I am here today: to ask that you pass the Fix Gun Checks bill, which will save lives, maybe the life of someone you love.

I understand you have made some progress in getting Federal agencies to improve their reporting to the NICS database.

The last bill I think was a large improvement. It was bipartisan, as you mentioned, passed unanimously.

I would like to know whether you and the Department are working on this policy to make sure all relevant records from Federal agencies are, in fact, getting into the NICS.

How much more pain, how much more sorrow, how many more deaths by guns must we endure before we do something?

I am troubled, to say the least, that the Department has not been able to do this yet.

I would like for DOJ to be able to come up with estimates, even if they have to be explained and qualified, of compliance by State.

It would be a pitiful shame if no action were taken to change the future.

Under the provisions of the law, they have to be--and we worked this out with Senator Coburn.

It is very important that each State gets to determine how to keep their citizens safe.

I intend to push to make sure the penalties available under NICS are not viewed as empty threats.

Thank you, Mr. Feinblatt, and thank you for the good job you do in New York City helping us fight crime.

Making sure that guns stay out of the hands of criminals, drug addicts, violent abusers, and the mentally ill has been important to me as long as I have been in Congress.

Please honor that unity by putting politics aside and working together to fix our broken background check system.

NICS has consistently been viewed as an appropriate way to carry out the Government's aim of protecting individuals' rights and keeping people safe.

We will take that under advisement, but somehow we will work something out so we certainly put into the record what you have talked about.

The majority of Americans, the majority of Tucsonans, and the majority of gun owners want common-sense laws that protect Second Amendment rights.

Just having it in place and on the statute books is not enough.

I took the lead in drafting improvements to NICS to increase incentives of States to get their records into the system.

Is there a chance we can get this Reno memo undone?

Require every gun buyer to pass a background check, no matter where he or she buys the gun.

I am definitely here to remember those that were killed that day as well as to honor each survivor.

Clearly, our Nation's gun laws are under assault enough as it is, so we should not make matters worse by shrinking from the full enforcement of the laws that remain on the books.

I want to thank Ms. Maisch for her powerful testimony, and I thank Professor Kopel for coming as well.

I want to thank so many who came here. We understand your anguish.