Combating Gun Violence
Floor Speech
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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, how many times do we have to come to the floor to demand that our colleagues take action to end the gun violence crisis that is traumatizing our children and tearing families apart?
Since Republicans took power, the Speaker has called not one single vote, not one, to combat gun violence. It is shameful. It is shameful because since then, 934 mass shootings have occurred in our country.
Just this past weekend, Mr. Speaker, in the northeast side of our city, there was a mass shooting where 2 people were killed and 19 others severely injured. The victims were all between the ages of 17 and 27 years old.
I refuse to accept this as normal or the status quo. I refuse to accept that last month, there was a mass shooting at a Splash Pad with families in Rochester Hills, Michigan, where nine people were shot, including two children, that that is okay, that it is normal.
Behind these numbers are real people in our communities, families who are directly, forever being impacted and traumatized by these senseless shootings.
Firearms are now the leading cause of death for children and teens in our country. It is not just mass shootings. Mr. Speaker, 4.6 million children in our country live in homes with loaded and unlocked firearms.
There is a Children's Hospital in Detroit that passes out lockboxes.
Recently, a 6-year-old boy in Detroit shot himself in the hand at his grandmother's home after he found an unsecured firearm. He was playing with it and accidentally pulled the trigger. He is just one of nearly 360 children who unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else every single year.
This cable lock right here, which prevents a gun from being loaded and fired, is $10. I looked it up. That is why I introduced the Safe Storage Saves Lives Act to require gun locks like this one to be provided for every firearm sold in our country. This is a commonsense solution to save lives, to prevent these horrific accidental shootings, and even prevent suicides among our children.
It is time for Congress to act with urgency, Mr. Speaker, and pass legislation to save lives now. Abortion Rights
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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, it has been 2 years since the corrupt, far- right Supreme Court gutted Roe v. Wade and stripped us of our reproductive freedom.
There are now 21 States with an abortion ban in effect. Currently, one in three women are living without access to abortion care.
I want you to think about this: Our bodies are now being regulated more than guns in our country. It is disgusting. They have not only targeted abortion but also undermined access to IVF, birth control, and family planning.
Thankfully, I know in our State, Michiganders have soundly rejected the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe and voted to enshrine abortion rights and abortion care into our State constitution.
MAGA extremists are not going to stop. They won't stop. They are pushing for a national abortion ban at the Federal level.
Abortion care is healthcare, and we must fight back and pass legislation that restores access.
People, Mr. Speaker, not politicians, should have the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies. We won't stop until we make reproductive freedom for all the law of the land and accessible to all our residents across our country. livonia tornado
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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, last month, a tornado swept through my district with little to no warning. It tragically took the life of a 3- year-old child named Cooper Drake and left his mother in critical condition after a tree fell on their Livonia home during the storm.
It is absolutely devastating that a family should experience this heartbreak. Our community is heartbroken.
That is why my Michigan colleagues, Congresswoman Haley Stevens, and really led by Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, sent a letter--we did it together--to the National Weather Service seeking answers, asking them to provide insight into why no tornado warning was issued for our residents.
Mr. Speaker, we cannot normalize these severe weather patterns and the devastating impacts they have on our families. It is clear that these extreme weather events, including tornadoes and flooding in southeast Michigan, are becoming more frequent due to climate change. We also need to understand the root cause of these extreme weather patterns.
That is why I am hoping we can all work together to hold corporate polluters accountable and protect our planet from the impact of the fossil fuel industry for generations to come.
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