CNN Newsroom: Interview With Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC)
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
But first of all, thank you very much for having me. Yes, it did. The intricate introduction of it. We've passed this bill twice in the House as you know. It all started with the murder of those nine poor souls down in Charleston while in bible study. We looked into an investigation of it. We found out that this was a very hateful young man who said he wanted to start a race war. He did research to find out the most historical church that he could find to get this all started and they came with Emanuel. The church is in my district and of those nine people I knew, some of them personally. All of them professionally.
And so we introduced the bill and the bill passed in the House twice. But we couldn't get it through the Senate. And after this shooting of these nine children we introduced it again because something kind of felt different about that one. Even after all of the hate up in Buffalo, New York. There was something different about these children in that church school that just bothered me.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Well, the gun lobby is a very powerful lobby in our society. And it's not about keeping people safe. It's all about the economics of it. There are quite a few people who will make in a very good living off of gun sales. And they will do anything to keep gun sales off, including stoking fear throughout our society.
And so you make this big issue over the Second Amendment. This is not about the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment has no more efficacy than the First Amendment. And we always say that the First Amendment has limitations on it.
So why should the Second Amendment not have any limitations on it? And so this is more about a few people, very powerful people who make a lot of money of gun sales. And the more you can stoke fears, the more you can really, let's just say, have effective lobbying of the Congress, the better off you are.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Well, just let me say this, I've been doing a lot of research recently, as you know, I'm a great lover of history. I spent a lot of time studying America -- American history. And in recent weeks, I had been looking at that period of history, just after Reconstruction. I always thought construction that haven't ended in 1876.
And if you look at what happened between 1877 in Plessy versus Ferguson, you can see the same kinds of things that happened back then happening today.
In fact, I'm convinced those people who research for this president to get him off on what he was attempting to do on January 6, I'm convinced that they took it from the Tilden-Hayes compromise of 1876, the identical thing took place, when you had three specific state, Senate up, two sets of electors, and the fight that took place in the Congress as a result of it, almost identical to what was being attempted here.
And so these indictments that come because of activities prior to the election, I think that what happened after the failure to get reelected is what is precipitating much of what is taking place today. And so I'm convinced that this process that's taking place is transparent.
I am convinced that the law will prevail as it did back in 1876. And I'm convinced that the people of America will come out of this experience a stronger nation than we were when we went into it. It may not seem that way now, but just imagine what was going on back in 1876 for that 20-year period before Plessy versus Fergusson and how we came out of all of that. I think we'll come out the same way this time a much better country and a much better electorate.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Thank you very much for having me.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source