Post by bot on Jun 26, 2016 16:39:29 GMT -5
Hoyer Remarks After Republicans Adjourn the House Without Allowing a Vote on Legislation to Address Gun Violence
WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) spoke at a press conference this morning after Republican leaders adjourned the House without bringing up legislation to address gun violence for a vote. Below is a transcript of his remarks:
“We have a powerful message to the American people: there’s too much carnage in America. There’s an epidemic of gun violence in America. And that we need to pass legislation to make America and Americans safer.
“Behind me is a giant, a giant in the history of our country, making the case for a more just and safer society, [Rep.] John Lewis. [Rep.] John Lewis led this effort joined by two extraordinary Members, [Rep.] David Cicilline, the former Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, and Congresswoman [Katherine] Clark. These three individuals galvanized our caucus, and galvanized the attention of the American public, on two bills that are supported by 90% of the American people.
“[Rep.] John Garamendi got on the Floor and invited our Republican colleagues to come to the Well, to debate why they could not support these two simple bills. One, if you’d been ajudged a terrorist and are not allowed to fly on airplanes because of safety, why would we have you buy a gun. Eighty-five to ninety-percent of Americans think that makes sense. And the other was to make sure that there were no loopholes in our gun-check legislation, so that everybody would be vetted and that we would give time to vet properly. And if we would have done so, neither [Dylann] Roof nor [the] Orlando [shooter] may have had those guns. I want to yield now to [Rep.] John Lewis, who will then yield to his two colleagues.
“[Speaker] Paul Ryan talks about bottom-up: this was not bottom because none of these folks are bottom. But this came from Members animated by the concerns and demands of their constituents and of constituents in our country.
“We will be back. We will come back into session July 5. Republicans have left in the dead of night and with business unfinished. Not just these two bills, but Puerto Rico will be unable to pay its debts just a few days from now. Flint, Michigan still suffers from iron-laced water. We are going home without finishing our business.
“I want to yield now to that iconic figure, who has been such a giant in America’s history, on behalf of justice and equality in our country—[Rep.] John Lewis of Georgia.”