Providing For Consideration of H.R. 538, Native American Energy Act, and Providing For Consideration of H.R. 702, Adaptation to Changing Crude Oil Markets

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule today and in support of bringing the bipartisan King-Thompson background check bill to the floor for a vote.

Let me give you some numbers: 278, the number of mass shootings in our country since Newtown; 275, the number of days this Congress has been in session; 16, the number of gun-related moments of silence Congress has held since the start of last year; and 0, the number of votes this body has taken to help prevent or lessen gun violence.

Just a week ago we endured another mass shooting. This time it was nine people at a community college in Oregon. Six weeks ago it was a news reporter and cameraman in Virginia. Five weeks before that it was two people at the movies in Lafayette. Five weeks before that it was a prayer group in Charleston.

Every single time a mass shooting happens we go through the same routine--thoughts and prayers are sent; statements are made; stories are written; moments of silence are held--and nothing changes. No action is taken. No votes are cast.

It has been said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The majority leadership has done nothing over and over again. Predictably, the results have been the same: more innocent lives lost, more families forever changed, and more mass gun violence.

The five Republican coauthors of our background check bill notwithstanding, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have done nothing as mass gun violence has become commonplace. No bills have been brought to the floor. No ideas have been brought to the table. No proposals have even been considered.

You have the majority in the House and in the Senate. You have a White House and a Democratic Caucus willing to work with you. You are presumably here to govern and lead. A big part of that means stepping up when children, students, and families are routinely put in danger.

Gun violence takes the lives of 30-plus Americans every single day. It constitutes a public health emergency that demands action from the public's leaders. We have it in our power to do something. Let's not waste that.

We don't know what laws could have prevented the shooting in Oregon or Virginia or Charleston, but we do know that every day background checks stop more than 170 felons, some 50 domestic abusers, and nearly 20 fugitives from buying a gun. We know they help keep guns from dangerous people, and that saves lives.

This isn't about the Second Amendment. I am a hunter and I am a gun owner. I support the Second Amendment. If the King-Thompson background check bill undermined the rights of gun owners, my name wouldn't be on it.

This is about keeping guns from criminals, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill. It is about taking a simple, commonsense step to keep spouses, kids, and communities safe.

All this bill does is require a background check for people buying a gun online or at a gun show. Why would anyone not want to make sure the people buying guns on the Internet or at a gun show are sane, law-abiding citizens? We do it at licensed dealers, why not for all commercial sales? Why do we want to give criminals, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill a huge loophole through which they can buy guns? It makes no sense.

We can do one of two things here today. We can wait out the new cycle, allow the horror of Oregon to fade into our minds, do nothing, wait for the next tragedy, and then offer thoughts and prayers. That would be nothing new.

It is what the majority did with Newtown. It is what they did with Navy Yard. It is what they did with Isla Vista, Charleston, and Virginia. This time could be different. We could actually pull together and do something to make our country safer.

No legislation will stop every shooting. But passing commonsense gun laws like background checks will at least stop some, and that makes it worth doing. Don't sit here and let America's new normal become mass gun violence followed by thoughts and prayers, but no action. We are here to govern. This is happening on our watch, and it is within our power to save some lives. Let's do it.

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