To designate the National Pulse Memorial located at 1912 South Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida, 32806, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.

Madam Speaker, my colleagues and I are here today for this Special Order hour to celebrate Pride Month.

Pride is a time of celebration of our community and its diversity. It is a time to uplift LGBTQ+ people all across the country and honor our identities and how these individuals have shaped our lives.

Pride is also a time of action. Fifty-three years ago, LGBTQ+ patrons fought back against discrimination and police harassment at New York's Stonewall Inn. Now, we need to harness that same strength and determination to fight back against State legislatures' attacks against our community, especially trans and nonbinary kids.

For every person able to celebrate Pride Month, there are others who are struggling. There are countless people unable to come out because of discrimination, harassment, and threats of violence. In too many States, this discrimination is being led by elected officials.

Here in Congress, the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus fights every day so that all people, regardless of sexual identification or gender identity, can live their lives openly and have every opportunity to be successful and to lead happy lives.

I am proud to have introduced the Equality Act, along with every single member of the Democratic Caucus as cosponsors, to ensure that LGBTQ+ people are protected from discrimination in key areas of life. I also introduced the Global Respect Act to deny

visas to those who commit gross human rights abuses against members of the LGBTQ+ community around the world.

Both of these bills passed the House with bipartisan support, and I urge the Senate to quickly do the same and advance LGBTQ+ equality both at home and abroad.

As chair of the Equality Caucus, I will never stop fighting so that all LGBTQ+ people, no matter where they live or how they identify, can live their lives openly with the full protections of our Federal laws.

We have made important progress this Congress. In addition to passing several LGBTQ+ bills through the House, two key caucus priority bills have also become law: H.R. 49, to designate the Pulse nightclub as a National Memorial, and S. 937, which included the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act, which provides for grants to improve data collection of hate crimes, including hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation or gender identity, and grants for States to create hotlines to assist victims of hate crimes.

I am so grateful we have a devoted ally to the LGBTQ+ community in the White House who signed both of these bills into law. President Biden has been a champion for our community. Just last week, he signed an executive order advancing LGBTQI+ equality during Pride Month. This executive order aligns with the goals of numerous bills introduced by Equality Caucus members.

But we are not done fighting for LGBTQ+ equality. Later this week, we will be voting on the LGBTQI+ Data Inclusion Act to ensure Federal surveys collect information on the LGBTQI+ community. We know better data leads to better policies, and this bill will ensure we have the data we need to draft the best solutions to address the needs of our community.

It has been an especially difficult year for our community, particularly for transgender and nonbinary youth who are under attack across the country.

Please know that the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus and I will never stop fighting for you. You deserve to live your lives openly, free from discrimination or harassment, and to have every opportunity to succeed as your non-LGBTQ+ peers.

This Pride Month, we all have to recommit to fighting for true equality for all, every single person in our country, no matter where they live, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation.

I am so grateful to be joined today by several of my colleagues who are helping to lead this fight for LGBTQ+ equality in the Halls of Congress, and I look forward to hearing from them during this Special Order hour.

I again extend a happy Pride to everyone.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moulton), a member of the Equality Caucus, a strong advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, who took time out of a markup to be sure that he could be a part of this Special Order. For that, we are incredibly grateful.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his very powerful words and for being here tonight.

As Congressman Moulton was speaking, I was thinking of Congressman Pappas, because Congressman Pappas has been a great champion for veterans. He serves as a distinguished member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Veterans' Affairs Committee and in that role has been an extraordinary national leader on veterans' issues.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Pappas), a co-chairman of the Equality Caucus and a champion for the LGBTQ+ community.

Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Pappas so much for his powerful words and for his leadership and the example he has set.

Madam Speaker, I will now call on another co-chairman of the Equality Caucus, an extraordinarily distinguished member of the Financial Services Committee and Homeland Security Committee and someone who, though he is very young, has, throughout his entire life, been a great inspiration to young LGBTQ Americans and continues that great tradition as a Member of Congress.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Torres).

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his words and for the example that he set.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Stevens), my friend, a member of the Equality Caucus, and an incredibly strong advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, a cosponsor of the Equality Act, and a cosponsor of every single piece of legislation that has come to the floor of consequence to our community.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her words and her tremendous support of the LGBTQ+ community.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green), my friend, a member of the Equality Caucus, a strong and consistent advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, the lead sponsor of the House LGBTQIA+ Pride Month resolution for many, many years, and a great champion for our community.

