Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New Jersey for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today also in support of H.R. 8, and I rise to tell the story of one resident from my community, from Pennsylvania's Sixth Congressional District, Jamie Loeper, and his parents, Liz and Joe, from West Chester, Pennsylvania. Jamie had just graduated college and was looking for a permanent postcollege job. In the meantime, he was working in a pizza shop in West Philadelphia when his life was tragically cut short in January 2004 when a worker accidentally shot him. This was not done in malice but was the result of a coworker accidentally mishandling a gun. Jamie passed away when he was 22 years old. Today would have been his 38th birthday. I rise for the 1,600 Pennsylvanians and nearly 40,000 Americans who have lost their lives to gun-related incidents in 2017 alone. The Loepers, like mine, are a military family. We understand the values of responsible gun ownership but also that we must take commonsense steps to reduce gun violence in our communities. We have seen for far too long far too many gun-related tragedies over the past several years with Congress doing nothing. We must act now. ____________________”