Providing for Consideration of H.R. Federal Information Systems Safeguards Act of and Providing for Consideration of Motions to Suspend the Rules

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I am going to vote against the previous question today so we can bring up amendments that will address the issue of gun violence prevention in our country.

Eighty-five percent of Americans believe that we should pass the no fly, no buy bill. Ninety percent of Americans believe that we should expand and enhance background checks for those folks who are trying to buy guns. And we have a perfect opportunity to do it.

There are two bills in the House, both of them bipartisan, that address these two issues. Both of them are bipartisan. Both of them are pro Second Amendment. Both bills help keep guns away from criminals, terrorists, and the dangerously mentally ill.

Earlier today, some 300 victims and survivors of gun violence assembled outside. I listened to what they had to say.

Later, I met with one of the women, one of the victims, Catherine Bodine from Ohio. She was wounded, and her 10-year-old daughter, Samantha, was killed.

The murderer was a felon. He could not pass a background check, could not go to a licensed gun dealer and buy a gun. So instead he went online, and he bought a gun online. He wounded this woman, and he killed her 10-year-old daughter, Samantha.

We should do everything we can to prevent those sorts of tragedies from happening, and we have a chance to do it with the two bills that are in this House. The background check bill, the bill that would have prevented this murderer from buying a gun online, is not only bipartisan, it is not only pro Second Amendment, it has 186 bipartisan coauthors.

This is easy to do. This isn't a heavy lift. Bring the bill to the floor for a vote. Let America see us do our work. Let the Representatives of the American people have a vote on a background check bill that will, in fact, save lives.

We know that background checks save lives. Every day, 170 felons are prohibited from buying guns through licensed dealers because of background checks. Every day, 50 domestic abusers are prohibited from buying guns through licensed dealers because of background checks.

Why not expand it to include all commercial sales of firearms, not just 60 percent of the commercial sale of firearms? This makes sense. It is bipartisan. It is pro Second Amendment, and it will save lives. It works. We know it works. It will stop criminals. It will stop terrorists, and it will stop the dangerously mentally ill. It will make it much more difficult for them to get guns.

Will it stop all violence? No. Nothing can do that, but this is our first line of defense. This is something that this Congress can do that will save lives.

Please bring these bills for a vote.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source