Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for bringing his superior knowledge of our Constitution and the law of the land to bear in this important debate for the children.

Yesterday, as we had the debate on so many other pieces of legislation which passed with bipartisan support, we said it was of the children, by the children, and for the children. ``Of them'' because they are suffering. ``By them'' because they are testifying in the Congress of the United States, apparently to no avail to some in the Congress, but making an emotional appeal of the facts of their case to the American people, and again, all of it for the children.

The Protecting Our Kids Act, I thank the chairman for bringing that to the floor. The legislation passed yesterday. It has strong steps to save lives, whether it is raising the age to purchase weapons of war, outlawing bump stocks and high-capacity magazines designed for mass murder, cracking down on gun trafficking and ghost guns, and strengthening safe storage requirements, to name just a few.

Today, the House builds on this progress by passing our Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, another lifesaving measure aimed at preventing the next tragic shooting before it is too late.

Too often, what we know is that those who pose a risk of gun violence show early warning signs: a menacing message online, a troubled message to a loved one. Yet, in too many communities across the country, concerned family members, friends, and law enforcement have no legal pathway to get deadly weapons out of the hands of these troubled individuals.

Under the leadership of Congresswoman Lucy McBath, the House will pass a bill empowering family members and law enforcement to seek a Federal court order to temporarily remove access to a gun from individuals who pose a threat to themselves and to others.

Thanks to the leadership of Congressman Salud Carbajal, this legislation will include incentives to encourage more States to adopt extreme risk protection order laws of their own. The incentives exist in many States, but not all.

Doing so will not only protect from mass shootings but also from the quiet daily massacre by suicide and gun crimes. These so-called red flag laws by some are saving lives in the 19 States and, as was mentioned, the District of Columbia, where they have been enacted. The statistics show that.

The American people are overwhelmingly for this lifesaving measure. Recent polling shows 8 in 10 Americans support it.

Madam Speaker, as you know, and you have experienced it in your State, gun violence in our Nation has reached a fever pitch in recent weeks. People keep saying again and again and again that we have gun violence. I would say it is not again and again and again; it is always. It is not one after another; it is ongoing, whether it is mass murders that are high profile or every night in cities and places across our country.

Sadly, too many Members think, in the wake of gun violence, a moment of silence is sufficient--a moment of silence. As Mr. Higgins said following the Buffalo massacre, we have a moment of silence, and then we must have action--and then we must have action.

Today, all Members have a chance to take action, to vote for another strong step, giving our communities a chance to prevent the next massacre. The next massacre could be a family tragedy, so it is personal as well as community protection.

Indeed, if you knew where and when the next gun incident would be, how could you oppose having the tools to possibly stop it? If you knew that children could possibly be exposed because of the action of someone practically a child themselves, still a teenager, having access to a weapon of war, why wouldn't you want to take action to stop it?

I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join us in a strong bipartisan ``aye'' vote for this legislation. In States across the country, this is not partisan at all. Let's hope that it will not be in the House of Representatives.

At the same time, we remain very prayerful and hopeful that the Senate will soon reach bipartisan agreement so that we will move a step closer to freeing our children from the horrors of gun violence, once and for all--our children, whether it is violence to them or violence to their parents and family members.

For the children, of the children, by the children, that is our mission. I urge an ``aye'' vote.

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