Katie Porter: “I thank Mr. Cicilline for his words and his passion and his leadership on this issue. As he said, one of the most basic…”

“I thank Mr. Cicilline for his words and his passion and his leadership on this issue. As he said, one of the most basic functions of our government doing our jobs is to keep American families safe and secure. For too long, Congress has put fealty to the special interest of the gun lobby ahead of our safety. Mr. Speaker, the prevalence of gun violence in our country is horrifying. For 15- to 24-year-olds, the gun murder rate here in America is 49 times higher than our peer nations. Our children and my children go to school with the fear that their school, that their classroom, could be the next mass shooting site. Guns are the second leading cause of death for our American children and teens. Nearly 1,700 children are killed by guns each year. Our country's gun violence epidemic is not normal. While we have about 5 percent of the world's population, we have about 15 percent of noncombat-related gun violence. The fact is that no other country on this planet even remotely comes close to ours on the problem of gun violence. It has been almost a year since the Parkland school shooting and more than 6 years since the Sandy Hook shooting. And until this Congress, there has not been any change coming out of Washington. Yesterday, we took an important first step. As my colleague, Mr. Cicilline, recognized, the House held its first hearing in 8 years on taking action to prevent gun violence in America. It is a shame, Mr. Speaker, that it took 8 years to hold that hearing.…”