Pete Aguilar: “Today, I rise to talk about an issue that has affected my community in San Bernardino very personally and continues to…”

“Today, I rise to talk about an issue that has affected my community in San Bernardino very personally and continues to impact our neighborhoods on almost a daily basis: gun violence. Over the past several weeks, Americans have stood together to demand action on commonsense measures to reduce gun violence. My office has dealt with full voice mails, flooded social media sites, and received countless letters asking for these commonsense reforms. The message is the same: Background checks are basic measures that will make our communities safer while respecting the Second Amendment rights of responsible gun owners. And if you are too dangerous to fly on a plane, you are too dangerous to buy a gun. Madam Speaker, these measures are not controversial. Keeping guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists and criminals are basic measures where both Democrats and Republicans should be able to find common ground. I ask that this Chamber remain in session until we vote on this legislation. By foregoing bipartisan legislation to end gun violence-- bills our constituents are demanding us to consider--House Republicans are playing favor to special interests. We owe the American people a vote. If we are too scared in this body to vote on these commonsense measures out of loyalty to our special interest groups instead of our own constituents, then we need to reflect on our roles here. ____________________”