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Green, and I know Glen is looking down very proud of your words tonight and the difference it is going to make to those who are watching.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Manning), a very thoughtful member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as someone who serves on the Education and Labor Committee, a member of the Equality Caucus, and a longtime champion of equality, justice, women's reproductive healthcare, and so many issues important to the LGBTQ+ community, and my friend.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her beautiful words and for her great support for the LGBTQ community.

Madam Speaker, before I conclude tonight's Special Order hour, I want to make some final comments.

We celebrate pride as a community and very often people think of pride celebrations as joyous public events with lots of people gathering. We just had a pride celebration in Providence last weekend. The estimates were that over 100,000 people attended.

Part of the importance of pride is that it is a moment of great visibility for our community. For too long, members of the LGBTQ+ community were taught to be ashamed of who they are, to hide their true identity, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Pride was not only a time to celebrate the importance of our community but to be visible--to stop being invisible people but to be visible in the communities where we live and work.

Over the years, we have had extraordinary leaders from our community in business, medicine, politics, the arts, education, and all areas of life.

We have nine members of the LGBTQ community serving right here in the House and two in the United States Senate, examples of political leadership all across the country so that young people can see themselves in people who are accomplishing things in all areas of life--in the law, politics, medicine, and education.

It is a time of celebration, but we have to acknowledge this year that we are facing great challenges as a community. Particularly young trans kids and nonbinary kids are living in States where the adults are putting forth legislation that will make them invisible, that will subject them to horrific discrimination, that will not recognize the humanity of those young people.

It is a time of celebration. It is a time to take stock of all that we have done. But it is also a time for action to remind ourselves and the rest of the

country that we demand to live in a country where we enjoy full legal protections and we can live our lives free from discrimination of any kind.

The good news is, overwhelmingly, a vast majority of the American people support equality for LGBTQ people. They think discrimination is wrong.

Equality is a founding value of this country. In every State in America, a majority of voters believe that discrimination against LGBTQ people is wrong because a cornerstone of who we are as Americas is that we know discrimination is wrong.

It is only in the Republican Conference that we have to convince people that discrimination against the LGBTQ community is wrong. It is time for Congress and our Republican colleagues to catch up to the rest of the country that understands that when you deprive a member of the LGBTQ community of full equality, you not only hurt that individual but you hurt the whole community because the community is deprived of all that that person can accomplish and contribute.

That is the real harm of discrimination. It is not just to the individual. It is to the whole community and to our whole country.

Madam Speaker, as we mark Pride Month, we not only celebrate, but we also commit ourselves to make additional progress to continue in our fight for full equality. The LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus here in the House will continue to lead that fight in solidarity with all of our colleagues.

I am proud to be part of a political party that fully supports LGBTQ equality. When we introduced the Equality Act, it was cosponsored by every single Democrat in the Caucus. Everyone wanted to be a partner in this fight for full equality, and that is what the American people expect.

Madam Speaker, I say to the young people out there who may be struggling with their own sexual orientation, their own gender identity, feeling alone, feeling like they don't belong, feeling like they are not valued: I am standing on the floor of the House of Representatives as the chair of the Equality Caucus to tell you that you are valued. You are exactly how God created and expected you to be. You are loved by your community and your family. You will continue to be valued. You have people here in the Congress of the United States who are fighting every single day to make sure you can live in a country that will provide you with full protections and that you can live a life free from discrimination of any kind.

I hope that will be some comfort to know that you have a President who said right from that rostrum, Madam Speaker, to the trans kids: I have your back.

That was the President of the United States who is the most powerful person on the planet saying to young people from our community he has your back.

So that has to give us a lot of hope of what future Pride celebrations will mean and the kind of country we live in. I thank all my colleagues who participated in tonight's Special Order hour.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I stand here in the name of Mr. Garza, whose daughter in Uvalde bled out, Buffalo, Tulsa, Parkland, Santa Fe, and Sandy Hook. I stand here with the recognition of my chairman, Mr. Nadler, and the years and decades--mine, over two decades--of fighting for gun laws.

As I hold up the number of gun laws that I introduced over 27 years-- pages and pages--I can say to the Senate that in this bill, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, they have built on our legislation.

