Providing for Consideration of H.R. Assault Weapons Ban of 2022
Floor Speech
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1302 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: H. Res. 1302
Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 1808) to regulate assault weapons, to ensure that the right to keep and bear arms is not unlimited, and for other purposes. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. In lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on the Judiciary now printed in the bill, an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 117-60, modified by the amendment printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution, shall be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any further amendment thereto, to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their respective designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Reschenthaler), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, today the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 1302, providing for consideration of H.R. 1808, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022, under a closed rule.
The rule self-executes a manager's amendment from Chairman Nadler. It provides 1 hour of debate equally divided by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on the Judiciary and provides one motion to recommit.
Madam Speaker, we have a gun violence crisis in this country, 23 years after Columbine High School, 10 years after Sandy Hook Elementary School, 4 years after Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and 2 months after Uvalde and Buffalo. The American people are tired of living in fear. They are tired of thoughts and prayers. They are tired of press releases offering sympathy but no solutions.
Last month, the decades-long logjam on passing commonsense gun safety bills was broken. President Biden signed into law the bipartisan Safer Communities Act to help keep guns out of the hands of criminals.
Why?
Because the American people want to see us act. For decades, that hasn't happened. The gun lobby has had an iron grip on this place. But now, finally, that is changing. It is changing because the American people are demanding change, and it is time for all of us to listen.
We can and must do more, which is why, today, we are considering H.R. 1808, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022.
Now, I want to be crystal clear for everyone who is watching.
This bill is not taking away anybody's guns.
This bill is not about taking away anybody's constitutional rights. The Second Amendment gives Americans the right to own guns, but no right is unconditional or unlimited.
You have the right to free speech, but you don't have the right to shout ``fire'' in a crowded movie theater. You have the right to keep and bear arms, but you don't have the right to own weapons being used to mow people down indiscriminately.
Rights come with responsibilities, and we have a responsibility to try and stop mass shootings.
As Members of Congress, we have a duty to weigh the rights of gun owners with the very first right mentioned in the Declaration of Independence: the right to live; the right to not get shot at school or at a place of worship or at a concert.
It takes zero courage to hide behind the Second Amendment and not debate the merits here.
You know what takes courage?
Standing up to the gun lobby, putting people over politics. That takes courage, and that is what we are doing here today.
Rounds that come out of assault weapons are traveling up to four times faster than out of a handgun. They are traveling at incredible speed and inflict immense damage on people's bodies. When combined with high-capacity magazines, they are designed to kill as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.
Assault weapons do not belong on our streets, plain and simple.
An assault weapon was used in Las Vegas to kill 60 people.
An assault weapon was used at the Pulse Nightclub to kill 49 people.
An assault weapon was used at Sandy Hook to kill 26 people, including 20 children.
Assault weapons slaughter people. They decimate bodies. Physicians say that an AR-15 can actually ``liquefy your organs'' because the projectile is traveling so fast. This does not happen with a typical handgun. This is something unique to assault weapons.
Sixty-seven percent of Americans, including half of all Republicans, support a ban on assault weapons.
This is not a radical idea. We are not in uncharted territory. The Government already bans automatic weapons.
Why?
Because they have no place in our communities.
You don't need an automatic weapon to defend yourself. What we are proposing today is simply addressing another class of weapons that have no place in our communities: assault weapons.
The 1994 assault weapons ban was associated with a 25 percent drop in gun massacres and a 40 percent drop in fatalities. This should not be a difficult vote. Let's come together and advance this commonsense legislation that could save thousands of lives.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, the gentleman talks about statistics. Let's talk about statistics.
Thirty percent of shootings in recent history have involved guns that were banned under the now-expired 1994 assault weapons ban.
Thirteen killed and 23 injured at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. The attackers used an assault weapon.
Twenty-seven killed and one injured at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. That was in December of 2012. The attacker used an assault weapon.
Forty-nine killed and 53 injured at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, June 2016. The attacker used an assault weapon.
