Gun Violence

Floor Speech

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Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Congresswoman Clarke leading this gun violence session. I will tell her, it is sickening to me that I am here again. I cannot believe I have been here 5 years and we have not brought one gun violence prevention piece of legislation to the floor.

There is legislation that a variety of people want to bring to the floor, but for some apparent reason, Speaker Ryan and Speaker Boehner before him, I guess they don't care enough about our kids dying not only in schools, not only in mass shootings, but dying in the streets of various cities in our Nation. It is absolutely ridiculous.

American children are being massacred. They are being massacred in city parks and in classrooms, at movie theaters, concerts, and even in their car seats, because of this Congress's criminal--that is what I said, criminal--inaction on gun violence.

Last week, instead of debating broadly supported legislation to ensure a background check on every gun sale, we spent hours debating a deeply flawed farm bill that would take food out of the mouths of hungry American children.

I don't think we care about children in this Congress, at least my colleagues on the other side. This disaster of a farm bill failed because it didn't meet the needs of American farmers and families, just like we are failing to meet the needs of American families on gun safety.

Mr. Speaker, couldn't we have better spent our time debating and advancing a bill to save lives? Shouldn't we be more interested in protecting the lives of American children?

Instead of working to take food away from hungry children, perhaps we should work to take guns away from dangerous individuals.

Mr. Speaker, I wish I could say last week's events in Santa Fe, Texas, were unusual. I wish I would say this never happens, that it that was unusual or a freak accident. But that is not true. In fact, one of the young ladies said she was not surprised. It has been happening all over and she knew it would come to her school. That is an absolute shame that that young lady said that.

I wish I could say that about Palmdale, California, or Mobile Alabama; Parkland, Florida, or Raytown, Missouri. But I can't and I won't because, again, it is not true.

School shootings are no longer unusual, no longer shocking. They happen nearly every week in our Nation. It is only May 21 and we have already had 22 school shootings this year. Twenty-two school shootings in a matter of 5 months. Yet, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle see no problem with this.

The GOP offers thoughts and prayers, but nothing in the order of solutions or actions. Do you hear what the people are saying?

They don't want any more thoughts and prayers. They shun TV and radio interviews about this crisis, while mothers and fathers cry themselves asleep in an empty house. They speak about investing in mental health and expanding school security, while people who should never have guns walk into gun shows and walk out with the latest in military-grade weapons.

They produce a budget that really takes away from mental health.

We are better than that and the American people certainly deserve better than that. Every single day, Mr. Speaker, there is a mother burying her child because of gun violence. Every single day, dreams of college, a career, and a family get packed into tiny pine boxes because of House Republicans' gross negligence and inaction.

One thing is crystal clear: While the House majority may not have pulled the trigger, it is a blind embrace of inaction that makes it just as guilty--guilty for the murder of Bailey Holt, 15, in Benton, Kentucky; guilty for the murder of Jaelynn Willey, 16, in Lexington Park, Maryland; and guilty for the murder of Martin Duncan, 16, of Chicago, Illinois.

Mr. Speaker, you have heard us say it over and over: How many more? When is enough enough? How much more guilt will you bear? How many more times will we hold moments of silence with no follow-through on action?

When will this Congress have a fraction of the courage that Scott Beigel showed at Parkland? When will House Republicans follow the example of Victoria Leigh Soto in Newtown and actually protect kids' lives? When will Speaker Ryan show the slightest bit of courage that Aaron Feis had?

Instead of finding the courage to act, this House, this Speaker, the majority have stood on the sidelines while kids die, and all because of those big, fat NRA checks and because they don't have the courage. That is disgusting and it is wrong.

As we look to assign responsibility for these mass shootings, as we ask ourselves: Why all the violence? Where did it come from? As we ask ourselves: Why does this keep happening? We need to look no further than Longworth 1233, Speaker Ryan's office, for the responsibility of inaction, the responsibility of omission, and the responsibility of being too beholden to the NRA to save lives, instead of beholden to the people of this country, to the mothers and fathers who have lost their kids, to the future kids going to school.

When will it end?

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