Providing for Consideration of H.R. Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2017

Floor Speech

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I am in strong opposition to the rule, to this flawed financial services bill, but that is not why I have risen to speak.

I have risen to speak today because the American people are crying out. They are crying out for a vote on legislation that makes a real impact on the epidemic of gun violence in our country.

Last week, in my district, Stratford, Connecticut, I stood in front of the Victoria Soto School, demanding commonsense gun violence legislation.

When the gunman began firing at Sandy Hook Elementary, Vicki Soto hid her students in the closet. She died protecting them. The AR-15 was on the floor by her body. She was a hero. She committed her time, her effort, and her life to protecting and caring for children.

The school is a fitting tribute to Vicki and her life's work. There, children can be children. But it is also a stark reminder of the real and heartbreaking cost of gun violence, and it is a visible reminder of what is at stake and why we need comprehensive gun violence legislation now.

We must take action for Victoria, for the Soto family. I watch how her parents suffer and her siblings suffer every single day, but we need to do that for the Soto family and for every family like them who know grief most of us will never understand.

We must now act for the families in Aurora, the families in Newtown, the families in San Bernardino, the families in Orlando, and the families of those who are killed every single day on the streets of every city in this Nation.

You know, we cannot heal the hole in their heart, but what we can do is what we have been charged to do in this institution, and that is to vote on public policy that makes a difference in the lives of the people that we have sworn to serve to uphold their rights.

That is why I urge commonsense gun legislation; universal background checks; and no fly, no buy. Let's keep guns out of the hands of terrorists.

I would go further. I would ban assault weapons. I want to see gun violence prevention research done. I want to see the mental health services that we need additionally to protect people in this Nation from gun violence. But I think that what we can conclude is that not one more death.

While moments of silence are good things to do, we cannot just have one more moment of silence. The American people deserve real, concrete gun violence prevention legislation. That is what our job is to do. We can do it. That is what we have been elected to do.

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