Gun Violence
Floor Speech
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Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago, I joined with my colleagues here in the House of Representatives, and we took an extraordinary action. We sat in, we rallied, we challenged the Republican leadership, and we spoke out about gun violence in a way that we had never done before.
We said to the leadership: Enough is enough; we have got to do something about these mass murders; we have got to do something about these guns.
We challenged the leadership because we all know that the gun lobby has too much influence and too much control in this House. We also know that too many of our Members will not confront this issue on the opposite side of the aisle because, as it has been said, they are the handmaidens of the NRA. So we gathered, we spoke out, and we were talking about two simple bills that we wanted them to vote for.
We are trying to educate the American people that those who do not want to go against the gun lobby will have the American citizens believe that we are trying to take away their guns. We are not trying to take away anybody's guns. This is not about the Constitution or the Second Amendment. We simply said we want to bring to the floor two simple pieces of legislation.
One is no fly, no buy. What does that mean? It simply means if you are on the list of persons who are prevented from flying because you are suspected of being a possible person involved in terrorism or something of that sort, you cannot get on an airplane. It is something about your background, what you have done, and the connections that you have that will not allow you to place our people on the airplane at risk.
So what we are saying is if you can't fly because you will place fliers at risk, you shouldn't be able to buy a gun. So that is what no fly, no buy is all about. If you are too dangerous to fly, then you shouldn't be able to go and purchase a gun. That is very simple.
The other is universal background checks, and that is very simple. We have some background check laws, but still there are people who sell guns out of the back of their car at these gun shows, and they have no background checks. They could be murderers, they could be people who are involved with serious domestic violence, they could be people who are dangerous, and they could be mentally ill. We are saying we have to have universal background checks.
What is controversial about those two bills? But they won't pay attention. They will not take up the bill. As a matter of fact, the leadership is threatening us. They want to charge us with violations of the House rules, take us to the Ethics Committee, and have us sanctioned in some way because they say we have violated the rules.
Well, I say to them: I won't be intimidated. I am not afraid of them or the Ethics Committee. If they want to take us to the Ethics Committee, come on, let's go, because we are going to stand up for what we believe in, and we are not going to be intimidated by being charged with violation of the rules of the House.
Now, while I am talking about not being intimidated by anybody, I want to congratulate and thank Mr. Al Green of Texas for what he says has been a 68-year journey where he got up in our caucus today, and he took this floor in a way that I have not seen any Member of Congress in the years that I have been here take the floor and just bare their hearts and just say what is on their mind. I have never seen a Member of this House come to tears and beg us to do something about the killing of Black men, in particular, that is going on.
While we are dealing with gun violence--and we are dealing with gun violence to protect everybody--I want to tell you, I have been here when we have had the mothers up here from Newtown. I went to Charleston, South Carolina, where the Emanuel Nine were killed, and I stayed up all night with people placing flowers in front of the church. I literally went to Mr. Aguilar and sat with him when the San Bernardino massacre happened. We were here when Columbine happened, and we all thought at that time that we have got to do something. We have done nothing.
Then there is Orlando, Florida; there is Aurora; there is Arizona; there is Virginia Tech; and on and on and on. We have been fighting to do something about these massacres. The police should be with us. The police should not complicate our job by doing what is being done.
You have heard about the latest two killings in Baton Rouge and in Minnesota. They are absolutely heartbreaking. I listened last evening to this woman crying, screaming, and saying: ``God, please don't let him die.''
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Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Well, you may stop me now because my time is up. But I will be back. I will not stop on these two issues: massacres and the killing of Black men in particular.
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