Congressional Black Caucus

Floor Speech

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Ms. PLASKETT. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of our President's actions toward making our communities safer by ensuring guns are less likely to end up in the hands of people that shouldn't have them.

I want to thank my colleagues, Congressman Jeffries and Congresswoman Beatty, for bringing this hour here in Congress. I am thankful for the Congressional Black Caucus' Special Order hour for taking time to educate the American people of the importance of our President's action.

While this Congress and, in particular, our Republican colleagues have hemmed and dithered and engaged in political inertia and, at the end, failed to act in this matter, suspected terrorists are free to legally purchase combat-style weapons. American cities and other areas of this country are besieged by gun crime and thousands of lives are cut short.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, guns cause twice as many deaths in young people as cancer, 5 times as many as heart disease, and 15 times as many as infections. Yet, we afford no funding for research and empirical data collection, while at the same time we spend hundreds of millions researching and mitigating the effects of those other maladies.

Every day this Congress fails to act more American families mourn, more American lives are cut short, many in their prime, and more American cities continue to mount homicide and shooting statistics.

Even in America's paradise, my home district of the United States Virgin Islands, this is so. In 2015, there were 40 homicides in the U.S. Virgin Islands. On a per capita basis, that homicide rate is more than double that of the city of Chicago.

Gun violence in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and in other places, along with the United States Virgin Islands, sadly are a near daily occurrence. While we pause for moments of silence after mass shootings like the ones in Newtown or San Bernardino, the thousands of victims of mass shootings that play out daily in cities like New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands go largely unnoticed and unrecognized.

While the President's actions will undoubtedly save lives, we know that communities like our own and the many other minority communities across this country, there needs to be more comprehensive action to address the underlying issues that are at the root of gun violence.

I want to ask that this Congress act on these things. This Congress has in its power the ability to save thousands of lives. Let us not allow the nearly daily occurrence of mass shootings to become the new norm. We must act to pass comprehensive gun legislation in this Congress this year.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the President's action toward making our communities safer by ensuring guns are less likely to end up in the hands of people who shouldn't have them.

While this Congress fails to act on this matter, suspected terrorists are free to legally purchase combat-style weapons, American cities are besieged by gun crime and thousands of lives are cut short.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, guns cause twice as many deaths in young people as cancer, five times as many as heart disease and 15 times as many as infections.

Yet we afford no funding for research and empirical data collection, while at the same time we spend hundreds-of-millions researching and mitigating the affects of those maladies.

Every day this Congress fails to act, more American families mourn: more American lives are cut short--many in their prime--and more American cities continue to mount homicide and shooting statistics.

Even in America's paradise: my home district of the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 2015, there were 40 homicides in the U.S. Virgin Islands. That's a per capita homicide rate more than double that of the city of Chicago.

Gun violence in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and the U.S. Virgin Islands, sadly, are a near daily occurrence. And while we pause for moments of silence after mass shootings like the one in New Town or San Bernadino, the thousands of victims of mass shootings that play out daily in cities like New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands go largely unnoticed and unrecognized.

There were 353 mass shootings in this country in 2015--three of which occurred in my home district of the U.S. Virgin Islands. One occurred on a crowded boardwalk on a beautiful day in May.

The second mass shooting took place in a housing community, where children played just after 5 p.m. one afternoon this past September.

The third took place on a busy highway two days after Thanksgiving.

A mass shooting occurs just about everyday in this country, yet there are no moments of silence or thoughts and prayers extended to many of the victims.

While the President's actions will undoubtedly save lives, we know that in communities like the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the many other minority communities across this country, there needs to be more comprehensive action to address the underlying issues that are at the root of gun violence.

The citizens living in these communities experience inexcusable levels of poverty. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, more than 30 percent of children are living below the poverty level and in Chicago, most of the South and West sides have 40 to 60 percent of residents living below the poverty level.

If we are serious about making our communities safer and reducing gun crime, we must take comprehensive action to not only reduce the likelihood of mass shootings like San Bernadino or New Town, but also address the systemic divestment of resources, education, support in communities of color across this country that lead the scourge of gun violence that play out on our inner-city streets everyday.

In addition to The President's action, this congress needs to make it a priority to make adequate investments in early childhood education and other programs aimed at lifting children out of poverty.

Additionally, making meaningful reforms to our criminal justice system and increasing resources to reduce the flow of drugs and illegal guns through our ports will help fight back the firearm black market.

This is not about the second amendment: an overwhelming number of Americans--most gun owners themselves--agree, that we must do something to stop guns from getting into the hands of people who shouldn't have them.

This Congress has in its power, the ability to save thousands of lives. Let us not allow the near daily occurrence of mass shootings to become the new norm. We must act to pass comprehensive gun legislation.

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