Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016
Floor Speech
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Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I thank the Senator.
I thank all the staff and, again, all colleagues--40 of them--for joining us on the floor on Wednesday night into the early hours.
Let's be clear about what happened. Let's be clear about the fact that this body was going to ignore what happened last weekend in Orlando--the largest mass shooting in the history of this country. We were going to pretend that it didn't happen. If not for the actions of Senator Booker, Senator Blumenthal, 30-some odd others, and me, we would be moving on to business that had nothing to do with keeping this Nation safer.
I don't know how these votes are going to turn out tonight. I know people are skeptical, but we are at least going to get to see where people stand on some pretty simple concepts--the concept that if you are suspected of terrorism, you should not be able to walk out of a gun store in this country with a dangerous assault weapon.
A new poll today tells us that 87 percent of Americans support that. Guess what. A greater percentage of Republicans than Democrats support that. Do you know why that number is so high? Because this country is under attack. This country is under attack, and the new weapon of choice of terrorists is not a plane or an explosive device, it is an assault weapon.
After September 11, we made a decision. We made a decision to stop terrorists from getting onto planes because they were using them to kill Americans. Well, today terrorist recruiters are specifically instructing would-be terrorists to go into gun shops and to gun shows and walk out with assault weapons that, as we saw last weekend, can kill 50 people in an instant. So why wouldn't we apply the same careful protection and make sure people who are suspected of terrorism can't get on a plane and also can't get an assault weapon? Second, why don't we make sure that protection exists whether they are walking into a gun store or a gun show?
That same poll that came out today suggested that an even greater percentage of Americans--90 percent--support expanding background checks so that you have to prove that you are not a criminal, that you are not a potential terrorist before you buy a weapon.
These two measures are not controversial anywhere else in the American public except for here. And the amendments offered by Senator Grassley and Senator Cornyn aren't even half measures. Senator Grassley's amendment would take people off the background check list, would allow people who were leaving a psychiatric institution to buy a weapon the next day. Senator Cornyn's bill would force the Department of Justice to go to court to stop a suspected terrorist from getting a weapon. They are just shields. They are just shields for Members who don't want to stand up and do the right thing.
The reason I came to the floor on Wednesday and didn't leave for 15 hours is that I know at a deep personal level what Orlando is going through. I don't know what the families are going through. That is something which is unique to losing a loved one. But I know what that community is going through. And I believe that for all of the scarring psychological harm that comes from losing a loved one or a neighbor, more harm is piled on when you find out the people you elected to run your country just don't care. It hurts something awful when you lose someone, but it gets worse when your leaders are silent--are totally silent--in the face of your personal horror.
Long after all of the moms and dads had left the firehouse in Sandy Hook after learning their boys and girls were lying dead on the floor of that school, there was one father who was left and who wouldn't leave--who couldn't leave. His name was Neil Heslin. He came to this Congress to tell us his story, and as we head into this vote, I will leave you with his words. In speaking about his son Jesse--he was a divorced dad with one son, his best friend. His best friend, his son, was dead. He said:
Before he died, Jesse and I used to talk about maybe coming to Washington someday. He wanted to go up to the Washington Monument. When we talked about it last year, Jesse asked if we could come and meet the President . . . because Jesse believed in you. He learned about you in school and he believed in you. I want to believe in you, too. I know you can't give me Jesse back. Believe me, if I thought you could, I'd be asking for that. But I want to believe that you will think about what I told you here today. I want to believe that you will think about it and you'll do something about it, whatever you can do, to make sure no other father has to see what I've seen.
My friends, we need to have an answer for Neil and the 80 other fathers every single day who join the ranks of those who know his pain. I urge the adoption of the Murphy and the Feinstein amendments.
I yield back. Cloture Motion
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