Connecticut, senator murphy, organizing this time to bringing members of the senate together. I want to thank my colleague from ohio, senator brown, the senior senator, or his words tonight, is passionate about this issue. And his commitment to change. That should be a commitment that is shared by everyone here, but well be talking about what has not happened your tonight as much as what has happened. When i think a about this issue, the issue of gun violence, which its an epidemic, its also uniquely american problem. No other country has this problem. In fact, america didnt have this problem for all of its history. Its, debating on where you start the y clock, its years od is not a lot longer than that. When i think about the issue and think about the debates where having sometimes we start withes the names of communities, and we unfortunately have been memorized. So many communities are known for so much, so much thats positive about their culture, about their history and about their future and the dynamism of some of our great communities. But there some communities that have all that but also now have attached to their history, i hope not forever, but certainly for a period of time that that city, that community was a place where an act of gun violence occurred that was of such a scale that the American People focused on that one community for sustained period of time. Because of a mass shooting. Of course we should be remembering all of the examples on a night like tonight where it doesnt reach the level of a mass shooting by way of victims or carnage, but also as a place that we should remember when one person dies on a dark street in the middle of the night, or a child is injured in fact, kill but it may not become as a mass shooting. But you know all the names now. E just this summer we added several more as everyone knows. I wont go through all the events, these horrific tragic events, but itsto important to remember the names of the communities and then of course i want to talk about some of the people. But whether its a pass or dayton el paso, or dayton or odessa midland, many years ago it was columbine. It was newtown, connecticut, virginia tech, las vegas, parkland, aurora, colorado, orlando and more recent, gilroy, california, and Virginia Beach and i left a lot out. Thats just a handful in the last number of years. So we think about this issue in terms of those who were lost or those whose lives have been irreparably damaged. S sometimes irreparably damaged, permanently damaged because of the injury, an injury that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. But, of course, you dont have to be physically injured to sustain an injury by way of the impact on your psyche. I cant even imagine, even begin to imagine, nor can most people imagine the horror of being anywhere near a mass shooting. So tonight we remember those those communities. We also remember the individual people who were lost, the individual families who were affected. Mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters, children in so many of these a instances, children e directly affected orir indirecty but that indirect effect means that they lost a parent or the lost a sibling, or get lost something in that moment that they will be permanently scarred by for the rest of their lives. I guess i want to focus on two groups of people tonight. We could spend hours talking about so Many Americans. One will be parochial in the o sense its about my home state of pennsylvania, and the other will be at the other end of the age scale, about children who were lost in december of 2012 ill start with the most recent for pennsylvania. Weve had obviously example after example, too many to count, hundreds and hundreds over the w last couple of years where someone was killed or injured. We thankfully have not had multiple Mass Shootings. Just a couple of weeks ago in the city of philadelphia, on about the same day that a a guy was gunned down in philadelphia, there was a standoff in a philadelphia neighborhood where one gunman, because of the power of his weapon and because of the damage he had of being behind closed doors, he was able to hold off part of a police force. Because he was shootingdi indiscriminately with a highpowered weapon. Painfully, those Six Police Officers were injured, the injuries turned out not to be serious, and the soldiers, or the Police Officers were released virtually on the same day. So we were blessed on that day. But right across the street, a c very narrow street there was a Childcare Center that couldve been the scene of horrific carnage it made it gone another way. Thankfully, those children in that Childcare Center that was only, it wasnt a block away. I wasnt a a half a block away. It was barely yards and feet away. Less than the width of this chamber, that Childcare Center was from that, where the shoor was stationed. But ill start with folks who were worshiping in the tree of life synagogue on a saturday in october of 2018. I wont go through all the details but i think everyone by now knows what happened there. The worst act of violence against the Jewish Community in american history, that we know of. End in this case these were the victims. My wife was kind enough to suggest to me when you have a list or something you want to remember an event like you frame it orbly preserve in some fashion. She was kind enough to make it this framed. But what unholy is just come you a distance but its just a framed card with names of the victims and ill just read what it says. So that you know what im talking about. At the top of this card, it ce from a newspaper, the pittsburgh postgazette and9, the date is october 29, 2018. They put this at the front page of the paper. All it says is victims of the synagogue shooting and then lists each individual and their ages. Joyce fienberg, 75 Richard Gottfried 65. Mallinger 97. Jerry rabinowitz 66. Cecil rosenthal, 59. David rosenthal, 54. Bernice simon 84. Sylvan simon, 86. Daniel stein, 71. Melvin wax, 87 and irving