Nightclub, that killed 49 people, House Democrats are calling for a vote on the bill that would bar individuals on the nofly list from buying firearms. Democratic leaders discussed the measure in a news briefing at the capitol. This is 20 minutes. Rep. Becerra good morning. Xavier becerra, chairman of the House Democratic caucus, joined by our democratic leadership including congressman steve israel, chair of our communications and policy committee. We just had another discussion in caucus about doing something, taking action as a result of this weekends mass killings, the atrocities that occurred in orlando, florida. To all those who are thinking about the victims and their families, we say, standwithorlando and in spanish, hash tag. [speaking spanish] i just have to note that for the Latino Community, this has hit especially hard because when you see the names, theyre human beings but i dont believe in the Latino Community people would have expected that so many of the names would have had Spanish Language surnames and it brings home to so many of us that this could be your family, as well. I think we have a Pretty Simple message coming out of our Democratic Caucus. This congress should not leave this week without giving us a vote on something very simple. Nofly, nobuy. If you cant fly because youre on a watch list by our government, and you are not allowed on an airplane, you should not be allowed to enter a gun shop and walk out with an assault weapon. Were now beginning to hear some republicans, including Presumptive Republican nominee for president , donald trump, say that theres something to nofly, nobuy. The difficulty is this this congress is asleep at the wheel. Its been a donothing congress, especially when it comes to the issue of gun safety. And theres no guarantee that anyone in congress will have an opportunity to vote to prohibit someone whos on a nofly list from being able to purchase a weapon. Between 2004 and 2014, 2,000 terror suspects legally legally purchased guns in the United States. And so its time to stand with orlando, or san bernardino, or charleston, or newtown and the list could go on and on. Its time for us to stand and do something, not just hold moments of silence. Its time to stand with orlando. [speaking spanish] i now yield to our leader, nancy pelosi. Rep. Pelosi thank you very much for your thoughts and leadership in bringing us together now two days since the deaths in orlando. Yes, we are orlando. This is so tragic, so sad in so many ways. It does offer an opportunity for us, though, to do something immediately about it and i would hope that we could reach out to our republican colleagues and say, the least we can do is the nofly, nobuy legislation. We want more, of course. We want regional background checks and the rest and we think we have the votes for that on the floor of the house if the speaker would bring up the bill but right now our focus is to say to the republicans in congress, if 80somepercent of the American People, 70 of n. R. A owners republicans, democrats, independents, all support passing the nofly, nobuy bill if youre not allowed to fly, you shouldnt be allowed to buy the gun. Let us prove to them, disprove what they suspect, that the republican majority in the congress of the United States is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Rifle association and that is what is standing in the way of our being able to protect the American People. We call upon them to disprove that, at least in this instant. Our friends, the Lgbt Community, our friends in the gun safety community, our friends in the africanamerican community, who offer gun violence, so many who suffer gun violence, so \many people suffer gun violence every day of the week in their neighborhoods. Mr. Clyburn will address the oneyear anniversary of what happened in south carolina. So if we can organize all of those folks, all expert in mobilization, all successful in changing the public mind and the Public Policy in relationship to issues of concern, i think we have to act immediately and i think that we can be successful. But in the meantime, the very least the republicans would do is to pass the no fly, no buy. And im pleased to yield to the distinguished whip, mr. Hoyer. Mr. Hoyer thank you very much, madam leader. First, we need to empathize with the fear that the Lgbt Community is experiencing right now. Unfortunately, today we are going to adopt a rule which precludes the expression of congress that we will not discriminate against those who are lgbt members. How sad. That is one thing we could do today. Say to all americans, you will not discriminate. We will not discriminate, our government will not discriminate against citizens who are members of the Lgbt Community. And our chairman of the caucus is correct as well. Normally we discriminate against somebody based upon the origin of their nationality or surname. So those are two things we could do right now, stand up. Speak out for what america believes in. That is equality for all. Secondly, a moment of silence is appropriate. But days and weeks and months of action to preclude the violence that is occurring and taking the lives of so many of america is absolutely essential. No fly, no buy is a start. It is an important start, and as the leader points out, it is a start that the American People have broad consensus on. Let us start there. Let us have an amendment on the floor that says no discrimination. Let us have action today or later next week at the very latest on no fly, no buy. And thirdly, although i would urge all of our members to vote for three bills that have already passed, americans ought not to be deceived that