Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks on the Floor of the House of Representatives in support of S. 2938, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.  Below are the Speaker’s remarks:

 

Speaker Pelosi.   Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.  I thank the gentleman for yielding.  I thank him for his extraordinary leadership in bringing this very important legislation to the Floor.  I commend you, Mr. Chairman, as well as Mr. Mike Thompson, the Chair of our Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and so many others who have participated in some of the elements of this legislation.

 

I rise, Mr. Speaker, in support of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act: a strong step forward to combat America's epidemic of gun violence and to protect our precious children.  As lawmakers we share a sacred responsibility to keep our kids safe from harm.  But according to new data from the CDC, guns are the number one killer of children in America – more than car accidents or cancer. 

 

Our hearts remain shattered by the rampage at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, as they do from the massacre at Sandy Hook and in countless other communities across the nation.  Indeed, we know these schools could have been in any one of our districts – and have been in some.  Those families could have been any one of our neighbors – and have been.  And those children could have been our own.  All of us who have met with survivors in the wake of the tragedies have heard their message loud and clear: we must do something. 

 

Today, in their honor, we heed their powerful cry – sending the major gun violence prevention legislation to President Biden's desk for signature.  And we send it to the President for his signature with gratitude for his leadership on this important issue.  He was the author of the Brady law in 1994 and has been a champion ever since. 

 

This legislation, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, includes several strong steps to save lives – not only from horrific mass shootings, but also from the daily massacre of gun crimes, suicide and tragic accidents.  And included in this package are two major provisions which we have championed here in the House.

 

First, this bill includes significant investments to help states establish extreme risk protection order laws, otherwise known as ‘red flag’ laws.  Thanks to the leadership of Representative Lucy McBath, who has been our inspirational leader on this subject in our Caucus and this Congress, and Salud Carbajal, these provision also keep deadly weapons away from those who pose a threat to themselves and to others.

 

Secondly, this bill takes strong action to combat straw purchases, a cause Congresswoman Robin Kelly spearheaded in our Chamber.  Although we hear about the notorious mass murders every day on our streets of our – and our country, murders take place.  Doing so will make it illegal to buy a gun on behalf – this is Robin Kelly's straw purchases piece – doing so will make it illegal to buy a gun on behalf of those who cannot illegally – cannot legally purchase it.  If I can pass the test, I buy the gun.  Then I sell it to you.  And you can't pass the test.  Straw purchase, very dangerous.  This bill addresses that.  That's a giant step. 

 

This package also includes additional initiatives that it will help reduce the danger of gun violence across our country.  We are moving toward closing the boyfriend loophole, a victory to help protect survivors of domestic violence and to stop abusers from acquiring a gun.  This has long been a priority.  We are strengthening background checks for potential buyers under 21, which would have applied to the 18-year-old gunman at Uvalde. 

 

And we are making enormous investments in mental health programs, school safety programs and community-based violence prevention initiatives.  I mention all these, Mr. Speaker, because, of course, I have to say that this bill doesn't do everything we would like to do.  We need to do more on background checks.  There is some other language that we would like to do with background checks – not only on guns, but perhaps on high-capacity armament. 

 

But I say to my colleagues – and I frequently do, but it applies here more than ever: ‘Let us not judge this legislation for what is not in it, but respect it for what it does.’  And what it does is save lives.  And we are very, very proud of that. 

 

So again I thank Chairman Nadler and Gun Violence Protection Task Force Chairman Mike Thompson for their determined leadership in bringing this legislation to the Floor. 

 

This package represents the most significant action to prevent gun violence in nearly three decades.  And it is a necessary step to honor our solemn duty as lawmakers to protect and defend the American people.

 

Importantly, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act has earned strong support from gun owners, gun survivors and law enforcements alike. 

 

Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership endorsed our bill, saying: ‘We write today as responsible gun owners, but above all else we are proud parents and grandparents of toddlers, students and young teachers who want them to be safe.’

 

Everytown for Gun Safety wrote that ‘this common-sense legislation addresses every form of gun violence.’

 

And the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Associations of Chiefs of Police applauded our bipartisan agreement, calling it ‘a giant step forward and one that will save lives.’  I repeat, ‘a giant step forward and one that will save lives’ – the statement of the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

 

Indeed, keeping our children safe is a unifying issue for our country.  It must be a unifying issue in this Congress. 

 

Yesterday, our nation watched in horror as a radical partisan supermajority of the Supreme Court ruled to flood America's streets with even more deadly weapons.  It is unconscionable, that as America reaches a fever pitch of gun violence, the Court – this Court has chosen to create a new right to bring guns into public spaces, while hindering the ability of states to stop the bloodshed.  In doing so, the GOP supermajority Trump-McConnell Court is implicitly endorsing the tragedy of mass shootings and daily gun deaths plaguing our nation.

 

But with this bipartisan package, we take the first steps to fight back on behalf of the American people who desperately want new measures to keep communities safe – in the high numbers in the polling. 

 

Our Democratic House Majority has again and again passed landmark legislation that would combat the scourge of gun violence.  And we will never give up in our fight to save lives.

 

Mr. Speaker, our fight to prevent gun violence is of, by and For The Children.  Of the children, because they are suffering.  It's heartbreaking in America more children die from guns than any other cause.  By the children, because they are leading.  We see the children marching in the streets, testifying before Congress, demanding action.  And always For The Children, building a future where every child can reach his or her fulfillment free from the fear of gun violence.

 

To the Members who lack the courage to join in this work, to those who lack the courage to join in this work, I say: your political survival is insignificant compared to the survival of our children.  And today we will prevail For The Children.

 

I urge a strong bipartisan ‘aye’ vote for this life-saving legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

 

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