younger, 69. So this was a group of pittsburghers worshiping on the sabbath in the synagogue. They were lost on that day because a hate filled person can into that synagogue intent by way of things he said at intent by way of the weapons he had and the ammunition he had. Intent on killing as many members of that congregation as possible. So basically, a congregation with the victims were ages 5497. So that was one incident in my home state. And seems like every state has a day like that where a community is torn apart. So those folks were obviously at the other end of the age scale. How about folks a lot younger . This just happens to be a matted copy of the page in the wall street journal from december of 2012, after the newtown, connecticut, shooting that wet all know, unfortunately, so much about. Sandy hook s Elementary School. What the wall street journal did, and this dated december 17, 2012 but the wall street journal do is put a picture of each child with their name and her ou their age and ae vignette about their young life. I wont go through all of them tonight. I have referred to than in the past. And not every child had a a picture read at the time of this publication. And these children, 20 children, and six adults, im sorry, there are seven adults listed here. But these 20 children are of what were talking about, the carnage that has enveloped our country over these last number of years. I want to read their names tonight and then i want to get to the legislation. Charlotte bacon, six, age six. Daniel barton, age seven. Olivia ingle, six. Josephine k, seven. Anna marquez green, six. Catherine hubbard, six. Jesse lewis, six. Grace mcdonnell, seven. Emily parker, six. Noah posner, six. Caroline per vd, six. Jessica ray kos, six. Mad line six. Chase kowalski, seven. James mattioli, six. And then several children that didnt have pictures at the timb of this publication for the wall street journal, dylan hockley, six. Jack tinto, six. Abby richman, six. Benjamin wheeler, six. And allison wyatt, age six. So when we talk about what we should do here, what we must do, we have to remember more than just a list of communities, which in a sense is about a place. Its about geography. We also have to remember those who were lost. And i think we have to begin to ask ourselves some really fundamental questions. Maybe in ways we dont often do, even in this chamber, even in this body, which is supposed to be the greatest deliberative body in the world. E this is a place where we should ask some of the questions that many of us have been asking. Is it too much to ask when we remember what those children suffered and what their families suffered . Is it too much to ask that we can pass a background check bill . That as senator brown and so many others have noted is supported by more than 90 of the American People, is that too much of the lift of the United States senate to pass just one bill . And not a bill that will solve all the problems, we know that. Nobody is arguing that. But we know a recent example where a background check bill might have been the difference between the gunmen having a weapon and killing a number of americans, or not. And that was odessa and midland. So we got to do a lot more than background checks, but lets start with whats in front of us. You have a piece of legislation that has been sitting here for over 200 days, over 200 days. It came over from the house, h. R. Eight. We should remember what it is. H. R. Eight is the best, and my judgment the best background check billth we have there are other propulsive proposal and d debate in. But is ithe too much of the left to say were going to debate and vote on h. R. Eight, which closes the loop holes on these background checks . And i think would do the best job of any proposal. And then if someone has another proposal, i know senator manchin, senator thune have proposal. Lets debate that and vote on that, too. If theres a third proposal, lets debate and vote on that. Lets get it right. Or at least give the American People a chance to see whether or not this legislative body, this senate reflects the will of the American People, the overwhelming percentage of American People, of the American People support background checks. Checks. We should also make sure that theres an opportunity to debate and vote on an extreme Risk Protection order act, or another version of that. Lets make sure that happens. Seidel think were asking the joty leader to take on the challenge that he hasnt already committed to. What i heard majority leader mcconnell say in august was that when we came back your are going to debate and vote on at least those two measures. Promise, and if we did that, be solved . Problem no. Wouldnc gun violence the substantially reduced in the matter of weeks or months . No. No one is makg that claim. But at least, at least we could say we made some progress in reducing the likelihood of a greater gun violence. But i think the bigger question here is that we have to ask over and over again until we act, or at least begin to act, is, is there nothing that we can do . Because thats part of the argument by those who say no on background checks. Thoseou who say no on extreme rk protection order, no on a limitation on the magazines, the number of bullets you could shoot at any one time. As senator brown referred to in dayton, a 32 seconds, 32 seconds, nine people killed. And i guess about 25 injured. In 32 seconds the Police Officers out there faster than superman could get there. And that wasnt fast enough because of the power of the weapon and because of the amount of ammunition. So theres nothing we can do about that, were told. Were told over and over again here and around the country where disciples of this point of view have their time to debate. That there is nothing that the most powerful country in the history of the human race can do, to make sure that that doesnt happen in another american city. Or at least take action to reduce the likelihood that that would happen in another american