Fifty-eight killed and 887 injured at a country music festival in Las Vegas in October of 2017. The attacker used an assault weapon.
Seventeen killed and 17 injured at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018. The alleged attacker used an assault weapon.
I could go on and on.
Twenty-three killed and 26 injured at a Walmart in El Paso in August 2019. The attacker used an assault weapon.
Ten killed and one injured at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, in March of 2021. The attacker used an assault weapon.
Madam Speaker, I include in the Record this list of incidents involving assault weapons. 30 Percent of Shootings Involved Guns That Were Banned Under the Now- Expired 1994 Federal Assault-Weapons Law
13 killed and 23 injured at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. (April 1999) The attackers used an assault weapon.
7 killed at an office in Wakefield, Mass. (Dec. 2000) The attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 4 injured at a factory in Melrose Park, Ill. (Feb. 2001) The attacker used an assault weapon.
5 killed and 2 injured in multiple locations in Sacramento (Sept. 2001) The attacker used an assault weapon.
6 killed and 2 injured in a rural hunting area in Birchwood, Wis. (Nov. 2004) The attacker used an assault weapon.
8 killed and 5 injured at a mall in Omaha (Dec. 2007) The attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 5 injured at a youth center and a church in Arvada, Colo. (Dec. 2007) The attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed in a parking lot in Mt. Airy, N.C. (Nov. 2009) The attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 7 injured at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nev. (Sept. 2011) The attacker used an assault weapon.
12 killed and 70 injured at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. (July 2012) The attacker used an assault weapon.
27 killed and 1 injured at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. (Dec. 2012) The attacker used an assault weapon.
5 killed and 3 injured in multiple locations in Santa Monica, Calif. (June 2013) The attacker used an assault weapon.
5 killed and 2 injured at two military centers in Chattanooga, Tenn. (July 2015) The attacker used an assault weapon.
14 killed and 22 injured at a social services center in San Bernardino, Calif. (Dec. 2015) The attackers used an assault weapon.
49 killed and 53 injured at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. (June 2016) The attacker used an assault weapon.
5 killed and 7 injured during a protest in Dallas (July 2016) The attacker used an assault weapon.
58 killed and 887 injured at a country music festival in Las Vegas (Oct. 2017) The attacker used an assault weapon.
25 killed and 20 injured at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas (Nov. 2017) The attacker used an assault weapon.
5 killed and 12 injured in multiple locations in Rancho Tehama Reserve, Calif. (Nov. 2017) The attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 1 injured at a car wash in Saltlick Township, Pa. (Jan. 2018) The attacker used an assault weapon.
17 killed and 17 injured at a high school in Parkland, Fla. (Feb. 2018) The alleged attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 4 injured at a Waffle House in Nashville (April 2018) The attacker used an assault weapon.
11 killed and 6 injured at a synagogue in Pittsburgh (Oct. 2018) The alleged attacker used an assault weapon.
23 killed and 26 injured at a Walmart in El Paso (Aug. 2019) The alleged attacker used an assault weapon.
9 killed and 37 injured outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio (Aug. 2019) The attacker used an assault weapon.
7 killed and 23 injured in multiple locations in Odessa, Texas (Aug. 2019) The attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 3 injured at a kosher market in Jersey City, N.J. (Dec. 2019) The attackers used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 3 injured at a gas station in Springfield, Mo. (March 2020) The attacker used an assault weapon.
10 killed and 1 injured at a grocery store in Boulder, Colo. (March 2021) The alleged attacker used an assault weapon.
8 killed and 7 injured at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis (April 2021) The attacker used an assault weapon.
10 killed and 3 injured at a grocery store in Buffalo (May 2022) The alleged attacker used an assault weapon.
21 killed and 17 injured at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas (May 2022) The attacker used an assault weapon.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Ross), a distinguished member of the Committee on Rules.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Let me just respond to the gentlewoman by saying that the manager's amendment adds language to make clear that devices used to make hunting accessible to everyone, especially our disabled veterans, are not affected by this legislation.
