Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021

Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 188 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

General Leave

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Madam Speaker, today, the Committee on Rules met and reported House Resolution 188, providing structured rules for consideration of H.R. 842, H.R. 8, and H.R. 1446.

For H.R. 842, the rule self-executes a manager's amendment by Chairman Scott, makes in order 19 amendments, and provides for 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and the ranking member of the Committee on Education and Labor.

For H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446, the rule makes in order eight and four amendments, respectively, and provides 1 hour of debate for each bill equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on the Judiciary.

The rule further provides en bloc authority and a motion to recommit for each bill.

The rule also adds an additional minority member to the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

Finally, the rule provides for recess instructions, suspension authority, and same-day authority from March 13 through April 22, and activates the Consensus Calendar.

Madam Speaker, this is the first time I have been able to be on the floor and present in almost a year. A year ago, as some of you know, I had an accident and proceeded to spend 6 weeks in the George Washington University Hospital intensive care unit, 4 of those weeks on a ventilator.

My sons came from California to be told by the doctors in a windowless room at George Washington that I had about a 10 percent chance of survival. The next day, they got a phone call, expecting to hear that their dad had died. Instead, the doctor told them that I was doing better.

Madam Speaker, I know that you know how grateful we are to have the wonderful gift of life, to share it with our children, and to be here in this sanctum sanctorum of American democracy. I am grateful. I am grateful to my staff, to the providence of our creator, and to my family.

Madam Speaker, our Nation is struggling, and not only because of the coronavirus pandemic. Our Nation needs bold, meaningful changes to make a real difference for average Americans. That is what the three bills before us today do. Each addresses its own epidemic: gun violence; inequality; and, unfortunately, an ugly part of human nature, greed.

Madam Speaker, nearly 40,000 people died from firearm injuries in the United States in 2019. History would show that enacting smart, evidence-based policies based on public health premises reduces this sad phenomenon.

Madam Speaker, 22 percent of U.S. gun owners acquired their most recent firearm without a background check. That means that millions of Americans got millions of guns with no questions asked. Approximately 80 percent of all firearms acquired for criminal purposes are obtained through private party transfers, which currently do not require background checks.

Ninety-six percent of the inmates surveyed, who were prohibited from possessing a firearm at the time they committed their crime, had obtained their firearm from an unlicensed private seller, avoiding the background check altogether.

In California, where I am proud to live and serve, all private gun sales must be completed through a licensed firearms dealer, requiring a background check--a universal background check and a mandatory waiting period. Not coincidentally--and the public health experts will let us know through their evidence-based research--California has the ninth- lowest rate of gun violence across the United States. Gun killings in Connecticut, similarly, fell by 40 percent after it required a mandatory background check and a gun safety course before the purchase of a gun.

We know what we need to do to help protect millions of Americans. Universal background checks are supported by decades of evidence. The Bipartisan Background Checks Act, H.R. 8, institutes universal background checks.

Additionally, the Enhanced Background Checks Act, H.R. 1446, ends the arbitrary rule that if a background check hasn't been completed in 3 days, the gun can be sold regardless.

I proudly support these bills because the evidence is clear that they will make our communities safer and save lives.

Madam Speaker, next, the rule will allow us to consider the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or the PRO Act. The rise in inequality in this country has coincided with a decline in union membership. By most estimates, declining unionization accounted for about one-third of the increase in inequality--one-third--from 1980 through the 1990s through today.

If you watch the data over the years, as States move as a group toward less union coverage, those same States have much worse income inequality. You cannot address inequality without increasing access for working people to representation. Unions do not only raise wages for the workers they represent, but they have also been shown to moderate the compensation of executives.

On top of the obvious benefits you think of that are associated with the labor unions, like higher wages, safer workplaces, some of the others that come along with union membership also help address the inequities in our society.

Union workers are more likely to receive paid leave, are up to 28 percent more likely to have employer-sponsored health insurance, and are up to 54 percent more likely to be enrolled in employer-sponsored pensions. Not only do workers have better access to pensions, but their employers contribute an average of 28 percent more toward those pensions, retirement security for Americans, than nonunion employers.

As the chairman of the subcommittee of jurisdiction, I know that the PRO Act simply updates labor law to ensure that workers in today's economy are able to create and join labor unions to receive the same kinds of protections they see in other sectors. Nothing more.

As President Eisenhower once said during the largest expansion of the American economy in history, when labor unions had one-third of the workforce: ``Only a fool would try to deprive working men and women of the right to join the union of their choice.''

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the distinguished chairwoman of the Committee on Appropriations.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record an article published in the March 3 USA Today titled: ``Congress renews gun safety push with background check bills.''

