Bipartisan, Commonsense Laws to Prevent Gun Violence

Floor Speech

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Ms. PINGREE. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago I joined with many of my colleagues here on the House floor to demand a debate on commonsense gun legislation to increase background checks and keep terrorists from buying guns.

Despite the fact that the microphones and C-SPAN cameras were turned off, the discussion we held over the next 24 hours was seen and heard by millions of Americans. It was seen and heard because my colleagues and I took out our smartphones, and we took photos and streamed video, and we tweeted. We posted to Facebook and we broadcast on Periscope.

We call this Chamber ``the people's House.'' In the time that I have been serving here, there has never been a moment that has felt more like the people's House than that 25 hours. Yet now we hear that some are calling for us to be punished for bringing that debate and discussion to the American people. It is ``behavior unbecoming'' of the House of Representatives, they say.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of what my colleagues and I did, and if that is what it takes to get us a vote on bipartisan, commonsense laws to prevent gun violence, I hope we will do it again.

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