Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, we have a gun violence epidemic in this country. For 8 years, we have marked it with moments of silence and doing nothing, saying nothing and doing nothing. But today, that changes with passage of H.R. 8 for universal background checks. We know universal background checks work, because since the passage of the Brady bill, 3.5 million illegal gun sales were prevented. But, of course, there is a huge loophole. Millions and millions of gun sales happen without a background check at all. In fact, one in five, 22 percent, of guns are sold with no background check. That means criminals, domestic abusers, and people prohibited due to mental illness can get a gun. This bill changes that. We also know that States that have enhanced background checks have lower rates of gun homicides, gun suicide rates, and gun trafficking. This is a commonsense bill to protect the American people from the scourge of gun violence. Finally, after 8 years of pleading with our Republican colleagues to do something about gun violence in this country, to take up a bill--we had a sit-in to try to force a vote--finally, today, we are taking our first step to reduce gun violence in this country by passing H.R. 8. Finally, we will see Members of Congress standing up to the power of the gun lobby and doing what is right for the American people. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''”