[From USA TODAY, Mar. 3, 2021]

Congress Renews Gun Safety Push With Background Check Bills

(By Amanda Becker)

Congressional lawmakers this week revived an effort to

enact significant gun safety laws for the first time in more

than 25 years by introducing bills to establish a universal

background check system that has broad support from the

public.

The bills introduced Tuesday in the House and Senate would

extend current federal background check requirements to

transactions conducted by unlicensed and private sellers.

Legislation was reintroduced in Congress to extend

background checks to transactions conducted by private and

unlicensed gun sellers.

The gun safety group Giffords estimates that 22% of U.S.

gun owners purchased their last firearm without completing a

background check. Polling shows that more than 90% of

Americans support a universal background check system.

The measures are what gun safety advocates predicted would

be a first step in pursuing new gun laws now that Democrats

control the White House and both chambers of Congress. In

recent years, gun safety bills stalled even when they had

bipartisan public support, in part because Republican

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not bring them up for

votes when he led the Senate from 2015 to 2021.

Rep. Mike Thompson, a California Democrat who chairs a

congressional gun violence prevention task force, on Tuesday

reintroduced bipartisan House legislation that would require

background checks for all firearm sales. The House first

passed the bill in 2019, one year after a mass shooting at

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida,

left 17 dead.

``Time and time again, we have seen that the American

people want universal background checks, in fact public

polling shows that the majority of people, Democrats,

Republicans and independents, support this,'' Thompson said

in a statement.

The Senate is evenly split between Democrats and

Republicans, and the measure would have to pick up bipartisan

support to pass that chamber given that most legislation must

clear a 60-vote threshold.

``This Congress we will finally bring common sense gun

reforms up for a vote in the House and the Senate, and the

single most popular and effective proposal we can consider is

universal background checks,'' Murphy said in a video about

the effort.

When the House passed background checks legislation in

2019, the bill ran aground in the then Republican-controlled

Senate, where McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, did not bring

it up for a vote.

``Now, with Senate Democrats in the Majority, we have the

opportunity to act on this overwhelmingly popular, lifesaving

legislation to protect American communities,'' Senate

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement on the

bill's introduction.

Advocates for new gun safety laws have hoped that with

President Joe Biden in the White House and Democrats

controlling the House and Senate, there is an opportunity for

action. The NRA is also grappling with multiple crises: New

York's attorney general is investigating whether its leaders

misappropriated more than $60 million for personal use, and

the NRA filed for bankruptcy in January. Its remaining

officials insist the organization remains solvent, and it

plans to reincorporate in Texas.

``This is the moment,'' said Shannon Watts, the founder of

Moms Demand Action, a grassroots organization started in late

2012 that now has nearly 6 million supporters.

``We have a trifecta and they have a mandate to act on

this. We have a grassroots army to support them and the NRA

is weaker than they've ever been,'' she added.

Already this week, Rep. Jim Clyburn, a key Biden ally from

South Carolina, reintroduced a bill that would close the so-

called ``Charleston loophole'' that allows firearm purchases

to move forward after three business days, even if a

background check has not been completed. It is named for the

2015 mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal

Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine died after

the gunman was able to purchase a firearm when the three-day

window expired.

Last month, to mark the third anniversary of the Parkland

shooting, Biden called for the passage of ``common sense''

gun safety laws. He cited a background checks bill among his

top priorities.

The last major law passed to curb gun violence was the

Federal Assault Weapons Ban enacted by Democratic President

Bill Clinton in 1994. But even that had a 10-year sunset

provision that has since expired. Several attempts to renew

it, including by President Barack Obama in 2013 after Sandy

Hook, all derailed in a Republican-controlled Senate.

Groups pushing for gun safety measures told The 19th

earlier this year that a background check bill would probably

be the starting point early in the Biden administration

because it has broader bipartisan support than other

measures. President Donald Trump acknowledged in 2019 that

there was a ``great appetite'' for such a proposal after mass

shootings in Ohio and Texas, as did McConnell, though he did

not go on to bring it up for a vote.

A ``red flag'' bill giving courts the power to temporarily

confiscate firearms from individuals deemed at risk or anti-

gun trafficking legislation could be taken up next, the

advocates said.

Biden advisers Susan Rice and Cedric Richmond met last

month with gun safety groups that included Everytown for Gun

Safety, Moms Demand Action, Giffords and Brady to discuss

background checks, the proliferation of so-called ``ghost''

guns (homemade firearms or those with serial numbers removed)

and violence intervention programs, the White House said.

