On the recordNovember 5, 2015
This House will be leaving today. Members will be going back to their districts. We leave after some dramatic changes have taken place in the House. We elected a new Speaker within the past couple of weeks. There is a new, open process we have heard about. We saw much more debate this week. These are changes that affect this institution; but there is one thing that has not changed: Members of this House will be going home this weekend without this House or our committees having had any opportunity to debate ways to stop the spread of gun violence. We are going to return home to environments where gun violence continues to plague every corner of this country; yet we cannot even have the debate here. Not only can't we have the debate, but, since 1996, there has been a prohibition on even having a study about the effects of gun violence in our communities. Mr. Speaker, it is time for us to stop putting our heads in the sand. Congress must act. We must take our responsibilities seriously to address head-on the scourge of gun violence. We can do something about it, and it is time that we do. ____________________
