Gregory Meeks: “I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question. It has nothing to do with the bad bill, as indicated. Mr.…”

“I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question. It has nothing to do with the bad bill, as indicated. Mr. Speaker, for years Democrats in this House and a majority of the American people have demanded a vote on gun safety bills. After hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost their lives to a gun, Republican leadership is bringing up an NRA-written bill that does little to make our communities safer. Republicans aren't serious about gun reform, not even preventing suspected terrorists on the no-fly list, like the one in Orlando, from buying a gun. It is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous that suspected terrorists can still buy guns at gun shows or online without completing a background check, and it is downright irresponsible for this loophole to continue to put guns in the hands of those who shouldn't have them. It is just as irresponsible for Republicans to allow the NRA and gun manufacturers to dictate how the gun industry is regulated. That is insane. Should we also allow the tobacco industry to write a bill regulating cigarettes? The answer to that is no. We should protect the people who elected us, not the interests of the gun lobby. With 33,000 friends and family members dying by a gun every year, it is truly upsetting that these bills fail on very short or real reform that would protect American lives. During the civil rights movement, when legislation was slow in moving, Dr. Martin Luther King asked the question: How long?…”