can't research and understand the problem.
  Lastly, we should enhance the National Instant Criminal Background 
Check System, NICS, and make sure that States are inputting records in 
a way that allows Federal agencies to run complete background checks on 
individuals. Background checks are only as effective as the quality of 
the records in the background check system.
  There is no excuse for making it easy for dangerous people to get 
their hands on a deadly weapon. It is my deepest hope that this 
Congress will take action on gun control so that none of us has to 
attend another vigil in Pomona--or anywhere else in America--to honor 
the memory of another child taken from us much too soon. We owe it to 
the victims and to their loved ones to act.

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