Act on Universal Background Checks

Floor Speech

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Ms. DEAN. Madam Speaker, last Saturday, we remembered the murder of 49 people at the Pulse massacre 5 years ago. Tomorrow, we will mourn 6 years since nine people were killed in their place of worship at Mother Emanuel AME Church.

It sits with me every single day that in this country we lose friends and family to the tragic and avoidable scourge of gun violence.

As of this weekend, we have reached 272 mass shootings in this country. It is madness. These acts of violence, sometimes motivated by hate, continue.

Yet, we--and the Senate in particular--have failed to enact commonsense gun violence prevention legislation that would stem bloodshed and end this loss. I implore the Senate to hear the cries of those in their communities, our constituents, and pass the two universal background check bills that the House sent over to the Senate in March.

Families should no longer have to bury their loved ones when we have the ability and the responsibility to close deadly loopholes in our system.

Gun ownership is an important part of our American culture and our Constitution, and now is our chance to come together in a way that preserves this part of our heritage while protecting our constituents and saving lives.

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