Enough is Enough

Floor Speech

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Ms. GARCIA of Texas. Madam Speaker, enough is enough. How many more times must public officials stand here before our colleagues demanding commonsense gun reform?

Malls are not safe. Schools are not safe. Places of worship are not safe. We should not be afraid to step outside our own homes for the fear of losing our lives at the mercy of an assault weapon.

We should not be afraid that we may never see our child again when we drop them off at school. We should not be afraid to attend a place of worship with loved ones.

Madam Speaker, it has been 19 years since the Federal assault weapons ban expired, 19 years since Congress has acknowledged the lives lost because of assault weapons.

In this year alone, there have been 203 mass shootings. That is 203 in 5 months. Over the past 10 years, this has resulted in 14,798 deaths, 617 of which were children and teens.

In my home State of Texas, there have been 17 mass shootings resulting in 29 deaths and 61 injured. Texas accounts for 8 percent of nationwide mass shootings. It is very troubling.

In my home county, 11 people have already died as a result of gun violence. Just this weekend, eight were killed and seven injured in Allen, Texas, at the hands of a gunman, killed for simply shopping at a mall, something we all do.

How many more victims must die before we decide that enough is enough? Instead of being concerned about human lives, House Republicans are choosing to focus on beating up on Social Security and banning books.

Our own Texas State leadership prioritizes political points over lives, politics over people. How long can leadership in Austin fail to do a single, meaningful action to take weapons of war out of the hands of violent extremists, domestic abusers, or even teenagers?

Except for the Santa Fe shooting, all of the Texas shootings have been with an assault weapon.

When five people, including a child, were shot and killed in Cleveland, Texas, our Governor tried to deflect the situation by talking about and blaming undocumented immigrants who were the victims. This is ridiculous. Immigration status has nothing to do with it. It is irrelevant. It is about people. It is about making sure we put people over politics, about making sure we put people's lives over the NRA.

I call upon my Republican colleagues to enact commonsense gun reform legislation now. We must stop making excuses. The only path toward fewer deaths as a result of gun violence is commonsense gun reform.

I call on the Supreme Court, as they approach a case that could strike down State and local laws banning AR-15s in all 50 States, to please look at precedent. Please look at the true meaning of the Second Amendment.

We must protect our children. We must protect our lives. My hope is that no more needless deaths will occur before Congress can unite against mass shootings. No more deaths. No more grief. No more waiting on legislation. It is time to put people over politics. It is time to put people over the NRA. It is time for change, and the time is now.

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