Providing for Consideration of H.R. Bipartisan Background Checks Act of and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin) for yielding me the time, and I thank him for his leadership on this important issue.

Let me remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who are opposing this legislation that people are watching this debate, and I know many are scratching their heads wondering what is going on, because what we are trying to do here is close loopholes that allow violent criminals to get access to guns, not create more loopholes.

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, I spoke at a town hall sponsored by students at Bancroft High School in Worcester, Massachusetts. Those young people demanded action on gun violence, not unlike other young people all across my district and all across this country. They are terrified, and they are tired of seeing one massacre after another after another after another. They are sickened by the unacceptable high rate of gun violence in this country.

We have an obligation to be on their side, not on the side of the gun lobby.

In fact, most gun owners agree with what we are doing here today. Ninety-seven percent of gun-owning households support universal background checks. You don't see support like that on very many things, but on this issue, the public is speaking loud and clear. The question is whether Congress is going to listen.

My office has been flooded with calls on this year after year after year, and I have heard from loved ones of victims killed and from those injured. I know many of my colleagues can say the same thing. It is heartbreaking.

Each of us is in a unique position. We can do more than just listen. We can act. We can actually vote to help save lives.

Sadly, past majorities have turned a deaf ear. In fact, it has been nearly a decade since the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a major bill to combat gun violence. When they were in charge, my Republican friends on the other side instead held a hearing on a bill that would have actually brought more guns from out of State into local communities.

Their indifference on this issue of gun violence, their silence, has been stunning. But this majority is not satisfied with inaction. We will not be cowed by the gun lobby.

We are moving legislation, in the case of H.R. 8, that has been in the works for more than 20 years. The time for inaction is over.

Listen to the young people in your districts. They are not content with a future where gun violence is the norm. They want and they deserve better.

Last night in the Rules Committee, my Republican friends tried to pass exception after exception after exception.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, they tried to pass exception after exception to this universal background check bill, essentially trying to gut the bill.

Well, this is a modest reform in the right direction. We are trying to save lives. We are tired of massacres. We are tired of comforting parents whose loved ones were killed in gun violence. We are tired of inaction. We are tired of the gun lobby dictating what Congress does and doesn't pass.

This majority is going to be run by the people of this country, and the majority of the people of this country overwhelmingly support these bills.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote for this rule and vote for the underlying legislation.

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