Date: 2016-06-14
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. the bill that you speak of. Mr. CLYBURN. H.R. 4063. that is Mr. CICILLINES bill. the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. and that merely says. if you have been convicted of vandalizing a place of worship or assaulting someone based on their race. their religion. their gender. their sexual orientation. their gender identity or disability. then you ought not be able to buy a weapon. Who believes that persons who have been convicted of these offenses ought to be able to buy weapons? If you believe that they should. then I am going to respect your opinion. but we ought to be able to debate those opinions on the floor of the United States Congress. We dont have to win the vote. The people of this country expect us to at least do that. however. They expect us to vote. And what Mr. CLYBURN is saying. and what many others have been saying. the clarion call. the hue and cry. is lets have a vote and lets have a debate. Let the debate precede the vote. Let us make some comments about these bills. and lets let the American people have an opportunity to judge why each of us holds a position with reference to this kind of legislation. That is not asking too much. I respect my friends who have opinions different from mine. I dont. in any way. badger people who have opinions that are different from my opinions. But I do respect people even more when they are willing to stand in the well of the Congress of the United States of America and state their position and allow others to state theirs. And then. afterwards. have that vote. and lets let the American people know where the Congress stands. based upon empirical evidence and based upon arguments that have been presented. so that people can get a greater understanding and get greater clarity. Another of the bills is the one that you have. Mr. CLYBURN. H.R. 3051. the Background Check Completion Act. "Completion." that is the operative word. Completion Act. Let the background check be completed before a person buys a firearm. Now. if you differ with this. okay. Then lets bring this to the floor. state your difference. and let the American people know how we stand. where we stand. and then have a vote. That will make a difference for everybody in this country because people will know that the Congress of the United States is functional. There are many who believe that we are not functioning right now. The final of the three that the gentleman mentioned is H.R. 1076. This is denying firearms and explosives to dangerous terrorists. Now. this is a bill that is being sponsored by the Honorable PETER KING. He is a Republican. So the point to be made is that we have bipartisan legislation that cant get to the floor for a debate and then a vote. That is what we believe ought to happen. There ought to be a debate and a vote on these pieces of legislation that deal with what we believe to be legislation that can save some lives. It wont save all lives. no legislation will. but it can save some lives. Well. someone would say that is not enough. One life is enough. to be quite honest with you. One life is enough. And to lose any life because we havent acted is to lose too many. At the end of the day. after having lost 49 lives in Orlando. do we want it said that after all was said and done. more was said than done? Or nothing was done and all was said? Is that what we want our legacy to be. that we did not act on pending legislation that could have made a difference for the people of the Nation? Surely. asking for a vote. asking for debate. asking for an opportunity to be heard is not asking too much. Mr. Speaker. I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina if he has further commentary.