OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Gun Violence

Floor Speech

Date: Feb. 27, 2019
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Guns

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Ms. DEAN. Mr. Speaker, for decades, lobbyists have stifled our national conversation about gun violence and Congress has refused to act.

Since Parkland, Thousand Oaks, and so many others, new voices have broken through. Student activists have marched, organized--alongside moms--and insisted that we take their safety seriously.

This week we do just that, by passing H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112. This will be a sea change.

And it shouldn't be controversial. Mr. Speaker, 97 percent of Americans support background checks--that is Democrats and Republicans--including 94 percent of gun-owning households.

Six years ago, I was there when the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee held its first hearing on background checks.

In her courageous testimony, Sandy Hook mother Francine Wheeler described losing her son Ben. She said:

When this happens to you--when my child was murdered, I no longer have the fear to stand up and to say what is right and what I believe.

And then Francine asked a crucial question:

If we all agree dangerous individuals shouldn't have guns, then shouldn't we at least take the most basic steps to make sure they don't?

I look forward to the passage of these bills.

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