Biden has also pledged to work with Congress to reauthorize

the Violence Against Women Act, which he worked on as a

senator in the 1990s. In 2019, the House approved a VAWA

provision to close the so-called ``boyfriend loophole'' that

allows current and former unmarried partners convicted of

abuse and stalking to continue to purchase firearms. That

effort also stalled in the Senate. Democratic House leaders

said this week they will be taking up VAWA reauthorization

later this month.

Madam Speaker, more than 90 percent of Americans support a universal background check system. Passing this legislation is simply common sense, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague and friend on the Rules Committee that we should enforce existing laws. In States like California where we have universal background checks, we have seen that gun violence has gone down, as I said in my earlier remarks. We have also seen that 30 percent of the guns used in criminal activity are actually imported into the State from other States.

To the previous comments that we need a national standard, that is why we need a national standard. It doesn't mean that States like California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts can't do these things, and it is a good laboratory, as Justice Brandeis said, that States should be the laboratory for innovation. We know these things work. So I would agree that we should enforce and get the revenue, the existing law.

But clearly, eliminating the background checks loophole would help make Americans safe.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I have one comment. The idea of opinions in the interpretation of the Second Amendment, there are 13 States, as I understand it, right now, who have universal background checks. All of them are working consistent with upholding the Second Amendment. Californians who have a universal background check can go out and legally buy a gun. It just decreases the number of deaths and injuries when you have this kind of law, Madam Speaker.

So I agree with the gentleman who spoke and said it shouldn't be about opinion. Neither of us decides what is constitutional in this instance. The courts do, and the courts have allowed local and State governments to implement these commonsense laws.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, a correction. The bill doesn't say indefinitely for the background checks. It says 10 days with the availability of an additional 10 days for a maximum of 20 days. So it is not indefinite.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would just like to point out that having a gun in your home actually makes you more likely to be a victim of gun violence.

Of the over 40,000 Americans who lost their lives from gun violence in 2018--the last year we have up-to-date statistics--two-thirds of those were by suicide. This is one of the big contributing factors to what are the so-called diseases of despair which happen everywhere in this country right now in these difficult times, and it has gotten worse under COVID. But the proximity to the guns actually leads to more of an opportunity for people to be the victim of gun violence.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a February 18 Washington Post editorial titled: ``Maryland just closed a gun loophole. The state is safer for it.''

[From The Washington Post, Feb. 18, 2021]

Maryland Just Closed a Gun Loophole. The State is Safer for it.

(By Editorial Board)

Given America's lurid history of gun violence, it is

confounding that buyers can purchase firearms in some places

without background checks. It's even more astonishing that it

remains the case in a liberal stronghold such as Maryland,

which suffered its own recent trauma owing to a deranged

gunman bent on mass murder.

Lawmakers in Annapolis last week finally closed a loophole

in state law that waived background checks for buyers who

make private purchases of shotguns and rifles. Sales of

handguns as well as shotguns and rifles from licensed dealers

in Maryland have long been subject to mandatory checks

through a federal database, but long guns were exempted when

the transaction took place through private dealers, including

those at gun shows.

The Democratic-controlled legislature pushed through the

change this month by overriding a gratuitous veto cast last

year by Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, who made no public

argument to defend the loophole beyond the fact that he had

not proposed closing it. The change takes effect next month.

Gun rights advocates and their Republican allies in the

legislature characterized the legislation as an assault on

rural Maryland's way of life and a burden for hunters. In

fact, whatever (probably slight) inconvenience some sportsmen

might undergo because of the new law is outweighed by the

obstacle it may pose for buyers who have no business owning

firearms.

It does not take a feat of imagination to foresee an act of

gun violence carried out by someone who, stymied by a

background check conducted by a licensed dealer, turns to a

private seller instead. Less than three years ago, a gunman

nursing a grievance massacred five people and injured two

others on a rampage through the newsroom of the Capital

Gazette newspaper, in Annapolis. He used a shotgun. As it

happens, he passed a background check when he purchased it; a

previous conviction, in 2011, for criminal harassment, was a

misdemeanor, not serious enough to forbid the sale. Yet even

if he had been convicted of a felony, he might still have

obtained a weapon easily by seeking out a private dealer--

through an online inquiry, for instance. The chances that

such a gunman would now succeed are diminished in Maryland.

No legislative measure is foolproof, and none will reliably

defeat a determined gunman. The idea of gun control, rather,

is to build a matrix of laws that deter and detect

individuals who, were they to obtain a firearm, would pose a

threat to themselves or others. Maryland's new law advances

that cause.

