National Gun Violence Survivors Week

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate National Gun Violence Survivors Week and to honor and support the Oregonians and people across the country who have been affected by gun violence.

Gun violence is a public health crisis in this country. Each year, more than 36,000 people, nationwide, including almost 500 Oregonians, are killed by guns, and more than 100,000 people across the country are injured by gunfire.

For those survivors of gun violence and the friends and families of those killed, life will never be the same.

Nobody is immune to the threat of gun violence, and communities have been forced to take what should be unthinkable steps to protect themselves.

Parents are buying bulletproof backpacks for their young children.

Schools across the country are conducting active-shooter drills to make sure their students know what to do in the event of an attack. These drills often cause trauma for students and for educators.

At a townhall meeting, a student told me the first thing she does when she goes into a classroom is she looks where to hide and how to escape.

As a mom, this is heartbreaking; as a policymaker, it is unacceptable. Kids in classrooms should be focused on learning, not being fearful for their lives. This is not normal, and it should never be normal.

But there is reason to be hopeful. Families and communities in Oregon and around the country are rising up and demanding change. Students are demanding that Congress finally take action to protect them.

This Congress, we took the critical step of passing H.R. 8, a comprehensive bipartisan background check bill that will save lives if it is enacted. I call on Leader McConnell to immediately bring H.R. 8 to the floor. We cannot wait any longer. Every day this bill languishes in the Senate is another day when people are dying in Oregon and around the country.

We will not rest until we have done all we can to reduce gun violence in this country. We owe it to the children who are looking for a place to hide in the classrooms; we owe it to the families who are mourning their loved ones they have lost; and we owe it to the communities that are forever changed by gun violence.

I stand in solidarity with the survivors of gun violence.

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