Our Gun Violence Epidemic is A Public Health Crisis

Floor Speech

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Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud Surgeon General Vivek Murthy for officially calling our gun violence epidemic what it is, a public health crisis.

The numbers paint the picture: 120 Americans are killed and more than 200 are wounded by guns every day. The leading cause of death among children and teens in America is gun violence, with 4,600 precious children killed in 2022 alone, and an average of two mass shootings each day for the past 3 years.

These numbers should horrify us because they are not numbers; they are people whose lives have been stolen, and families with unimaginable pain.

Dr. Murthy's declaration treats our gun violence crisis with the urgency it demands. It opens doors for us to build upon the small progress we are making.

Two years ago this week, we passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first gun violence safety law in 30 years. We did so together in the shadow of a horrific set of mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde.

This will not be our last step. We must ban automatic rifles, strengthen universal background checks, and require safe storage. This is a public health crisis.

Mr. Speaker, I ask us to face it. Doing so will save lives.

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