Gun Violence

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHNEIDER. Madam Speaker, yesterday marked 1 month since the gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School cut short the lives of 17 students and teachers. These tragedies have become so common that the response of this Congress is practically routine: thoughts and prayers are offered, moments of silence held, and then we move on with no specific action on gun violence.

Madam Speaker, this is not enough. We need to heed the call of thousands of students across the country who organized walkouts and events with a simple message for us: It is time to act.

We need to be able to look these students in the eye and say: ``We are doing everything we can to protect you.'' But for too long, this institution has refused to do just that. We are not considering legislation to pass universal background checks. We have not debated restricting the sale of military assault weapons, bump stocks, and high-capacity magazines, or even lifting the ban on preventing our government from researching gun safety solutions.

Yesterday we did pass a bill with important resources for school safety, including a bipartisan provision I introduced with Representative Mike Bost to help schools install panic buttons. That is an important first step, but really protecting our children is not possible without concrete measures to reduce gun violence.

I urge my colleagues to listen to the wisdom of the young people in our districts, and let's all find the courage to pass sensible gun safety laws and, finally, to save lives.

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