Buffalo, New York, Shooting

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, 2 years ago today, barbarity descended upon the ``City of Good Neighbors.'' My heart, my soul, and my spirit are with the people of Buffalo, NY, today, as they observe the second tragic anniversary of the shooting at the Tops supermarket. In the span of just a few minutes, 10 precious lives were extinguished in a senseless act of hatred from a White supremacist.

Racism is America's original sin. Our work will never be done until we do everything to rid our society of this vicious evil.

May God watch over the souls of those who died 2 years ago today. May those of us who remember them find strength and courage and the will to prevent tragedies like this in the future.

America has tragically endured many more senseless shootings since the massacre in Buffalo. Gun violence is one of America's gravest societal ills, and it seems to be increasing.

But 2 years ago, we also learned that the situation is not entirely hopeless, because after the advent of what happened in Buffalo, in Uvalde, and in some other places, Democrats and Republicans actually joined together to pass the first gun safety bill in 30 years--the first since the Brady bill, which I offered way back, a long time ago, when I was in the House. This is the first one since then.

Later this month, the administration will bring into effect one of the key elements of our bill by expanding background checks and closing loopholes for online sales and gun shows. Our rule expanding background checks shows change is possible when both sides work together, even if progress is hard and halting. A few years ago, the announcement would have been unimaginable.

We are never going to be able to fully heal the harms unleashed by gun violence, but we can honor those we lost by continuing the work to make mass shootings a thing of the past. We have a long way to go, but, today, as we remember those who tragically died in Buffalo, let us recommit to keep going, no matter what it takes.

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