Barbara Boxer: “Thank you, Madam President. First, I thank my colleague Senator Feinstein for her decades of work to address gun…”

“Thank you, Madam President. First, I thank my colleague Senator Feinstein for her decades of work to address gun violence. I also thank Senators Murphy, Blumenthal, and Booker for standing on their feet for almost 15 hours to force the Republican leadership to at least allow some votes on gun safety. Six months after we joined the Senate, Senator Feinstein and I--this was in 1993--learned the horrific impacts of assault weapons when a deranged gunman entered the law offices of 101 California Street in San Francisco and killed eight people and wounded six others. When you lose someone you know to gun violence, it is very hard to get that out of your soul. And one of those killed in that attack in a law office with an assault weapon was one of my son's best friends. Yes, the soul of our family and his family and all the other families who were gunned down--I will tell you this: The pain does not go away. And I know we all feel that. I know we all feel that. The question is, ``What are we going to do about it?'' If not now, when is the time to do something about it? After Orlando--the worst mass shooting in American history--and I see my friend Senator Nelson, who has been there and who has looked into the eyes of families, and he will never be the same, having done that. This is a moment for us to do the right thing, to finally take action. Is it going to stop everything in the future? No. But it is a crisis, so we have to do what we can do.…”