February 27, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 36 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H2241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                              GUN VIOLENCE

  (Ms. DEAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DEAN. Mr. Speaker, for decades, lobbyists have stifled our 
national conversation about gun violence and Congress has refused to 
act.
  Since Parkland, Thousand Oaks, and so many others, new voices have 
broken through. Student activists have marched, organized--alongside 
moms--and insisted that we take their safety seriously.
  This week we do just that, by passing H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112. This will 
be a sea change.
  And it shouldn't be controversial. Mr. Speaker, 97 percent of 
Americans support background checks--that is Democrats and 
Republicans--including 94 percent of gun-owning households.
  Six years ago, I was there when the Pennsylvania House Judiciary 
Committee held its first hearing on background checks.
  In her courageous testimony, Sandy Hook mother Francine Wheeler 
described losing her son Ben. She said:

       When this happens to you--when my child was murdered, I no 
     longer have the fear to stand up and to say what is right and 
     what I believe.

  And then Francine asked a crucial question:

       If we all agree dangerous individuals shouldn't have guns, 
     then shouldn't we at least take the most basic steps to make 
     sure they don't?

  I look forward to the passage of these bills.

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