Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under Chapter 8 of Title United States Code, of the Rule Submitted By the Department of

Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL.

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, many of us in Connecticut and throughout the Nation awoke today with a heavy heart, with grief still so raw that we could almost touch it.

I wish I could tell you that 10 years ago to this day was a blur. I wish I could tell you that the memory of that day has dimmed. I wish I could tell you that the knife-like sorrow and pain has subsided. But the fact is, it is still raw and real for so many of us in Connecticut, this day 10 years ago.

My mind goes back to the horrors of this day, and I think that reliving it reminds us of the need to honor those 26 lives with action. It is still searingly and scarily vivid--the voices, the faces, the unforgettable moments of that tragedy, as we stood at the firehouse in Sandy Hook and saw parents and loved ones emerge after learning that their children or loved ones--beautiful babies and great educators-- would not be coming home that night; parents with their faces frozen in shock and sorrow, struggling through tears; police and first responders bent with disbelief and grief; townspeople, loved ones feeling helpless and hopeless.

And at the wakes and funerals that followed, what we saw was a town and a State that rallied together--but still the searing sorrow of those losses and also the determination that was expressed that night at St. Rose of Lima Church to turn that grief and sorrow into something positive.

As I recall very vividly, at one of the wakes, I approached a mom who had just lost her child and said: When you are ready, I would like to talk about what we can do to stop this kind of gun violence. And she looked at me through her tears and said: I am ready. I am ready now.

That is the spirit that Sandy Hook and Newtown brought to the world as the world watched them. And many of them, not all, but many turned that grief and loss into advocacy. They came here to the Capitol. They asked us to do something about gun violence. They spoke to colleagues. They crusaded. They sought to improve the background check system that all too often allows people who are dangerous to have weapons, people who should be separated from their guns or prevented from having them in the first place.

And they were in this Gallery, many of them, when the vote on that background check bill failed. It received 60 votes, but it failed--it received less than 60 votes, so it failed. It received a majority but not the 60 votes that it needed.

And from the Gallery I heard then and I still feel that it echoes in this Chamber: Shame. Shame on you.

And, indeed, shame on us for the 10 years afterward when no action came from this body.

In the last decade, they have continued that crusade. They have helped to form a movement. They have been joined by tens of thousands of others in a movement to change the law, to turn that trauma and loss into positive social change and reform, and they have helped create a movement--organizations like Giffords and Newtown Action Alliance, Sandy Hook Promise, Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, the Newtown Action Alliance, Connecticut Against Gun Violence, many of them coming here and working year after year.

That episode and others like it--the scourge of gun violence--have given rise to that movement.

And through that decade, literally 41,000 Americans have died every year. One million Americans in total have been shot. Gun violence is now the leading cause of death among American children and teens. Every day, eight children and teens are unintentionally or accidentally injured or killed due to an unlocked or unsupervised gun.

But the survivors and the loved ones have become the difference makers, and they have been joined by law enforcement and parents, teachers, medical professionals, activists and advocates who have said to us: Enough is enough. And their determination and courage, their conviction, that momentum has created a different trajectory, a different climate of opinion in this country so that now a majority of Americans want commonsense, sensible controls on gun violence.

So the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was not an accident of history; it was the culmination of a movement that is still growing and spreading in its influence and impact.

And there is no minimizing the importance of the measure that we passed with strong bipartisan support last August. It improves the background system. It closes the boyfriend loophole. It helps stop gun trafficking. It adopts the concept of red flag statutes, intervention in crisis, separating people from guns when they are going to kill themselves or others or at least tell people they are going to do it.

And that red flag or emergency risk protection order movement is one that we in Connecticut initiated. We were the first to pass that statute. And I have worked with Senator Graham and others in bipartisan expansion of that proposal, and it is already helping to save lives. In Florida, it has saved countless lives, in Connecticut--in the 19 States where there are red flag statutes. And the act as a whole is helping to save lives.

As my colleague Senator Murphy, who will speak shortly, has said, the reforms on the background check system alone have helped to save lives, and I credit him with his leadership in passing that measure.

