Political Quotes

On the recordJuly 24, 2012
Mr. President, it is a terrible time in our country. The entire country is in mourning for the 12 innocent people who were gunned down in Aurora, CO, last week. Our thoughts and our prayers are with dozens more still recovering from their wounds. We are mourning with people we never knew, with unfamiliar names, but we have seen pictures of grief-stricken parents, friends, neighbors, and our hearts break with them. We wish we could reach across the country and offer them some comfort while we mourn. We know our mourning alone will not be enough to prevent a future tragedy unless we do something. We in Congress have an obligation to turn grief into action, as we have often done when faced with tragedy. So I come to the floor today to ask a question: When will we wake up? How many of our sons and daughters have to die before we go to work? It is time to sound the alarm on gun violence in our country. It is time for us to gather to talk about commonsense solutions. And I am talking about all of us--all 100. It should not matter which side of the aisle we are on. All of us who serve here have someone we love, someone we know, someone with whom we are in contact, whether it is our child, our sister, our brother, our father, or our mother. The lives of our loved ones depend on us and we should not let them down. Right now, our Nation's lax gun laws make it far too easy for murderers to commit incomprehensible acts of violence and terror.…
Said by
Frank Lautenberg
Democratic · New Jersey

Share & report

More from Frank Lautenberg

May 24, 2012

Madam President, I rise to speak against amendment No. 2107, the one that talks about pharmaceutical products, medicines. We know how important the prescription medicines are in improving health in this country and the need to make sure…

govinfo.gov
Jun 13, 2012

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a fellow in Senator Sanders' office, Rebecca French, be granted floor privileges for the duration of consideration of S. 3240, the Agricultural Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012. The PRESIDING…

govinfo.gov
May 15, 2012

Mr. President, I rise to join with my colleagues on this side to urge our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to move quickly to confirm highly qualified judicial nominees. They passed review by the Judiciary Committee. They passed…

govinfo.gov
May 23, 2012

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on May 23, 2012, at 10 a.m., in room SD 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled…

govinfo.gov

Other voices in this conversation