On the recordFebruary 26, 2018
Let me thank the distinguished gentleman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for his leadership. I am delighted to join the Congressional Black Caucus this evening under the leadership of Chairman Richmond. As my colleagues have said, we have been, sadly, a leader on commonsense gun safety legislation, sadly, because many of our districts, although we represent the huge numbers of diverse Americans--our districts represent Anglos, African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians, and all economic backgrounds, all wealth backgrounds, all backgrounds dealing with religion--we are able to speak because many of our districts have the reality of gun violence. So I want to speak, Mr. Speaker, to a particular point that I have heard from the stander-uppers of the NRA, particularly the president and CEO when he spoke to the conservative organization just this past week. I was certainly shocked to hear accusations about Democrats are socialists, even to the extent of calling out Members' names, which I think patently rejects the comity and collegiality of recognizing democracy accepts two distinct parties and some other parties and respects differences of opinion. But let me be very clear on the record. No one Member of this body, nor the distinguished gentleman, can eliminate the Second Amendment. No group of 20 Members of Congress, no Republicans of Congress and no Democrats of Congress, can eliminate the Second Amendment.…