thats action. We have already passed those bills. They are in the United States senate. And the republican leader ought to move those bills. So let us not pretend to take action, let us take action. No discrimination. No fly, no buy. No simply moment of silence, but days of action. I now yield to my dear friend, the assistant leader, jim clyburn of south carolina. Mr. Clyburn thank you, mr. Whip, madam leader. I offer a quote from Martin Luther king jr. s iconic, and i think timely, letter from the Birmingham City jail when he wrote, we are going to be made to repent. Not just for the hateful words and deeds of bad people, but for the appalling silence of good people. Now, from friday the 17th, we will be celebrating or commemorating the First Anniversary of what i call the charleston 12. Nine people who died and three people who survived a targeted massacre. That church was targeted. That bible study class was targeted. Just as this nightclub was targeted. Both of these are domestic terrorist issues, yet whats coming to the floor is limited to foreign terrorism. Thats not addressing what the problem is here today. And i think that on two counts, there are three bills that weve got before the floor. My bill deals with closing that loophole, because this young man was not eligible to be buying a gun. But somebody put in the wrong information, i. E. Intentionally misled the folks to ride out the threeday rule, or somebody keyed in the wrong information. And that loophole that says you can purchase a gun if the background check is not completed within three days should be closed. In the case of orlando, someone said earlier, i was last arrested for my civil rights activities in 1961. Between 1960 and march 1961, i was arrested several times. That record is still there. Yet we say a person that was on the no fly list, once you close the case, they come off the no fly list and then they can go and purchase a gun. This gentleman, if he were treated, his record were treated the way mine was treated, would not have been able to get this gun. Why is it that my record from 1961 is still sitting in the f. B. I. , and still brought to my attention every now and then, and no one is bothered about his record . I think that we need to get real about this. We need to be serious about this. We need to break our silence on this issue. With that, im pleased to yield to mr. Crowley, our vice chair. Mr. Crowley thank you for your efforts in terms of reminding us of the tragedy of just one year ago, but quite frankly its about every week we have had a moment of silence over this last year, and we also think about the times when there are individuals who were killed by gun violence that are not criminally related where there is no moment of silence, no recognition of their loss as well. Unlike these major tragic events where we have moments of silence. We just came from a conference or caucus meeting where the level of frustration within our caucus is rising. The Democratic Caucus is frustrated because the Republican Caucus continues to do nothing while there are mass slaughters going on weekly in the United States. Will the no fly, no buy bill be a panacea . No. Will it solve all the problems . No. But it is a start. Thats what the American People are looking for from congress. They want the republicans in the congress who are in the majority to understand they will not tolerate any longer nothing. Thats what they have been dealing with so far. Thats what theyve seen come out of the house of representatives. Nothing. We have had 12 votes on no fly, no buy in this congress. And each time, the Republican Caucus has defeated it. If youre not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. If youre not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. And thats what my Republican Caucus colleagues dont understand. They are part of the problem because they refuse to recognize any step that would diminish gun violence in america. And that needs to change. And our caucus may be frustrated, but we are also energized. We are energized and we are moving forward. We will not sit complacently while our republican colleagues continue to frustrate this system, to not allow any bill of substance to pass when it comes to the issue of gun violence. We will not sit by silently and allow for that to go on any longer. With that, i will recognize the gentleman from new york, my good friend, steve israel. Mr. Israel thank you very much. I dont mind House Republicans being out of touch. I mind them being dangerously, recklessly out of touch. And on this issue, they couldnt be more out of touch with the American People. Refusing to enact no fly, no buy is a form of political criminal negligence. It is also a form of stunning political malpractice. 80 of americans support no fly, no buy. 77 of republicans support no fly, no buy. 85 of independents support no fly, no buy. The new england journal of medicine did a study, 82 of gun owners support no fly, no buy, and 75 of n. R. A. Members support no fly, no buy. And this speaker of the house of representatives and republican majority dangerously turn their backs on the majority of americans and common sense. Ive got to tell you something. Every time speaker ryan tries to gavel us down, we are going to speak louder. He may be able to use a gavel as a tool against us, but we are going to use common sense and public sentiment as a tool against them. You can absolutely count on that. Reporter you mentioned this is just a start. Mr. Clyburn mentioned it wouldnt have done anything in south carolina. And there are plenty of other Mass Shootings where it would not have made a difference. Why not go bigger