My bill, the Mental Health Access and Gun Violence Prevention Act, which will increase access to mental health treatment, is in this bill. The Violence Against Women Act, the boyfriend loophole, is in this bill. The Protecting Our Kids Act and the issues dealing with raising the age, bump stocks, and ghost guns are yet to be done, but we can stand on this because it was bipartisan.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a list of gun violence prevention legislation.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas Gun Violence Prevention

Legislation

117th Congress

H.R. 127--Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration

Act

H.R. 2585, ``Juvenile Accountability Block Grant

Reauthorization and the Bullying Prevention and Intervention

Act''

H.R. 121--Grin Violence Reduction Resources Act of 2021

H.R. 125, Gun Safety: Not Sorry Act of 2021

H.R. 130, Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act

H.R. 135, Accidental Firearms Transfers Reporting Act of

2021

H.R. 137, Mental Health Access and Gun Violence Prevention

Act of 2021

H.R. 133, David Ray Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2021

116th Congress

H.R. 49, Santa Fe High School Victims Act

H.R. 4080, Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act

H.R. 4081, Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration

Act

H.R. 4082, Accidental Firearms Transfers Reporting Act of

2019

115th Congress

H.R. 57, Accidental Firearms Transfers Reporting Act of

2017

H.R. 62, Gun Violence Reduction Resources Act of 2017

H.R. 1982, Mental Health Access and Gun Violence Prevention

Act of 2017

H.R. 1983, David Ray Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2017

H.R. 4268, Gun Safety: Not Sorry Act of 2017

H.R. 5088, No More Atrocities with Guns Act or the No MAGA

Act

H.R. 7016, Protect Lives and Stop the Imminent Chaos Act of

2019--the PLASTIC Act

114th Congress

H.R. 4315--Mental Health Access and Gun Violence Prevention

Act

H.R. 4316--Gun Violence Reduction Resources Act

H.R. 47--Gun Storage and Safety Devices for All Firearms

Act

H.R. 3125--Accidental Firearms Transfers Reporting Act

H.R. 5470--Stopping Mass Killings by Violent Terrorists Act

H. Amdt. 48 to H.R. 5 Student Success Act

H.R. 68--Tiffany Joslyn Juvenile Accountability Block Grant

Program Reauthorization Act of 2016

113th Congress

H.R. 65, Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of

2013

H.R. 2665, To ensure secure gun storage and gun safety

devices

H.R. 2585--Juvenile Accountability Block Grant

Reauthorization and the Bullying Prevention and Intervention

Act of 2013

112th Congress

H.R. 4315, Mental Health Access and Gun Violence Prevention

Act of 2016

H.R. 4316, Gun Violence Reduction Resources Act of 2016

H.R. 65, Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of

2013

H.R. 2665, To ensure secure gun storage and gun safety

devices.

H.R. 227--Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of

2011

H.R. 83--Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act of 2011

H.R. 5770--Juvenile Accountability Block Grant

Reauthorization and the Bullying Prevention and Intervention

Act

H.R. 6019--Juvenile Accountability Block Grant

Reauthorization and the Bullying Prevention and Intervention

Act of 2012

111th Congress

H.R. 257--Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of

2009

H.R. 6542--Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act of 2010

110th Congress

H.R. 256--Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of

2007

109th Congress

H.R. 246--Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of

2005

108th Congress

H.R. 76--Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of

2003

107th Congress

H.R 70--Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of

2001

H. Amdt. 187--107th Congress

106th Congress

H.R. 3987--Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act

of 2000

Mr. Speaker, people are dying every day, and it is obvious that through the legislation--The New York Times said here are the shootings, pages and pages, that could have been stopped by stricter gun laws.

Mr. Speaker, this article has the mass shootings where stricter gun laws might have made a difference.

We understand that this legislation is only the concrete beginning. My friends are going to attack that, but the American people are 70 percent for banning various weapons that are assault weapons. They are 70 percent and more for extreme risk protection. They are 70 percent and more for understanding that we need an extended time for purchase of these guns. And, yes, they are supporters of the Kimberly Vaughn Safe Storage Act, which is a storage bill that says that we need to get people to prevent suicide and to store their guns.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2938, the ``Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.''

America is experiencing a crisis of gun violence.

In America, gun violence threatens our sense of safety and security everywhere we go: where we shop for groceries; where we worship with our families; and where we enjoy movies, dancing, outdoor festivals, and concerts with friends.

I and many other members of Congress have introduced commonsense gun safety legislation to make communities safer--over and over, year after year, Congress after Congress. Until now, we have been unable to pass any meaningful legislation.

