National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, early in the morning this past Sunday, the worst mass shooting in America's history took place. Forty-nine people were killed and 53 more wounded at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, FL. We don't know all the details, but we know that this was an act of terror and that it was an act of hate directed at the LGBT community.
I want to begin by expressing my condolences to the victims, to their families and loved ones, and to the city of Orlando. I thank the first responders who ran toward the sound of gunfire, who literally risked their lives to save the lives of others.
I express my support and solidarity with the LGBT community in Orlando and throughout the Nation. Many of the patrons at the Pulse nightclub were members of that community. They were simply enjoying a fun night out at an establishment that welcomed them.
June is Pride Month. It is a month where we should take pride in the advances we have made toward equality since Stonewall in 1969. The LGBT movement has come a long way in protecting Americans' right to love the person they love. Yet this weekend's shooting is a sobering reminder that this community still remains a target of vicious hatred.
As we mourn those we lost in Orlando, we must not lose our pride in what the LGBT movement has accomplished. We must stand in solidarity with our fellow LGBT Americans who will not let the hate of a few overcome the love of an entire community.
The shooter who perpetrated this horrific attack has been identified as a 29-year-old U.S. citizen who was living in St. Lucie County, FL. The shooter reportedly entered the nightclub at about 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and a handgun. He opened fire on the patrons and engaged in a shoot-out with an off-duty Orlando police officer who was working security at the nightclub. The shooter apparently held a number of hostages in the nightclub for several hours, until a SWAT team swarmed the building, killing the gunman at about 5 a.m.
Reportedly, the shooter called 911 to pledge allegiance to ISIS, even while the attack was under way. We do not yet know when and how this gunman may have been radicalized. Reportedly, he had been the subject of at least two FBI investigations in recent years regarding possible ties to terrorist groups. The shooter reportedly bought the two guns he used on Sunday within the last several days. He was able to buy these guns legally, despite the past investigations into his potential terrorist ties.
Let's be clear. In America, our laws currently allow dangerous people to buy guns. That has to change. I respect the Second Amendment to our Constitution. That amendment protects the responsible use of guns for lawful purposes. But the Supreme Court has made it clear that it is constitutional to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Our lawmakers are simply not doing enough to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.
Right now, the FBI cannot stop a known or suspected terrorist from walking into a gunshop and walking out with an AR-15, an assault weapon. The GAO found that between 2004 and 2014, suspected terrorists bought guns lawfully at least 2,043 times from American gun dealers.
What are we thinking? Last December, when the Senate took up this measure, we failed on the floor of the Senate to pass legislation to close this terror gap loophole. The gap remains open, and we have failed to close the gaping loopholes in our own background check system that allow terrorists, criminals, and others to get guns without a background check from gun shows or over the Internet. Why do we make it so easy for people that we suspect of being involved in terrorism to buy guns--assault weapons, military-style guns?
Last December, this Senate failed again to pass Manchin-Toomey, a bill that would close many of these loopholes. This was a bipartisan bill, yet we couldn't pass it on the floor of the Senate.
We know our weak gun laws make us vulnerable, but we have not acted to strengthen them. In fact, almost every week we see efforts in Congress to further weaken gun laws in America.
Hundreds of men, women, and children are shot every day in America, and on average 91 of those victims die. It is an epidemic of gun violence that has devastated families and communities in every State. No community has been hit harder than the city of Chicago--the city I am honored to represent and the city I love and a city where this past weekend, 44 people were shot, 7 of them fatally. More than 1,650 people have been shot so far this year in Chicago, with at least 282 victims dying from their wounds.
The tragedy of Orlando is that it all happened in a few hours. The tragedy of gun violence in Chicago is that it happens almost every day.
Across the Nation, we have seen Americans gunned down in nightclubs, elementary schools, churches, temples, movie theaters, health care clinics, malls, colleges, and our homes and our neighborhoods.
We need to wake up and act to reduce this violence. Thoughts and prayers are important but not sufficient. We need votes and laws to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Can't we agree on that? The responsibility lies right here. We have that responsibility and that opportunity.
This weekend's act of hate and terror in Orlando has been condemned by Americans of all backgrounds and all faiths, and Orlando has received an extraordinary outpouring of support and solidarity from all across the United States and around the world.
We do stand united against ISIS and its efforts to promote mass shootings and acts of terror. We stand in support of the LGBT community--the latest target of this terrorist attack. This solidarity is important. Our efforts to defeat ISIS and keep America safe from hate and terror are strengthened when our Nation and the world stand united. We must not let the actions of a hateful few divide us and prevent us from working together to combat this evil.
We also must not let this act of hate and terror lead to hostility against the Muslim community in America. The American Muslim community has stood with all Americans in condemning Sunday's mass shooting. American Muslim leaders immediately spoke out and condemned the attack. Muslim Floridians donated blood and money to help the victims and survivors.
In the coming days, there will be those who say we should respond to this attack by discriminating against innocent American Muslims and immigrants. But the solution to hate is not more hate; it is unity.
In Orlando, they understand this. In a news conference after the shooting, a representative of Equality Florida recognized the unity between the LGBT and Muslim communities, stating that his organization ``stands in solidarity with the Muslim and Islamic community in opposition to the intolerance, discrimination, and hate crimes that both of our communities experience.''
That was a statement by the representative of Equality Florida about Muslims in Florida itself. It is unfortunate that the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee, Donald Trump, does not understand this. In response to the Orlando attack, Mr. Trump wasted no time calling again for a ban on all Muslims immigrating to the United States.
General Michael Hayden is no softy, no liberal. He was Director of the CIA, and the National Security Agency under President George W. Bush. Here is what General Hayden said of Mr. Trump's response to the attack: ``Prejudiced, simplistic, and frankly inaccurate.'' General Hayden has pointed out that banning all Muslim immigration would not make us safer and actually helps ISIS recruit those who hate the United States.
As we mourn those we have lost, we must also roll up our sleeves and get to work. We must pursue smart, commonsense reforms to keep dangerous, hateful people from getting their hands on dangerous weapons. America just suffered its deadliest mass shooting event in history--worse than San Bernardino, worse than Newtown, worse than Virginia Tech. If there was ever a time for Congress to do its job and keep guns out of dangerous hands, this is it.
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