city. Theres nothing apparently, according to this argument, that this great nation of ours can do to prevent somewhat in 32 seconds to kill nine people and injure, i guess about 25. What haunted me among many things, and im sure it haunted Many Americans at the time of the december 2012 said Hook Elementary School newtown, connecticut, shooting was that the evidence indicated, according to an nbc news report at the time that i was watching on my television at home in scranton pennsylvania watching that report, there was evidence that the killer, after killing 20 children and several adults, was moving to the nextf classroom. And we know that hundreds of children were in that school. I dont know the exact number, but it wasnt just a school of 20 children. A lot more than 20 were in that school. So again, we have to, taking his argument that theres nothing we can do except enforcing existing law, we hear over and over kent cant do anything, got to enforce existing law, thats the argument. Theyve been making his argument for decades, okay . So based upon this argument there is nothing we could of done in that instance either to prevent someone from killing 20 children, or hundreds of children in one school. And then maybe several months later going to another school and killing hundreds of children. Does anyone really believe that, that there is no law, no action you can take to at least reduce the likelihood that that wont happen in the United States of american . Believe that because we call ourselves americans. Weve never had that attitude. Think of our history. Think of what happened in the had thatury if we point of view. Nothing we can do about this threat. In europe. Nothing we can do to advance medical research, because we just have to accept the facts and try tobleround the edges. No one really believes that. So that argument i is getting pretty tired, that enforcement of existing law is the answer here. And this is a uniquely american problem. No country has this problem, and its been building in building for years and decades. By inaction we allow the problem to get a lot worse. And it is about as that as it gets right now. Ge numbe oricans now, no like 5 or 8 , like 40 of americans now believe that they can be a victim of gun violence. 40 of a country of over 300 Million People believe that, because of what they had seen. But again, the answer here from one side over and over again is, theres nothing we can do. As more andnd more people beliee they could be a victim next. You saw the footage, or the News Coverage of children going off to school at the start of this school year with their backpacks, with a protective shield like s a r shield. Im not sure exactly what it is but i saw the reports. In a backpack, an american child has to g go to school and have armored plated backpacks in america. Thats not happening anywhere else. Because their parents are worried about them going to school. Now we have to worry about where you go to school, where you worship, where you go for entertainment, what Public Events do you not want to go to because the United States senate, for years now, we happen voted on a series of gun bills in years. As i guess people should get used to being afraid, and wondering if they will be next for their children will be next to in essence, what they are telling us on the other side when theyo say no to background checks can actually not, thats what theyre saying, and no to any kind of action. What theyre saying is the most powerful country in the world should surrender to this problem. Thats what it is. Its t surrendering to this problem, that there is nothing that this country can do to make sure that you never have a full page of a newspaper with 20 children listed there. Is ages six and seven years old. That is not america. Thats not who we are. Or at least its not who we claim to be. So i would say in conclusion, and i know i am well over my time, mr. President , that the least we can do, this isnt hard, eyes, his debate and vote. Debate and vote. Is that hard . Not that strenuous. Debate and voteck on background checks debate and vote on an extreme Risk Protection order. I would go further than that. We do have time for that tonight, but lets debate and vote. And were not going to wait. Why should we wait for the president to give us the high site about what he will sign into law . This chamber should not wait for any other official. We should debate and vote and see where things are. The American People will sortert out after we vote and they will know who was on the record voting which way. But at least lets give them something to indicate that we are americans. We dont surrender to problems. We dont surrender to big problems. We dont surrender to problems common e enemy, disease, and frm an epidemic called on violence. Mr. President , i would yield the floor. Mr. President . The senator from maryland. Thank you, mr. President. I want to thank my friend and colleague from pennsylvania for his leadership o this issue and his very clear remarks and call to action. Also, very pleased to be on the floor with my friend, the senator from connecticut, mr. Murphy, who has been the forefront of this battle for many years. And we will not let up until we see meaningful action here in the United States senate. Because, mr. President , we havee an epidemic of gun violence in this country. The only question is what are we going to do about it . H we have seen 293 Mass Shootings in the last nine months. We see people being killed by gun violence in our streets and in our neighborhoods every day. All told, 100 of our fellow americans die from gun violence every day. It can happen any time, anywhere, to anybody here it can happen in our schools, our movie theaters, our homes, our concerts, our bars, our shopping centers, our streets. No one is immune or free from this violence. If this were an epidemic caused by a preventable disease, this congress would convene an emergency basis. We would be having a bipartisan gathering to immediately pass legislati