After more than twenty years of drafting and repeatedly introducing gun safety legislation, like my bill, the Mental Health Access and Gun Violence Prevention Act to increase access to mental health treatment and promote reporting of mental health information to the background check system, I am encouraged by the steps we are taking today but wish we did not have to lose so many lives to reach this point.

For years, I fought to close the boyfriend loophole--most recently in the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization of 2021, which passed the House last year.

Finally, through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, we will ensure abusive dating partners convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms for at least five years.

Two weeks ago, this body proved to the American people that a compromise could be reached on sensible gun safety measures when we passed the ``Protecting Our Kids Act.'' That legislation, which I introduced along with Chairman Jerry Nadler and Representative Mike Thompson, encompassed decades of our hard work and proved to be the catalyst for the bill we are considering today.

Like the Protecting Our Kids Act, this bill would establish new federal offenses that specifically prohibit gun trafficking and straw purchasing to thwart guns moving through the iron pipeline, keeping them off the street and out of the hands of criminals.

While our bill would have raised the age at which a person could purchase a semiautomatic rifle from 18 to 21--a concept I proposed in my No More Atrocities with Guns Act of 2018--this bill would enhance the background check process and investigative period for purchases of rifles by anyone under the age of 21 and further strengthen the background check process by clarifying who is engaged in the business of selling firearms and, as a result, is required to run background checks.

We also passed the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2021 recently that would give loved ones the ability to seek an extreme risk protection order before our federal court when an individual presents a serious threat to themselves or others by use of a firearm and provide funding to enhance, promote, and implement similar laws at the state- level, which Safer Communities will do.

With the passage of this bill, we make a significant step forward in the fight to end gun violence. But we must keep working to find reasonable solutions to other problems that contribute to gun violence in this country that are not addressed in this bill.

We must ban deadly bump stocks, ghost guns, and high-capacity magazines as we endeavored to do in the Protecting Our Kids Act. We must ban assault weapons.

We must institute a seven-day waiting period for purchases of the deadliest of instrumentalities such as silencers and body armor, which I have pressed for in my own bill, the Gun Safety: Not Sorry Act of 2017 and 2021, and assault weapons if we do not ban them.

We must pass legislation that encourages safe firearm storage practices, like my bill the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act that was included in the Protecting Our Kids Act to expand the requirement that safe storage devices be made available at the point of sale, which will train new gun owners on the value of safe storage and remind seasoned gun owners that safe storage goes hand-in-hand with responsible gun ownership.

23 years after Columbine when I first began introducing gun safety legislation, and hundreds of thousands of gun deaths later, we continue to mourn the unnecessary loss of life. Enough is enough.

While this bill may not solve all the problems that contribute to the epidemic of gun violence, we must pass it without delay. Far too many lives have been lost for us to wait any longer.

I support this meaningful, bipartisan legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same. Let us save lives and protect the children of America--together.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act would inject $4.5 billion in critical funding into various state agencies and programs through the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Education to:

Expand community mental health services for children and families, and fund school-based mental health services and supports;

Implement evidence-based school violence prevention efforts; and

Encourage and support evidence-based, community violence intervention programs and crisis intervention services, including the implementation of vital Red Flag Laws--which have been proven to reduce the firearm suicide rates in states that have already enacted such laws.

In America, gun violence is the leading cause of death among children. In America, an average of 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner every month. In America, mass shootings occur increasingly each year--and every day, 316 people on average are shot. In America, 45,979 deaths were by suicide in 2020--more than half of those deaths were by firearm.

Each day parents send their children off to school, from elementary age to college, praying now more than ever that they will return to them safe and sound.

19 elementary school-aged children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas; 10 people going about their daily lives at a market in Buffalo, New York, all killed by 18-year-olds wielding AR-15-style weapons of war. And 4 people murdered at a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma with another assault weapon purchased only hours earlier.

In my home state of Texas, the El Paso Walmart shooting--22 dead; Sutherland Springs--26 dead; Santa Fe High School--10 dead; Fort Hood in 2009--13 dead; and the Dallas shooting of police--5 officers dead and nine others injured.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1204, I call up the bill (S. 2938) to designate the United States Courthouse and Federal Building located at 111 North Adams Street in Tallahassee, Florida, as the ``Joseph Woodrow Hatchett United States Courthouse and Federal Building'', and for other purposes, with the Senate amendments to the House amendment thereto, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on S. 2938.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not comment on the decision of the Supreme Court, just minutes ago, to revoke the constitutional right to abortion, a right that millions of Americans have relied upon for half a century.