and try for that assault weapons ban . Mr. Becerra i will see if my colleagues want to respond as well. We are not saying we are going to try to do one thing. We are saying we want to do this. We are tired of not being able to do anything. As mr. Israel just pointed out, once again, we are not asking for things that only a fraction of the American People support. We are not asking for things that arent tested and doable. We are simply trying to get this congress to do its job and do something. No fly, no buy is in front of us. Republicans have had an opportunity to vote for it. We can do it now. We certainly have a number of us who are supporters of the assault weapon ban. But lets try to get something done, and lets see how far republicans are willing to go. At this stage, it doesnt look like they want to do anything. Mr. Israel let me respond really quickly. What frustrates the American People is that we will disagree on certain issues, and we are not going to be able to pass issues where we disagree. But what they want us to do is pass what we can agree on. When 80 , 75 of the American People can agree on no fly, no buy, there is no excuse not to pass that immediately. And then, go on to the other issues. Reporter question regarding getting republican support, because there has been peter king, from your fellow state of new york, bob dold from illinois. Is there democratic outreach ongoing now to try to get republicans on board this bill, and how successful is that . Mr. Crowley we have a motion to recommit. I think there are 178, 180 members on it. We are looking for republican colleagues to support that. As i said before, if youre not part of the solution, youre part of the problem. There is a vehicle on the floor right now that if we get a majority of democrats, republicans to support, that bill will come to the floor. The no fly, no buy. I support an assault weapons ban. I looked at these types of weapons, semiautomatic as well as machine guns. I recognize they are made to kill people, and as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. They are weapons of war. They are not for hunting. They are not for sportsmanship. There is nothing sportmanship about them. I do think we need to do more. Theres no question. But we cant get the Republican Congress to do what i think is the minimalist, that is to pass something that as congressman israel mentioned, theres overwhelming support from the American People, both gun owners and n. R. A. Supporters. Its remarkable how much power the nra has in the house of representatives. People talk about special interest and their influence on house members, no one, no entity has more power in the United States today in the house of representatives than the Republican Caucus than the n. R. A. No one. And they are demonstrating it over and over again because they wont even pass a bill that has the majority support of all americans, 75 plus of americans. Thats how much power they have, and that needs to come to an end. Its not representative of the American People. Its not even representative of our congress. I know that they dont want this to be the case, but they are so afraid of their own shadow and the n. R. A. , they wont move on. Mr. Clyburn if i may. The fact of the matter is, i think the votes are there. The bill has to come to the floor. Only one person can do that. If the speaker would allow any one of these three bills to come to the floor, i think the votes would pass it. Thats an issue. Reporter donald trump is meeting with the n. R. A. , and hes going to push them on this watch list and no fly list. Do you think that will trickle down to congress . Youre in agreement with donald trump. Mr. Israel if donald trump decides today he supports no fly, no buy, it will be the latest disagreement the republicans have with him. It is irrelevant. Mr. Crowley if they can convince the n. R. A. To move forward on this, god bless him, but again, it just goes to show the power of the n. R. A. , that their president ial nominee will go on hands and knee begging for them to give them a pass on this issue so they can trickle down to the republican members of the house. Its ludicrous. It is crazy. But thats where we are at right now. Mr. Becerra i would simply add that we are watching the party of lincoln become the party of trump. Well see how far they go to become the party of trump. With that, we thank you all for being part of this. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] john brennan testifies this morning and an open hearing of the Senate SelectIntelligence Committee about the cias operations around the world. You can watch it live beginning at 9 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan 3 and cspan. Org. Book tv has 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors every weekend. Here are some programs coming up this weekend. Night, the Publishing Industry on saturday night former nba player and author Kareem Abduljabbar discusses his book writings ont the wall. On sunday, a roundtable discussion on the art of the deal. Panelists include a book critic for the washington post, and a Senior Writer for the wall street journal. M. , afterwards, a Political Science professor talks about his book, which looks at the history and rise of isis. So the spectacular of isis thea direct result of deepening sectarianism, the civil war in the arab east, the security vacuum that exists in the perception that somehow the arab spring could change the existing order. Go to book tv. Org for the complete weekend schedule. Am pleased that the senate as a body has come to this conclusion. The senate will undoubtedly provide citizens with greater access and e