This provision also makes sure the gun industry cannot exploit legitimate accessibility devices to make firearms especially deadly for mass shooters as has occurred in the past when bump stocks were claimed to be an accessibility accessory but used to inflict horrible mass violence in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that killed 60 and injured more than 400 people.
And I say to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, I didn't use the words ``weapon of war'' in my opening statement, and I certainly know the difference between an automatic and a semiautomatic weapon, but if that is the argument you want to have, bring that to the parents whose children were lost in Uvalde, you know, who were mowed down by an AR- 15. As I pointed out in my opening statement, these weapons actually decimate bodies. Physicians say that an AR-15 can actually liquify your organs because the projectile is traveling so fast.
As the gentleman may recall, DNA samples had to be gathered from those children who were murdered because their bodies were unrecognizable. So, I mean, come on.
This is about saving lives.
I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Let me just say something to my friend from Pennsylvania. You know, maybe it is true that the military doesn't use AR-15s, but I will say to the gentleman that mass shooters do. We saw what an AR-15 can do in Uvalde. We saw what it can do in Buffalo.
I just remind people when you have these kind of debates that people are watching. You know, the parents who lost their children in Uvalde, they are watching. People who have lost ones to mass shootings all around this country are watching. You know, to try to parse words over, well, you know, it is not a military-style weapon or this or that or whatever when we know what these weapons can do, that little children had to be identified with DNA samples because their bodies were blown apart.
You know, you want to talk about extreme positions? We just had a Rules Committee meeting, and Mr. Massie testified before the Rules Committee. You may recall the back and forth between him and Mr. Raskin when Mr. Raskin essentially asked him whether or not machine guns should be legal, and Mr. Massie responded by saying, well, I think States should make that determination.
So that means that if a State wanted to make machine guns legal, it is somehow okay? So you want to talk about extremism? We have seen what extremism is all about from many of my friends on the other side of the aisle, and we have seen the power of the gun lobby, the blood money that has poured into campaigns that has resulted in people coming to the floor and making these ridiculous arguments for us to do nothing. So this is a moment when people have to stand up and be counted.
Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. We can see the lengths the Democrats have gone to to simply try to save lives. With John Lewis we sat on the floor of the House, not regarding what would happen to us personally after Parkland and literally said you have got to do something. As John Lewis said: ``Never give up, never give in, never give out,'' the moral authority of this Congress.
We failed because my friends on the other side of the aisle just could not see the carnage and bloodshed that happened to Parkland or Sandy Hook and elsewhere. Now we have in the backdrop El Paso. We have Uvalde. And I repeat myself, going there days after that tragedy and literally hugging crying 9-year-olds who should be on the playground who are crying because of their loss and deceased friends. The story that is so powerful, two of them, one that bled to death, and one that smeared themselves with blood to live.
Do we now stand in the way of stopping carnage and bloodshed? And my good friend that I have done a lot of things with, M4s, M16s are weapons are war; if I have the correct numbers, and I believe I do.
You can pontificate about that, but, frankly, the language is ``assault-style weapons.'' That is what it is. And assault-style weapons still do not belong in civilians' hands because the munitions that are used in war, when soldiers can't even bring their weapons of war home when they are off duty or coming home to see family members or traveling as a civilian, it is because they are killers. And that is what killed those children in Parkland, Highland. That is what killed them in Uvalde, in Buffalo. That is what killed these people in El Paso, and in the hands in some instances of white supremacists.
Let me be perfectly clear, as I thank Mr. Cicilline for this legislation, he prohibits that possession. Many of them are grandfathered in. I wish somebody would read the bill. These are weapons already grandfathered in. Don't frighten the American people. What is most frightening are the parents who are outside these doors.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman an additional 1 minute.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, what is really frightening is that parents who are outside these doors are asking the question: What are we doing?