Worse, Justice Thomas has indicated that this is merely the beginning of a radical, rightwing effort to roll back other rights, including the right to contraception, the right to marry whomever we choose, and the fundamental right to privacy.

We should observe that the same Justices telling us today that questions about reproductive rights must be left to the States, told us just yesterday that the States cannot be trusted to regulate modern firearms, weapons that were never dreamed of by the Framers of the Second Amendment. History will prove these activists wrong on both counts.

But today, Mr. Speaker, we take a historic first step toward ending the epidemic of gun violence in this Nation, the only developed Nation with this problem.

We come to this moment after the tragic loss of so many innocent lives: 10 African Americans in Buffalo, targeted because of their race; 19 young students and 2 teachers in Uvalde, just a few days short of their summer vacations; scores more lost in other mass shootings too numerous to mention; and over 100 more Americans killed every day in gun violence that never makes the headlines.

No piece of legislation can ever bring these lives back. No legislation can make their families or their communities whole. But we can act to keep others from facing the same trauma they have endured.

A few weeks ago, I was proud to bring forth the Protecting Our Kids Act,

which took a bipartisan and comprehensive approach to ending gun violence. I am pleased that the Senate incorporated portions of that bill into their own legislation.

I wish there was more. I wish we could say we were doing everything we could to prevent another parent from losing their child to gun violence, but I am proud to be making an important start today.

This cannot be the last step, but we also cannot let another day go by without taking action to make our communities safer and to keep even one more family whole.

Recently, I have turned to a particular teaching in the Talmud:

Whoever takes one life, it is as if he kills the entire

world; and whoever saves one life, it is as if he saves the

entire world.

This legislation includes provisions that will save many lives. Like the Protecting Our Kids Act, it includes funding to implement extreme risk protection laws and the prohibition on straw purchasing. It also strengthens background checks for those under 21, makes more sellers responsible for conducting background checks, takes steps to address the boyfriend loophole, and provides significant funding for programs that will make our communities safer.

Today, we will send legislation to the President's desk, for the first time in decades, that will make progress toward ending the scourge of gun violence.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the distinguished Speaker of the House.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished majority leader of the House.

Mr. Speaker, when the previous speaker refers to using guns to protect tyranny, he is talking--whether he realizes it or not-- about stopping tyranny by turning those weapons against American troops.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), who is the chairman of the Gun Violence Task Force.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Lieu), who is a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Correa), who is a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Crow).

Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time remains on each side.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Dingell).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Michigan.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Kelly).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from New Jersey (Ms. Sherrill).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from New Jersey.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Nevada.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke), from the great Empire State.

Mr. Speaker, how much time remains on each side, please?

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Leger Fernandez).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Higgins).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Gomez).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the difference between this country and other countries is only that in this country do we have mass shootings and mass murders of children. No other country has them.

We know from the experience in New Jersey, as Ms. Sherrill told us, that when we pass strong gun control legislation, we can greatly reduce the number of children and adults shot.

We hear from the other side of the aisle, ``No, we don't want to do that.'' They are right: This legislation is the beginning.

This legislation is not perfect. It is a bipartisan compromise. It is not nearly what we should do. It is not nearly what the House did, but it is a beginning. It is a beginning in saving lives in this country.

Anyone who stands in its way is standing in the way of saving lives in this country. I will not allow myself or anyone I associate with to stand in the way of saving lives, many lives.

Again, I remind you, this is the only country that has it, and it is not because we have more mentally ill than other countries. It is because we do not have the gun control laws that other countries do.

Mr. Speaker, I urge everyone to vote for this bill as a good beginning, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his extraordinary leadership in bringing this very important legislation to the floor. I commend the chairman, as well as Mr. Mike Thompson, the chair of our Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, and so many others who have participated in so many elements of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a strong step forward to combat America's epidemic of gun violence and to protect our precious children.

As lawmakers, we share a sacred responsibility to keep our kids safe from harm. But according to new data from the CDC, guns are the number one killer of children in America; more than car accidents or cancer. Our hearts remain shattered by the rampage at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, as they do from the massacre at Sandy Hook, and countless other communities across the Nation.

