National Gun Violence Awareness Month

Floor Speech

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Mrs. McIVER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on an issue that has devastated families and communities across this country: gun violence.

For years, gun violence has been an unchecked epidemic. In the Black community, the toll has been heartbreaking and more deadly. Still, very little meaningful action has been taken to stop the hurt.

Our communities continue to be ravaged, while too many remain silent. We cannot continue to treat this as normal. There is nothing normal about burying children. There is nothing normal about the weapons that turn schools, churches, and neighborhoods into battlegrounds. I am here for the next generation to say: They deserve better than this.

They deserve a future where they never have to say enough is enough because we will have already done what is necessary.

I, along with my CBC colleagues, will not stay silent. We will continue to demand comprehensive gun reform, background checks, closing loopholes, and a ban on assault weapons because our lives and our children's lives depend on it.

The time for reform is now. Let's do what is right. Let's do what is just. Let's do what is necessary before another name is added to another list.

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