Barbara Mikulski: “last Sunday, I joined hundreds of thousands of Americans in marching in support of common-sense gun safety laws. Today…”

“last Sunday, I joined hundreds of thousands of Americans in marching in support of common-sense gun safety laws. Today we're trying to show that these marchers made a difference. We can either listen to the mothers and fathers who marched with their feet--or we can listen to the gun lobby--who march with their dollars. The Daschle amendment says that we're listening to the Million Mom marchers. It merely calls on the Congress to do it's job--to convene the Juvenile Justice Conference and pass common-sense gun safety laws. Since I've been in Congress I have fought for gun control and gun safety. We passed the Brady bill--which requires a 5-day waiting period so there can be background checks of gun purchasers. This law has stopped 242,000 felons from buying guns. We fought to ban certain types of semi-automatic assault weapons and cop killer bullets. For ten months, our gun safety proposals have been in legislative limbo. The Senate passed the Juvenile Justice Bill in July 1999. Since then, the Republican leadership has refused to let us move the bill forward. During this time, we've seen 3,600 children die from gun violence. We've seen twelve children die every day from gunfire. In Maryland, we've mourned the death of over 100 children a year. In Maryland we saw a crazed man steal five guns--and murder four people--before holding a family and a community hostage. The Juvenile Justice bill includes common-sense gun safety provisions.”