Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague from Connecticut for leading this discussion today on gun violence. We want to focus on one bill in particular, one piece of legislation, but I want to step back for a moment and talk about this issue more broadly in terms of what it means for the American people. We are talking about a problem, the problem of gun violence, which is a uniquely American problem. No other country has this problem. No other country has the amount of mass shootings. I don't know the exact number, but we have had so many that we know them by the name of the community. When we say Newtown, CT, or Sandy Hook Elementary School, when we talk about places like Columbine, or Parkland, you know what happened at those places because they have become so common. So this is a uniquely American problem that Americans have to solve. Some of those Americans, obviously, have to be Members of Congress. You would never know there was this problem based upon the inaction by Congress, by the Senate, and, until recently, the House over many years. The one question I have to ask is, are we going to surrender to this uniquely American problem--because the inaction by Congress over many years now would indicate to me that the answer to that question is yes; that a lot of Members of Congress, House and Senate, have concluded that there is absolutely nothing we can do to reduce even the likelihood of another mass shooting or reduce the likelihood of more and more gun violence.…”