And yet--and yet--the deaths continue. We know that that measure was not the single solution or the panacea that will solve the problem of gun violence, the scourge, the epidemic of gun violence deaths in this country.

We have broken the grip of the gun lobby. The NRA is a shadow of itself, and we have a movement that is growing in importance and impact, but there is so much more to be done in the law. We need Ethan's Law, safe storage, such as we have done in Connecticut, strengthened red flag and emergency risk protection order statutes, better background check systems to make them more complete and better enforceable, and, yes, ban on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, ghost guns, which are the scourge of law enforcement.

And so I say to the advocates and activists who are continuing this movement: We will continue that work. We will honor with action the lives which are lost not only in Sandy Hook but all around this country, day after day, in drive-by shootings, in crimes, and criminal assaults in domestic violence.

Just in this past month, a brave young woman, Julie Minogue, was lost in Connecticut to domestic violence, where a protective order should have helped to save her life.

And we owe our police more support and resources to enforce those protective orders and to take action against gun violence. They are unsung heroes. And in the wake of Sandy Hook, many of them experienced trauma and mental health challenges that still linger with them. On this day, we should remember and commemorate and celebrate the service of our police and, yes, our teachers who also, every day, have to do the drills and experience the fear and apprehension for themselves and their students.

They are also unsung heroes of Sandy Hook and afterward; and parents who have to explain why they have that apprehension and why their children have to prepare for those drills; our medical professionals in the emergency room who see this trauma and the death and injury day in and day out.

They are doing their jobs. Our teachers are doing their jobs. Our police are doing their jobs. Parents are doing their jobs. Congress is not doing its job. Thank you to them for doing their job. Congress must do its job to strengthen our laws and prevent gun violence.

And there is a new generation of activists and advocates coming along. The young woman who spoke at the vigil last Wednesday night and introduced President Biden--a survivor of Sandy Hook--is just one example; March For Our Lives, emanating from Parkland. All of the young people who are demonstrating that positive energy that is so critically important in advancing this movement, they are showing awe-inspiring hope and grace. Junior Newtown Action Line is another example.

The community of Sandy Hook has responded with dazzling strength and courage. That community has not only rallied around the loved ones who have experienced unspeakable loss, but they have helped to support the charitable and nonprofits that those families formed in the wake of those losses.

They have truly chosen love, those families. Many of them have established foundations and nonprofits that benefit music, art, education, scholarships for students, animal sanctuaries.

I have worked with the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, started by Scarlett Lewis; the Sandy Hook Promise organization, started by the Hockley and Barden families; the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation; Ben's Lighthouse; the Emilie Parker Art Foundation; the Vicki Soto Memorial Fund, which just a couple of weeks ago had a run in Stratford, a 5K, to benefit the great work that it is doing on scholarships; the Avielle Foundation; and the Ana Grace Project. The list goes on. It is a part of this story because Sandy Hook is the story not only of social change and legal and legislative reform, but it is also an intensely personal story about grace and grit, about courage and strength, and about a personal dedication to making good come out of the unimaginable horror and evil on that day.

Sandy Hook in Connecticut is also the story about peacekeepers--a new generation of peacekeepers, young people who are dedicated in Hartford through the Compass Youth Collaborative, graduates of the Brother Carl Hardrick Institute, who are determined to try to prevent violence and reach out to others of their age and stop gun violence before it begins by enlisting others in peacekeeping and intervention.

That is also the result of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, because the investment of $15 billion in mental health and crisis intervention and community organization is, at the end of the day, a critical part of stopping gun violence.

The survivors club, as someone has said, is one that no one wants to join. This survivors club of gun violence is a network that no one wants to be a part of personally. And yet, as long as the violence continues, there will be survivors and loved ones, like the great and graceful families of Sandy Hook.

As our heart goes out to them on this day, we should keep in mind and in our hearts the need to honor with action--continuing action. They are doing their job. Police, teachers, medical professionals, parents, all of the professionals are doing their jobs. Congress must do its job. The time is for action--more action now.

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