Indeed, we know these schools could have been in any one of our districts--and have been in some, those families could have been any one of our neighbors--and have been, and those children could have been our own.

All of us who have met with survivors in the wake of the tragedies have heard their message loud and clear. We must do something.

Today, in their honor, we heed their powerful cry, sending a major gun violence prevention legislation to President Biden's desk for signature. We send it to the President for his signature, with gratitude for his leadership on this important issue. He was the author of the Brady Law in 1994 and has been a champion ever since.

This legislation, the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, includes several strong steps to save lives not only from horrific mass shootings, but also from the daily massacre of gun crime, suicide, and tragic accidents.

Included in this package are two major provisions which we have championed here in the House:

First, this bill includes significant investments to help States establish Extreme Risk Protection Order Laws, otherwise known as red flag laws.

Thanks to the leadership of Representative Lucy McBath, who has been our inspirational leader on this subject in our caucus and this Congress, and Salud Carbajal, these provisions will keep deadly weapons away from those who pose a threat to themselves and to others.

Secondly, this bill takes strong action to combat straw purchases, a cause Congresswoman Robin Kelly spearheaded in our Chamber. Although we hear about the notorious mass murders every day on our streets and in our country, murders take place. Doing so will make it illegal to buy guns on behalf of those who cannot legally purchase.

If I can pass the test, I buy the gun. And then I sell it to you because you can't pass the test.

Straw purchase. Very dangerous. This bill addresses that. That is a giant step.

This package also includes additional initiatives that will help reduce the danger of gun violence across our country. We are moving toward closing the boyfriend loophole: a victory to help protect survivors of domestic violence and to stop known abusers from acquiring a gun. This has long been a priority.

We are strengthening background checks for potential buyers under 21, which would have applied to the 18-year-old gunman at Uvalde. And we are making enormous investments in mental health programs, school safety programs, and community-based violence prevention initiatives.

I mention all these, Mr. Speaker, because, of course, I have to say that this

bill doesn't do everything we would like to do. We need to do more on background checks. There is some other language that we would like to do in terms of background checks not only on guns, but perhaps on high- capacity armament.

I say to my colleagues, as I frequently do--but it applies here now more than ever: Let us not judge this legislation for what is not in it but respect it for what it does. And what it does is save lives. And we are very, very proud of that.

Again, I thank Chairman Nadler and Gun Violence Protection Task Force chairman, Mike Thompson, for their determined leadership in bringing this legislation to the floor. This package represents the most significant action to prevent gun violence in nearly three decades and is a necessary step to honor our solemn duty as lawmakers to protect and defend the American people.

Importantly, the bipartisan Safer Communities Act has earned strong support from gun owners, gun survivors, and law enforcement alike.

Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership endorse our bill saying: ``We write today as responsible gun owners; but above all else, we are proud parents and grandparents of toddlers, students, and young teachers. We want them to be safe.''

Everytown for Gun Safety wrote that this ``commonsense legislation addresses every form of gun violence.''

And the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police applauded our bipartisan agreement, calling it a giant step forward and one that will save lives. I repeat: A giant step forward and one that will save lives. The statements are from the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Indeed, keeping our children safe is a unifying issue for our country, and it must be a unifying issue in this Congress.

Yesterday, our Nation watched in horror as a radical partisan supermajority of the Supreme Court ruled to flood America's streets with even more deadly weapons.

It is unconscionable that as America reaches a fever pitch of gun violence, the Court has chosen to create a new right to bring guns into public spaces, while hindering the ability of States to stop the bloodshed. In doing so, the GOP supermajority, Trump-McConnell Court, is implicitly endorsing the tragedy of mass shootings and daily gun deaths plaguing our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, with this bipartisan package, we take the first steps to fight back on behalf of the American people who desperately want new measures to keep communities safe in the high numbers in the polling.

Our Democratic House majority has again and again passed landmark legislation that would combat the scourge of gun violence, and we will never give up in our fight to save lives

Mr. Speaker, our fight to prevent gun violence is of, by, and for the children.

Of the children, because they are suffering. It is heartbreaking that in America more children die from guns than any other cause.

By the children, because they are leading. We see the children marching in the streets, testifying before Congress, demanding action.

And always for the children, building a future where every child can reach his or her fulfillment, free from the fear of gun violence.

