Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise as both a mom and a Member of Congress in strong support of H.R. 8.

Last month, my community marked the 3-year anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting that stole 17 innocent lives.

The anxiety and terror that came that day has never left us. Yet, too many communities witness horrific gun violence every day. Commonsense reform can end this agony and keep us safer mainly by requiring background checks for gun sales. Yet, loopholes allow up to 80 percent of firearms to be sold without background checks.

We must mandate universal background checks for firearm sales by passing H.R. 8 and then pass Jaime's Law, my legislation that expands that same mandate to ammunition purchases.

The pandemic made gun proliferation worse, and inaction is not an option. We must do all we can to ensure guns and bullets don't end up in the wrong hands.

Mr. Speaker, the outliers on this issue are Republicans whose fealty to the NRA results in more people dying from gun violence. Enough is enough.

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