Congressional Black Caucus Calls for Gun Safety Legislation
Floor Speech
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Mrs. CHERFILUS-McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to co-anchor the CBC Special Order hour along with the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson), my distinguished colleague.
For the next 60 minutes, members of the CBC have an opportunity to speak directly to the American people on gun violence, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and what we must do to build upon all issues of great importance to the Congressional Black Caucus, Congress, the constituents we represent, and all Americans.
I rise today to demand that we take decisive action to stop the gun violence epidemic. We simply cannot stand by and watch more innocent Americans lose their lives. The fate of our loved ones should not be up for partisan debate.
I will work with any elected official to put people over politics and implement solutions that keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of dangerous people. It is why I am joined here with my colleagues to support the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. This law is a commonsense and practical solution to the barrage of gun violence that many of us have unfortunately become too familiar with.
Of course, there is certainly more that Congress can do, should be doing, and needs to do.
We can pass an assault weapons ban, which would take these weapons of war off the streets and out of our classrooms.
We can enhance the background checks process, making sure individuals who purchase guns are fully vetted beforehand.
We can end immunity for gun manufacturers that produce deadly firearms that take our lives.
There is no shortage of common sense and immediate solutions that this body can implement. Unfortunately, House Republicans have failed to move with the same sense of urgency as House Democrats have in response to the spate of gun shootings.
This is not a partisan matter, either. Gun violence impacts families, blue States, red States, and purple States. Each and every heartbreaking mass shooting serves as a painful reminder of the normalcy and how normal this gun violence epidemic has become.
It is infiltrating our daily lives. These headlines frustrate me deeply, and they should do the same for each and every Representative in this body.
Thoughts and prayers must be coupled with legislative action, tangible solutions that address this crisis. Let's join together and build on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, ensuring a safer country for the next generation and others to come.
We have the responsibility to act as lawmakers, as parents, as Americans.
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Mrs. CHERFILUS-McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me express my appreciation to the gentlewoman from Florida for her grand leadership and the gentleman from Illinois. They have been dynamic. I acknowledge our chair, Congressman Horsford, of the Congressional Black Caucus, who had a very powerful morning this morning, and as well continues to lead us in the right direction.
I was late today because I could not leave the pain of Texas without standing with those in a press conference in the Mickey Leland Federal Building to express both our outcry, our pain, and our outrage.
Last evening, MSNBC had a headline show that said the ``Lone Star Hate.'' I stand here today to say there are good people in Texas. There are people who are demanding that there be action in the aftermath of the worst couple of days that we have had in a long time.
The parents of the Uvalde children waited 13 hours in the State legislature just to be heard on raising the age of those who could purchase weapons of war. In the midst of that, a family who simply wanted their baby to sleep was slaughtered and murdered, in the midst of that, by a person shooting an AR-15. A veteran explained to me that that is an M16, a weapon of war, which maims and kills the enemy so that they cannot rise, not be taken care of, and not move away from other gunfire.
Of course, though not by guns, in Brownsville, Texas, some eight or so people were killed who were simply trying to make sure that they had a peaceful place to be.
I come here today to insist on my own State taking a stand to ensure that the people who are crying cry no more.
The individual who killed the people in the mall in Allen, Texas, family members removed him from their house. He was tattooed with huge Nazi and white supremacy insignia.
My bill that I introduced, H.R. 61, indicates that white supremacy is hate, it is a hate crime, and I amended the hate crime bill to ensure that if you die because of white supremacy, they get an enhanced sentence due to hate crime legislation.
He only lasted 3 months in the United States military. We have to do a better job communicating about individuals--not brave soldiers who have PTSD, but individuals like this who didn't even last because of his views and attitudes and behavior. He obviously hated viciously, but he was able to get an AR-15.
After Uvalde, the State of Texas, the Governor's office, established a DPS task force that was supposed to monitor social media. Why wasn't this individual monitored, with all of his hate?
Underlying all of that are guns. That is what we spoke about today, guns. We asked the State of Texas, the legislature, my friends, and those who work with Republicans, we asked them to be sure to move this bill to raise the age to 21. The Uvalde parents waited 13 hours. It came out of committee. It has to go to the House and Senate.
I stood there today and asked for universal background checks, and I asked the State of Texas why--with the Safer Communities Act, where we had the red flag laws and, of course, Congresswoman McBath, we led in the House to protect our kids. It was mandatory. It was mandatory. But in the Safer Communities Act, it was optional--our State has not taken advantage of it? They squeaked through and got a few dollars for the veterans court. I am asking the Governor to opt in to the red flag law, universal background checks, the Kimberly Vaughan gun storage legislation, the ban on assault weapons, and raising the age. These are all items that Texas and other States can do without violating the Second Amendment.
I uphold the Second Amendment. Standing with me today, with Moms Demand Action, a young man by the name of Jay Love, who is marred for our lives; along with Captain Phillips, a police officer, who says that 3,200 guns are stolen or taken in Houston, Texas, as the ATF says, out of people's cars. Yet, we can't get Texas to act. Rhonda Hart, whose daughter was killed in Santa Fe, who is begging for relief.
With that kind of pain comes the ability to act. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus who have been at the forefront of leadership. My colleague Robin Kelly has mentioned over and over again the absolute violence that kills children and others.
I close with this simple acknowledgment. There were eight people who died, I believe, in Allen, Texas, three family members, left a little 6-year-old with no one; two sisters. This is what this sinister, evil man did. With evil in his evilness, he did it with a gun.
We must come back to this Congress and do something that is going to make a difference. I hope the Senate can pick it up and realize that we cannot live in this country anymore with the reckless killing and violence that is perpetrated on our loved ones and on Americans.
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Mrs. CHERFILUS-McCORMICK. Kelly).
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Mrs. CHERFILUS-McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Kelly for her remarks.
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Mrs. CHERFILUS-McCORMICK. Kamlager-Dove).
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