To the Members who lack the courage to join in this work--to those who lack the courage to join in this work--I say your political survival is insignificant compared to the survival of our children. Today, we will prevail for the children.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a strong bipartisan ``aye'' vote for this lifesaving legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, let me first say, God bless the United States Supreme Court. And God bless President Trump for the people he selected for our highest court. Today's decision is a win for the Constitution and a win for the sanctity of human life. June 24, 2022, a date that will be remembered as a win for the sacredness of human life.

Now this bill. Mr. Speaker, the rights spelled out in the First Amendment and protected by the Second Amendment are why the United States is different than every other country. It is why we are special. It is why we are the greatest Nation in history.

For 18 months, the Democrats have attacked our First Amendment liberties. Today, they are coming after our Second Amendment liberties. And who knows what it will be tomorrow. I can only imagine.

My guess is, in light of the decision yesterday from Justice Thomas, the decision today from the Court, my guess is they are going to look to pack the Court. The Democrat chair of the Committee on the Judiciary has already introduced legislation to pack the Court.

It might be amnesty for the 2 million illegal immigrants who have come into our country in the Biden administration. They told us they want to end the electoral college and the filibuster--and who knows what it will be tomorrow. But today, they are coming after law-abiding American citizens' Second Amendment liberties.

Understand what this legislation does. This legislation tells States: Someone who doesn't like you can report you to law enforcement or to a judge. There will be a hearing, a hearing where you can't be at, your lawyer can't be at, you can't confront your accuser. You didn't commit any crime, but they can take your property. They can take your guns. They can take away your Second Amendment rights. And then you have to petition to have a subsequent hearing where you get them back. That is what this legislation does.

And understand this, and this is so important. This is not being done in a vacuum. Understand what we have seen from the left and how they have weaponized a government against their political enemies.

Mr. Speaker, 12 years ago, it was the IRS targeting conservatives.

Mr. Speaker, 6 years ago, it was the FBI spying on President Trump's campaign.

More recently, it was the Department of Justice using counterterrorism measures against moms and dads.

Just a few weeks ago, the Department of Homeland Security set up the Disinformation Governance Board; going to chill everyone's speech. Today, they are coming after your Second Amendment liberties.

Here is the good news: Yesterday, the Supreme Court got it right. They got it right when it came to the Second Amendment. We should celebrate that. I hope that this bill doesn't pass. It seems like it is going to, but I hope it doesn't.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you what saves lives. The decision we got from the Supreme Court today saves lives. This bill takes rights away from law-abiding citizens, their Second Amendment liberties. That is the key distinction.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my friend, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Fitzgerald).

We sure aren't the same, Mr. Speaker. We actually think you should protect the sanctity of human life, and we so appreciate the decision from the Court today. We don't think you should take away rights from law-abiding American citizens.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Tiffany).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Buck).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Green).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cline).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Bishop), my friend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to my friend, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Massie), the co-chair of the Second Amendment Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, experience has taught me when you have to say a bill is constitutional, it is probably not. When you have to say a bill adheres to due process, it probably doesn't. And this bill certainly doesn't.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, again, I urge a ``no'' vote on this legislation.

Proponents say that this bill doesn't violate due process. Nothing could be further from the truth.

You haven't been charged with a crime, but there is a hearing, a hearing that you are not allowed to be at. You can't be present at a hearing where you don't have a lawyer and a hearing where a judge can take your property.

Again, just to underscore this, you haven't been charged with a crime, but there is a hearing where your property and your rights are at stake.

You are not allowed to be there; your lawyer is not allowed to be there; and you can't confront your accuser. But they can take your gun; they can take your property; and they can take your Second Amendment liberty.

Here is the scariest part of all: As my friend from Kentucky just pointed out, the Democrats say this is just the first step, that this doesn't go far enough. Holy cow. So that kind of proceeding doesn't go far enough when it comes to your Second Amendment liberties?

One of the key things that separates this great Nation from all other countries is how we have due process in our justice system. This bill takes it away. No other way to put it.

You can say all day long that it doesn't violate due process, but as I said just a few minutes ago, every time I hear that, experience has taught me that it most certainly does. When you have to say it, it probably does. In this case, it is certainly violating due process. There are other problems, but for that reason alone, we should vote ``no.''

Again, the scariest thing of all is that they are saying: ``Oh, this is just the first step. This doesn't go far enough.'' Imagine where they want to take us.

Their beef is with the Second Amendment. They want it to go away. Don't let it happen. I urge a ``no'' vote.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.