Congress Has Moral Responsibility to Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, when we were elected to serve, we were charged with a responsibility, the responsibility to give our constituents a voice in Washington. They are crying out for action on the public health emergencies that are plaguing our country.

And if we do not act, why are we here?

We need to vote on legislation that makes an impact on the epidemic of gun violence in our country. The American people are demanding a vote, and we have a moral obligation to take action. For each of us, it is personal. In every community in this country, the effects of gun violence have left scars that will never heal.

Congress also needs to act immediately on Zika. We must fund the President's request that was made 5 months ago. We must not put American women in the predicament of choosing whether or not they should get pregnant or, if they are already pregnant, wondering whether or not their baby is okay.

We are also facing a nationwide opioid epidemic that is sounding alarms that we must heed. We are all seeing this in our districts.

And the lead poisoning of thousands of children in Flint, Michigan, and across our country has not disappeared. Over 500,000 children every day are affected by lead poisoning.

We were elected to vote on issues working families care about. The Republican majority left town, abdicating its responsibility and leaving the American people at risk.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source