Date: 2013-04-09
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. thank you so very much for the opportunity to discuss with my colleagues a pending action in the United States Congress and a plea for civility and fairness. As I do that. let me acknowledge Equal Pay Day and my support. as Ive done over the years. of Congresswoman DELAUROS continued acknowledgment and recognizing of the need to finally put an end to disparities in pay for women. Thats what America is all about. and Im delighted to join my colleagues who have already spoken to the idea of ensuring that we have equal pay. I hope we can pass that legislation. I also want to raise an issue and offer my concern and expression. if you will. of comfort to the students at Lone Star College. Part of Lone Star College is in my congressional district. and I share that with one of my colleagues in Texas. I just wanted to say to all of the parents and to my colleagues: I have children who have finished college. We support our children. all of our children. going to a safe place and being safe and having the ability to be educated in a safe place. So I express great sympathy. We are not sure of the status or whether or not there has been any loss of life. We know that there are persons who are critical. and we are wishing and hoping for their safety. We do want to determine the facts. and our law enforcement was there expeditiously. Allow me to acknowledge the Lone Star Police. the police in the surrounding area. the Harris County Sheriffs Department. and the first responders who were there as well. Today. however. I want to acknowledge that we have a pending crisis. and that is that we have the need to pass sensible gun legislation. Why do I call it a "crisis"? It is because we are moving toward a day that has been designated by the leadership in the Senate that we would be able to vote on sensible gun legislation. Remember. Ive said "sensible" gun legislation. So. today. I rise to the floor of the House because I think it is crucialI think it is imperativethat we find that common path to save lives. Thats what it really is about. It is a pathway to be able to save lives. I am delighted to have one of my distinguished colleagues on the floor. She is the former speaker of the Ohio House. the distinguished Congresswoman from Columbus. Ohio. who will share her thoughts about the pending vote that is coming up this Thursday. Let me just cite for you that we have heard the commitments and sermons and passion after each tragedy. I remember Columbine. I was here. Mr. Speaker. for Columbine. In fact. I was appointed to a school safety select committee to talk about school safety at that time. Obviously. a lot of us were here for Aurora. Virginia Tech. I was here for that as well and then. of course. Newtown and then cases in between. Many of us are here for the tragedies that we see when we go home. Just this past weekend in Sugar Land. Texas. an individual who was mentally challenged was shot dead in his house when he came out of his bedroom. Mr. Speaker. pointing a gun at law enforcement officers. Many of you know the tragedy that we face in Texas. which we are still mourning. Two prosecutors and a prosecutors wifedistrict attorneys in Texaswere shot dead. Individuals were shot dead by someone who should not have had a gun. Tragically. the individual was released and should not have been released. but more importantly. they were able to get a gun through what we understand might have been a straw purchasesomebody else purchasing the gun for them. So I believe we are no longer at the point when we can have sermons or we can mourn and yet not do something. Let me thankI think "applaud" is not the appropriate terminologythose parents who flew in Air Force One from Newtown. Connecticut. You can imagine that they are hurting. Tears came to my eyes as I saw them deplane. come down out of Air Force One. knowing that they are still hurting. I heard a quote that said: For some of us. its months. For those parents. its one day at a time. To imagine little ones5 and 6 years oldwhose bodies were riddled. and they are here in the hallways of Congress to be able to ask us: Can we do the right thing that is for the American people? And I want to answer today a question that I raised: Can we stop the filibuster? Can we resolve the fact that sensible gun legislation does not violate the Second Amendment? In fact. we protect the Second Amendment. No one has challenged the Second Amendment. and no one has challenged permits for concealed weapons that are in many States. With the tragedy that occurred in Arizona in which someone was using an automatic weapon and had multiple rounds and for those who say. you see. if the good guys had a gunand in that instance the good guy had a gun and was probably going to shoot the wrong people if someone had not intervenedwhat we need to do. in essence. is to ensure that we find common ground and do sensible things. What do I think are sensible things? Sensible things include universal background checks. I know there are some discussions about family exchanges and onetoone exchanges among family members. Let me just say. Mr. Speaker. Im open to reasonable discussions. but weve got to close the gun show loopholes. weve got to close people opening up their trunks on a highway and giving them to someone who is going to wind up shooting in a robbery. or going into an old mans house just like happened in my community last nightshooting an 83yearold and taking his caror the incidence. as I indicated. of this individual with mental health concerns. or the bloody killing of a mothers daughter and her granddaughter by what I would say is a crazed exhusband. who did not need to have a gun. So isnt it reasonable to think that universal background checks would weed out those who did not need to have them? Were not going to knock on your door and take any guns from families. but we do hope that you will secure them. I hope that Ill be able to get a vote on H.R. 65. a bill that was taken after an ordinance that I passed in the city of Houston. as a member of the city councilbecause we have legislative authorityand. in fact. legislation thats the law of the land in Texas. and that is to hold people responsible for not locking up their guns. I would be happy to yield for a moment to the distinguished gentlelady from Ohio. I just want to pause on that a moment. Lets think about storing guns. I want to thank her for her legislative prowess. We are so proud that she has already come here ready to go. because anybody who was the minority leader of the Ohio House. if you will. is already ready to go. She is already taking charge on womens issues. and she is taking charge on economic issues. I am very proud to yield to the gentlelady at this time.