Vote on No Fly, No Buy and Background Checks

Floor Speech

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, as we started what is commonly referred to as ``our 5 minutes,'' the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Jolly) talked about a proposal that he would like to bring forward to this body. We wish him well in that. He also wondered aloud why it would be that Democrats are so interested in bringing two commonsense proposals that he feels might fail--because it is our constitutional responsibility to the citizens that we are sworn to serve and represent.

Speaker Ryan has said: ``We will not duck the tough issues. We will take them head on . . . we should not hide our disagreements. We should embrace them. We have nothing to fear from honest disagreements honestly stated.''

The Speaker is right. He is an honorable man.

He met with John Lewis and myself last evening. John Lewis is the conscience of the House of Representatives and, I dare say, the soul of this Nation. The Speaker and John Lewis engaged in a conversation that was reverent in its tone and respectful. We stated, as no one better than John Lewis can, with great clarity about what is happening all across the Nation--the catastrophic loss of life due to gun violence and the utter frustration on the part of people on this side of the aisle and, frankly, families and people all across this great Nation, simply asking for the dignity of a vote--our constitutional responsibility.

The Speaker did say to us and asked aloud in a quandary, not as a deal or not as any rationale, but today there is an important bill, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, authored by Tim Murphy, a Republican, supported by Democrats who worked together. Democrats would have done more and felt the bill could have been more comprehensive and better funded. The important thing is that the Nation wants to see us move forward.

We said to the Speaker we would take this message back to our caucus. And I say, appealing as Lincoln would, to the better angels of your side, as we embrace this issue today and support this effort bipartisanly, think long and hard about joining us. There has to be more than five of you on the other side who will come with us and support commonsense legislation. Background checks that are fundamental that law enforcement knows are what we absolutely need to assist in this goal of making sure that we keep this country safer are what is required.

I hope, Mr. Speaker, that in the midst of our disagreement, in the midst of our dissent and continued presence on this floor, to articulate our deep feelings and commitment to the citizens we are sworn to serve, you will permit that the majority will allow a vote to take place on this floor which will demonstrate to this great country that this United States Congress can work. It will start today. It will happen when that bill comes to the floor. This side of the aisle joins with you to get an important piece of legislation passed and adopted as it relates to the mental health crisis in this country.

As Diana DeGette said, it should not be considered a substitute, but what it should be considered is a step that we can work together in a common cause. It is what the American people expect from us. We should give them no less. Minimally, we deserve a vote, a vote on no fly, no buy and a vote on background checks.

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