People whose only crime was to want a place to be together. And one night in late june of 1969, the bars patrons fought back. The rioting continued intermittently for five nights, and it wasnt pretty. It reflected the demands of a group for equality, for the same chances that other americans have to be themselves. A few months after that, lgbt activists began planning for the first pride march. It was set for the following june to commemorate the stonewall uprising. The idea was to use that anniversary as an opportunity for the community to remind us all that they, too, are citizens, they, too, get to have some fun, and they, too, are entitled to the same dignity and respect as every other american. Over the years, the tradition expanded across this great nation, just as tolerance and acceptance expanded across this great nation. Pride both helped us move forward and showed us how far we have moved together. When terrible things like the orlando shooting happened, we face important choices, as a country, as individuals and as a community. When terrible things happen, we have to choose how we respond to it, and all of us will decide whether we are going to come together or splinter apart. We can become a country, a country that is defined by fear and hate, fear of each other, hatred of anyone who is different from ourselves. In the america of fear and hate, we will alienate and isolate entire communities, creating even more fear and hate and threatening further violence. We will fracture as a people, splintering off into separate groups, each fearing others, each seeking to serve only themselves. Soar we can make the choice to come together. We can choose that no community, no community of immigrants, no community of muslims, no community of young men is isolated in this country. We can do this knowing that when we embrace each other and build one people out of many, we become a stronger country, stronger because of the bonds of community prevent alienation, because the bonds of community make it harder to turn against each other and break us apart, stronger because the bonds of Community Mean people can get help before its too late. We cannot ignore the fact that this massacre targeted an lgbt club, and we should learn from that and from the message of pride. In orlando, an act of terrorism was also an act of hate visited upon people who came together in friendship and celebration. But the patrons at stonewall showed us the way. They gave birth to a movement that changed a nation. They beat back hate. They showed us that change is possible, change for the better is possible. They showed everyone that love can triumph over here and hate, that we can all come together, but boy, they showed us youve got to work for it. This is not an abstract idea. When it comes to our response to the tragedy in orlando, we are already beginning to see the splintering of america. One side shouts it was a gun that killed all those people. The other side shouts it wasnt a gun, it was a terrorist that killed all those people. And through all of the shouting, we missed what should be obvious. It was a terrorist with a gun that killed all those people, a terrorist with hate in his heart and a gun in his hand that killed all those people. It is time for us to acknowledge all of these truths and to come together to address them. First, we must take the threat of terrorism seriously. We must continue to stop the flow of money to terrorist groups and to work with our allies to stop the movement of terrorists and disrupt hubs of radicalization abroad. And here at home, we need to make sure that our Law Enforcement agencies have the resources they need, funding, training, equipment. But we also need to make sure we have the resources to analyze and counter radical propaganda. The war on terror is now fought online, and we need to put our best forces online to fight back. We need to work with people in our local communities, not isolate or demonize them to stop radicalization before it starts and to prevent tragedies before they occur and to show that nobody is kept out of the American Family because of how they look or talk or pray. Second, we must take the threat from guns seriously. Our nation is awash in the weapons of murder, and there are many things we can do to address that. We can ban rambostyle assault weapons. We can take these weapons of war off our streets. We can also close the terror gap. The f. B. I. Should have the authority to block gun sales to anyone they believe is a terrorist. If someone cannot get on an airplane because the f. B. I. Is concerned they might be plotting to do harm against americans, then they shouldnt be able to walk into a store and buy a rambostyle assault weapon. We believe we can close the background checks loophole. Anyone who cannot buy a gun because of a felony conviction or a Mental Illness should not be able to go to a gun show or go online and buy that same gun. We can act to make the next shooting less likely. We can act to reduce the likelihood that a disturbed individual, a criminal or a terrorist is again able to kill dozens with a gun. And if we fail to act, the next time someone uses a gun to kill one of us, a gun that we could have kept out of the hands of a terrorist, then members of this congress will have blood on our hands. But the truth is this is not just about congress. It is about all of us. We all have choices. We have choices about how were going to treat our neighbors and our fellow citizens, choices about what we do when someone is targeted at a coffee shop because of their background or their looks or their race, choices about how we react when a friend or a coworker, a son or a daughter tells us the truth about who they love, choices about how we treat our neighbors and fellow citizens, who dont look or talk or pray like we do. It is a scary world out there. We all know that. Terrorism mutates into new and more dangerous forms. Terrorists have easy access to assault weapons that put us all at risk, and hate, plain