Yvette Clarke: “I would like to thank the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, the gentlelady from Ohio (Ms. Fudge), for…”

“I would like to thank the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, the gentlelady from Ohio (Ms. Fudge), for summoning us to be a part of this Special Order this evening. It is quite timely as we mark the 1-month anniversary of the slaughter of the innocents in Newtown, Connecticut, as we all reflect on the many challenges that we face within our own neighborhoods, our own communities, of longstanding reckless gun violence. Mr. Speaker, just last week a 90-year-old woman by the name of Gloria Johnson, 90 years old, was shot twice as she walked to the laundromat in East New York, Brooklyn. She lived 90 years to be gunned down in Brooklyn, New York. Two weeks ago, AK-47 shells were found in Queens, New York, at the scene of the murder of a 17-year-old child--AK-47. You find those types of shells in Iraq, in Afghanistan, not in Queens, New York. But there's a new reality that we are all facing, and that is assault weapons in an urban environment. And this summer a young 13-year-old boy named Ronald Wallace III was shot in the back by a barrage of gunfire in the streets of Brownsville, Brooklyn, within my own district. Although New York City has some of the strictest gun laws in the Nation, senseless crimes like these occur all too frequently in my district and across New York City and in other urban communities across the United States. In 2012, the New York City Police Department reported 226 incidents of handgun violence in Brooklyn, New York, alone.…”