Congressional Black Caucus

Floor Speech

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Ms. KELLY of Illinois. I thank my good friends, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries) and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty) for this important Special Order hour tonight.

Congressman Jeffries, you have chaired these Special Order hours for the Congressional Black Caucus in my first term, so it is good to see you back in the driver's seat with our classmate, Representative Beatty.

Last year, I had the privilege of leading the Special Order hour with our colleague, the Honorable Donald Payne of New Jersey. In the course of that year, we came to this floor to reflect on gun violence on one too many occasions because it is an epidemic in communities across the country.

In fact, we are 11 days into 2016, and there have already been 80 shootings in my hometown of Chicago. Four people were shot and killed in less than 24 hours.

I applaud President Obama's bold executive action that has been talked about tonight. I believe these policies will keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous individuals.

If you listen to some, they will say they are trying to take our guns. There is nothing in the executive action that says that. The opposition is pushing fear, not fact.

With over 30 Americans killed by guns every single day inaction is not an option.

In my nearly 3 years in Congress, the majority party has refused to do anything on gun violence--not one hearing, not a single vote. To right what Congress has, unfortunately, made wrong, President Obama did what was necessary to address the threat to our long-term national security and economic stability. While we can't stop every criminal from committing every crime, we can take actions that will save lives.

While President Obama's executive actions are crucial steps in reducing the senseless gun violence that is plaguing our Nation, they do not absolve Congress of its moral responsibility to act. There are gaps in existing gun laws that leave us all vulnerable to gun violence. These holes are ones that only Congress can plug.

I have two commonsense bills that will complement President Obama's executive actions and that will help bring a reduction in firearm mortality.

The first bill, H.R. 224, the Recognizing Gun Violence as a Public Health Emergency Act, would require the Surgeon General to submit an annual report to Congress on the public health impact of gun violence. The bill currently has 135 cosponsors, and I hope that this commonsense proposal can get an up-or-down vote this year.

Also, I recently introduced H.R. 225, the Firearm Safety Act, which would close the loophole which prevents the Consumer Product Safety Commission from creating rules regarding the safety of firearms.

Quite simply, if the Consumer Product Safety Commission can regulate teddy bears, bicycle helmets, and car seats, it should be able to regulate firearms. Simply improving safety lock quality and improving storage safety will reduce accidents, misfires, and will prevent theft, saving thousands of lives.

Senseless gun violence has been plaguing our Nation for far too long. It is simply unacceptable in the United States of America that gun violence is the leading cause of death for people under 24. It is time for us to come together to end the gun violence that is taking a generation of young Americans.

I often ask: Just how many and just who has to die before we take action?

I urge my colleagues to attend a funeral to see and to feel the hurt and loss. Your standing for moments of silence and then your sitting in silence does nothing to deal with this issue. Let's stop the hypocrisy and take action and save lives.

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