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Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I am proud to come to the floor today to stand with my good friend and a great leader on this issue, Senator Martin Heinrich, on a matter of life and death.
A few days ago, the MAGA Supreme Court struck once again, reversing a ban on dangerous bump stocks like the one used in the Las Vegas shooting--the deadliest mass shooting ever committed by one person.
Today, the Senate must step into the breach and pass a Federal ban on bump stocks, which Senator Heinrich has championed. I urge Republicans not to block this commonsense safety measure.
Banning bump stocks should be the work of 5 minutes. It is an idea that even some conservative Senators have claimed to support in the past. One conservative colleague of mine on the Republican side said a while ago that if a bump stock ban ``actually gets on the Senator floor, I'd vote for it.''
The senior Senator from South Carolina also said:
I think doing away with bump stocks, that's achievable. . . . I'm willing to get rid of that.
Senate Republicans even supported Donald Trump when he, hardly a friend of gun safety, backed bump stocks after the Las Vegas shooting. If banning bump stocks was good enough for Republicans in the past, it should be good enough for them today.
But if Republicans block this bill today after claiming to support bump stock bans in years past--a ban even President Trump supported when he was President--shame on them. They would be siding with the gun lobby over families exasperated by gun violence.
Mr. President, it is amazing to me that the MAGA Supreme Court even went to the right of Donald Trump on this issue. It is surprising, appalling, and very, very hard to swallow that they would have this kind of reasoning.
If Republicans now believe a ban on bump stocks is simply too much, they should explain their change of heart to the families in Nevada who lost loved ones. If Republicans block this bill today after claiming to support bump stock bans in years past, shame on them. Republicans should explain to parents and teachers and students why they would rather make it easier for murderers to access dangerous weapons instead of making it harder. It is not enough for Republicans to roll their eyes and dismiss this bump stock vote as a show vote. Tell that to the families who lost loved ones.
I urge Republicans not to object. Americans are sick of gun violence. They are especially sick of lawmakers who obey the gun lobby and kill any effort to make our communities safer.
I want to thank my friend and great leader in the Senate Martin Heinrich on this and so many other issues, whether it is conservation or environment or protecting the rights of people or just helping New Mexico in every way, as he is now vowing to help them with the fires that are ravaging in his State. The Senator from New Mexico is one of our great leaders here, and I am so proud to yield to him to make the unanimous consent request.
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, first, let me thank Senator Peters, Senator Whitehouse, and so many others for their great work on this.
Today, the Senate does a great thing for our firefighters in New York and across America by passing the bipartisan Fire Grants and Safety Act. The Fire Grants and Safety Act reauthorizes several expiring funding programs that help firefighters with the basics, from staffing to equipment, to training, and more. I was very proud to help create these programs a long time ago with Senator Chris Dodd, but they would have expired in a few months had we not acted today. Today's bill keeps our firefighters whole.
This helps two kinds of firefighters. It helps our paid firefighters in larger cities by giving the ability of those communities to hire more firefighters, but it also particularly helps our volunteer firefighters. These are people who volunteer, who rush to danger in suburban and rural communities. They are particularly strong on Long Island, which I represent. Yet they can't afford and their communities can't afford the equipment that is so desperately needed. They are rushing to danger, risking their lives. They ought to have the best equipment, and these grants allow that to happen. It is so important to our volunteer firefighters in New York, particularly on Long Island, and for our paid departments in New York City, Albany, Buffalo, and across New York State. The ability to get more firefighters to help them so they are not overstretched and help communities pay for them is so important.
I am also glad that today's bill includes the ADVANCE Act, which secures America's leadership in the next generation of clean, safe, and affordable nuclear energy. Chairman Carper, Ranking Member Capito, and Sheldon Whitehouse, who sponsored the legislation, have done a great job. It is going to support job growth, clean energy, and American leadership, while preserving the NRC's fundamental mission of safety.
This is a great bill. I am sorry it took so long. The House dithered after we passed it. But now our firefighters, both paid and volunteer, can breathe a sigh of relief. This is going to happen very, very soon, and it will go to the White House and be signed into law.
Vote on Motion to Concur
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Mr. SCHUMER. Sinema) are necessarily absent.
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