I would say the families in Buffalo, where the theme was replacement theory, or these little babies, where is your heart in a reasonable bill that prohibits the sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of semiautomatic assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices subject to grandfathering provisions but, in actuality, allows the possession of any semiautomatic assault weapon lawfully possessed on the date of enactment?
How much fairer can we get? I only ask my colleagues to stop pontificating to us like we know less than you when it comes, as a civilian, that there are weapons of war that our military has, that there are assault-style weapons that are in the hands of citizens on the streets of this country, and that they adapt the same munitions. The individual in Uvalde had 350 pounds.
Madam Speaker, let us vote for the rule and the underlying bill.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, very briefly. Maybe the gentleman hasn't been paying attention to what has been going on around here, but this bill actually had a hearing and a markup, 14 hours in the Committee on the Judiciary.
Madam Speaker, the text has been available 72 hours in advance. The manager's amendment was made available on Tuesday night. I don't know what the heck he is talking about.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I have great respect for my friend from Pennsylvania and all of my colleagues on the Committee on Rules, and I know they feel strongly about this issue. I believe that many of the concerns that they have raised are unwarranted, and this bill deals with many of them.
As has been said repeatedly, this is not about taking away anybody's guns. It is dealing with the future. It is dealing with ways that we can better protect the people of this country.
So, it is frustrating when we hear arguments about, ``Oh, you said military-style. This, technically, isn't a military weapon,'' or we have all these numbers that have been kind of manipulated and presented as reasons for us to do nothing. I find that really disconcerting. Maybe it is because so many people are dying. Maybe it is because so many people are being murdered by these weapons.
The sheer number is incomprehensible. Maybe some of my colleagues have lost the human ability to feel what that really means. I mean, I have talked to parents, and I have talked to brothers and sisters, to grandparents, who have lost loved ones in these massacres, who have lost loved ones to assault weapons. I mean, it is painful.
We can do something to make it possible that fewer people are victims of mass shootings, that fewer children die, that fewer churchgoers die, fewer people shopping in the grocery store or going to a concert or just minding their own business.
I mean, the gun violence in this country has reached epidemic proportions. It is unbelievable.
The American people are sick and tired of being scared. I mean, when my own kids go to the movies, I worry about them. I am worried that there might be somebody with an AR-15 that will be in that movie theater, or if they go to a concert. I think my anxiety is similar to the anxiety of most parents when their kids go out. This doesn't have to be.
All I am pleading with my colleagues to do is to think long and hard on how they vote on this.
Madam Speaker, we should all be sick to our stomachs about what is happening. The idea that somehow we can't do anything about it I don't think anybody buys.
I get it. The gun lobby plays a big role with many of my friends on the other side of the aisle. Follow the money; you will see what I am talking about. I don't want you to do anything, but I am pleading with my colleagues, especially on the Republican side of the aisle. I mean, this is the right thing to do.
The previous assault weapons ban had an impact. Unfortunately, it was left to expire. I mean, we need to pass this. This is the right thing to do. Talk to the families. Talk to those who lost loved ones in one of these massacres.
As I said, to defend AR-15s that can destroy the bodies of people--I remind you that the children in Uvalde, many of them had to be identified by DNA.
I mean, at some point, we have to say enough is enough. At some point, we have to turn our words into action.
Madam Speaker, I am hoping and praying that this is the day. I urge all of my colleagues to vote for the rule and vote for the previous question.
The material previously referred to by Mr. Reschenthaler is as follows: Amendment to House Resolution 1302
At the end of the resolution, add the following:
Sec. 2. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the bill (H.R. 471) to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from lessening the stringency of, and to prohibit the Secretary of Homeland Security from ceasing or lessening implementation of, the COVID-19 border health provisions through the end of the COV1D-19 pandemic, and for other purposes. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce; and (2) one motion to recommit.
Sec. 3. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the consideration of H.R. 471.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.
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