oldfashioned, naked, ugly hate still lurks in dark corners. It is a scary world, but america is strongest when we work together, and all of us will decide whether we come together or splinter apart. We can keep weapons out of those who would do us harm. We can make it harder for terrorism to take root in this country. We can drive the forces of hate out of our nation. We can build a stronger, more united america, and we can begin right here in the United States senate. We can begin right now. And with that, my question for the senator from connecticut is this do you believe it is time for the senate to act in the interests of the American People and finally pass these commonsense, widely supported proposals to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people . Mr. Murphy i thank the senator from i thank the senator from massachusetts for those incredibly powerful words making clear what our moral obligation is. Our moral obligation is to witness a crisis happening at our feet and do something about it. Why have this job, one of the most powerful jobs in the world, if youre not going to exercise it, to try to protect americans from harm . And so our choice, my choice, the choice of senator blumenthal and senator booker is to say enough, enough of treating these Mass Shootings as if they are just part of the American Fabric and landscape, enough of accepting that 80 people will die every single day when there is no other country in the world in which this happens, enough of pretending like there isnt anything that we can do about it. And senator warren, you have outlined some basic commonsense bipartisan steps that we can take to make this better. You are so right. This is our choice. Theres only 100 of us. There is only 100 of us. We can make the collective decision to do something about it. I thank the senator, and i would yield to the senator from oregon for a question without losing my right to the floor. Mr. Merkley i thank the senator from connecticut for yielding for a question. Mr. President , i begin my question by noting that the senator from connecticut and the senators from oregon have a Common Thread that runs between our two states. That Common Thread that runs between connecticut and oregon is that our two states have been the sites of two very Deadly School shootings. In sandy hook, connecticut, it was in mid december, 2012, when a madman armed for a war zone stormed into Sandy Hook Elementary School and began a murderous rampage. A rampage that ended with the death of six school staff and 20 little boys and girls, and not even three years later, a nightmare came to roseberg, oregon. Roseburg is a quiet little town in southern oregon. Its the town where i spent part of my childhood. Its the town where i went to first grade. Its the town where i learned to swim in the umpqua river. And as i said last october, if this can happen in roseburg, it can happen anywhere. But happen in roseburg it did. It was october 1, 2015. It was a beautiful autumn morning in the small town there on the College Campus we heard the sound of gunfire. A certain individual stormed into a classroom at Umpqua Community college with six guns, and in the space of just a couple minutes took nine lives, including his own. One of those lives he took was a cousin of mine, rebecca ann cairns. 18 years old. She had just graduated from South Umpqua High School the previous june. She was an avid hunter. She was a lover of four wheeling. And in the picture she posted online for graduation, she had a picture of her graduation cap and she was holding it, and it said on it and so the adventure begins. She was ready for the adventure of adulthood. She was ready for the adventure of going off to college. She was ready to explore the world. She was excited. She was a beautiful spirit, but her adventure ended so shortly after graduating from high school before she could really get started on the journey of the balance of life. Mr. President , our hearts break for sandy hook and our hearts break for roseburg, and our hearts break for all those who are afflicted day after day after day all across this country as victims of gun violence. And now our hearts break for orlando. The latest name to be added to a list that no town or city ever wants to join, and that occasion 49 innocent lives taken, 49 Young Americans full of hope and promise, 49 individuals each with their own story cut down because simply of who they are, whom they loved or whom they associated with. A hatefilled individual targeted a place that was a sanctuary for the Lgbt Community. He turned this place of solidarity and togetherness and love into a place of fear and divisiveness and hatred and bloodshed. This unthinkable carnage leaves congress, all of us here, all of us here in the senate, with a choice. Its a simple choice. We have two basic options. One option is to take some action that might diminish the odds of the next sandy hook or the next umpqua or next orlando or the next assault, the type of assaults that take day in and day out across this nation. The second option is to do nothing. Thats where we are, option one, take some action. Take some reasonable action. There is no perfect answer but there are substantial things that could make a difference, that wont make a difference in every case but will make a difference in some cases. Isnt that the situation with every law we consider, that theyll make a difference at least part of the time to avert a tragedy. Now, i come from a gun state. I come from a state, the beautiful state of oregon, the best state in the United States of america where people love to hunt. They love to target practice. They believe powerfully in the individual rights of the Second Amendment, but oregon is also a state where the citizens believe that we should not put guns into the hands of felons or those who are deeply mentally disturbed. And so it was in the year 2000 that measure five was put on the ballot as a Citizen Initiative and it passed overwhelmingly in the state of oregon to expand background checks to gun shows. The citizens did that in an initiative at the ballot. Its a state where our Legislature Took action just last year in senate bill 941, the oregon firearms safety act to close the craigslist loopho loophole. Where does this make so much sense . If you keep a terrorist from buying a gun at a gun shop, shouldnt you also keep that terrorist from buying a gun at a gun show . Shouldnt you also keep that terrorist from buying a gun out of the classifieds, the online classifieds, the craigslist classifieds . Yes. Of course, each piece of this makes sense to keep guns out of the hands of felons or those who are deeply mentally disturbed. In oregon, folks believe that people should buy their guns legally with the background check, and that that process shouldnt be averted through straw purchasers subverting the law by putting a different name than the name of the person whos actually acquiring the weapon. Hunters and target shooters in oregon know you dont need a military grade supersized magazine to go hunting and that smaller magazine sizes may give an opportunity to interrupt a killer during a shooting spree. When you hunt for ducks youre allowed three shells in the gun. One in the chamber and two in the magazine. So my question for the senator from connecticut is this when will Congress Finally say enough is enough . How many lives would have to be lost in one shooting for congress to act . When will Congress Join with responsible gun owners across this country and support common sense steps to prevent horrific tragedies . When will we close the terrorist gun loophole . When will we close the gun show loophole . When will we close the craigslist loophole . Like weve seen in sandy hook and like weve seen in roseburg and now with orlando, weve seen that all too much tragedy has taken place. Thank you, mr. President. Mr. Murphy i thank the senator. At this point i would yield to the senator from connecticut for a question without losing my right to the floor. Mr. Blumenthal i want to thank all of our colleagues who have come today and thank my friend and teammate in this cause and so many other causes, senator murphy, and just bring us back to the issue of why we are here today, why we have come to the floor, senator murphy, myself and senator booker of new jersey to make three essential points, and im going to ask my colleague from connecticut whether ive hit these points, the reasons that have brought us here today and so many eloquent colleagues, i might add, and i am deeply grateful to them. We are here debating an appropriations bill for commerce, justice, and science, but were here really on a much larger issue. Why is this debate different . Why is this day different . Orlando has hopefully brought us to a tipping point, changed the dynamic, enabled us to break through the paralysis and the complicity by inaction that has characterized the United States senate on the issue of stopping acts of terror and hatred in our country. And those acts may emanate from abroad. We have to fight that terrorism that is inspired or supported by our enemies abroad as well as people who are motivated by the twisted, insidious ideology that may be inspired or supported abroad, the per nishes hatred and bigotry pernicious hatred and bigotry, Mental Illness, whatever the cause. There are three simple points, are there not . There will be no business as usual until there is action. Enough is enough. Were here to say the time for business as usual on a routine appropriations bill, c. J. S. Appropriation, that time is done. Were here to make a historic point and seek to change the dynamic and seize this moment of National Tragedy and demand action. Thats what the American People want and that is the second point. There is a National Consensus that its not only our opportunity but our obligation to protect the American People, to make our nation safer, to assure that whether its twisted ideology, pernicious bigotry and hatred, Mental Illness, any other cause, we can and we will take steps to stop it and third, closing the terrorist loophole must be accompanied by universal background checks. For someone to be too dangerous to board a plane and still be able to buy a gun makes no sense but beyond the intellectual nonsensical quality of it, theres the real practical safety implications, somebody who is too dangerous to board a plane, to travel by air should be deemed too dangerous to buy a gun, as dangerous as a convicted felon already precluded by law from buying a gun, but that terrorist now, even if he were barred from buying a gun could easily go to a gun show and by a gun because theres no check whatsoever at those gun shows, not on the nix system let alone terrorist watch list. The two measures, closing the gun show loophole or background check gap, and closing the terrorist gap or loophole go hand in hand. They are a start. Theyre not a panacea. Theyre not a complete solution. Were going to be talking throughout the evening about other measures that can be tak taken. Those three points are essential. No business as usual. Enough is enough. A National Consensus in favor of common sense, sensible measures to make our nation safer from gun violence and from acts of terror and hate inspired and supported by forces of evil abroad and at home and finally combining these to measures, closing the terrorist gap loophole and also making sure there are background checks on all gun sales in the country. Are those not essential points, senator murphy . Mr. Murphy i thank the gentleman for distilling the reason of our presence on the floor down to those points. We see this as possible. We see it as possible to get a consensus between democrats and republicans to bring these to measures, closing the terrorist gap, expanding background checks before the senate floor this afternoon or tonight. We think that is possible and we intend to hold the floor until we make significant progress on that front. With that, i i yield to the gentleman for a question. Mr. Blumenthal if the g