Madam Speaker, this isn't about taking away the rights of law-abiding Americans. Those claims are nonsense. This is about protecting the lives of all Americans.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I would like to point out to my friends and colleagues that, again, even Justice Scalia, in the Heller majority decision, said that local and State governments could enact reasonable gun violence protection laws.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Just a brief comment. In that same decision of Justice Scalia that I mentioned earlier, he said that Second Amendment protections are not unlimited, and that is the point of this bill. They have been done. They have been done constitutionally, as I said, by 13 States. And they statistically work.

I, too, have been robbed at gunpoint, but I didn't have to have a gun to survive. That was providence and the San Francisco Police Department.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

On the last point, I would just say that in California, in particular, in my district, having had multiple conversations with teachers, their labor representatives, and superintendents, we are getting schools back open, but we are doing it in a way to make sure that it is done efficiently and safely for everyone, the students, most particularly, their families, and their teachers.

We have come so far in this country, those of us who have listened to the science and the Centers for Disease

Control. We just want to make sure it is done right, in the most efficient, effective way for the kids.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague. Nicely done.

First, on the gun bills, of course, we are all respectful of the Speaker pro tempore's courage and the experience that she has had. For those of us who have had family members who have lost their lives because of gun violence--my dad is buried over at Arlington. He is a combat veteran from World War II who, a little over 30 years ago, took his own life.

As we know, the tragedies of homicide, as the Speaker pro tempore knows personally, and losing a loved one, as I know from losing a loved one to suicide--suicide is two-thirds of the total of people who die-- both are awful.

All we are trying to do, at least in my mind, is listen to the research, listen to the examples of other developed countries and other States, and implement public health policy. It informs us that if we do it, we will save lives and injuries, and we will save billions of dollars that all of us pay for.

All of us respect the Constitution. We took an oath to it. All of us respect the Second Amendment. We might not have all agreed if we were there, but it is the law. The courts have allowed us to implement these laws, and they work.

I really don't understand, and maybe it is because of my own personal belief and also from my experience as a city council member, a mayor, a member of the California Legislature, and now in Congress, why we don't follow the research and the evidence that it saves lives, out of respect for all those people who have lost their lives to gun violence.

Then, on the PRO Act, as a former member of a Teamsters union, that job helped me to get through college when my dad had lost his job. I loaded trucks. It was that union that provided me protection and enough for myself and my coworkers.

When I moved to San Francisco, I didn't have any money. I got a job in a hotel restaurant business, and I was in that local. Then, I was able to save enough money to go open my own businesses.

There have been some comments that somehow this bill would hurt small businesses. The reality is that people organize in environments where their employer is not treating their employees appropriately.

We know the inequality that Ms. DeLauro talked about, this historic inequality that is strangling our country and hurting so many working Americans, destroying the middle income that we have all benefited from, that opportunity to move up and to give to our kids something better than we had. That is the legacy of this country, and labor unions are a big part of that, and entrepreneurs and individual business owners are a big part of that. But it is the balance between these two.

As John Kenneth Galbraith said a long time ago, and he wrote a boring book about this, but it is interesting: Wages and capital have to have countervailing institutions. They have to balance each other.

As my friend from Minnesota said, it is a balance. Right now, after 50 years of attacks, starting with President Reagan, the working people in this country don't have the voice they once had. That not only hurts them and their kids; it hurts all of us.

When you have a robust middle class, and you have workers represented appropriately and proportionately, the country grows; there is more money to spend in businesses like mine; and there is a camaraderie, having teamwork. A good employer knows that, whether they have a unionized workforce or a nonunionized workforce.

Your employees are what make your business work. That is what gives you goodwill. That is what Americans took so much pride in, in the 1950s and 1960s, after World War II, after we had come to the great country we were after World War II, with a middle class that no one has ever seen on this planet. Since then, we have eroded that middle class.

The one most important thing to improve our economy is to give working Americans a voice. Let them join together. Let it be fair. A good employer will respect that and work with that.

As Eisenhower said, as I quoted in my opening, only a fool would try to keep a working American from organizing into a union.

Madam Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule and the previous question.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

You know, our friends on the other side of the aisle are deadly wrong. That is the tragedy of their argument, because the Second Amendment does not prohibit regulation. It never did. And our Founding Fathers regulated guns as early as the beginning of this Nation.

And so I rise in support of H.R. 8, and indicate while the COVID-19 pandemic dominated news headlines in 2020, the number of shootings surged in many communities across America.

Our public health and emergency resources have been straining to recover from the coronavirus, and budgets are crunched nationwide, and, as well, gun violence is rising. It is important to note because approximately 80 percent of firearms used for criminal purposes are obtained without a background check.

We must strengthen our firearms background checks and close dangerous gaps, such as the online sale and gun show loopholes.

In the data that we were able to secure, there was nearly one mass shooting per day in the United States: 355 mass shootings in 2018. We realize that since December 2012 there have been at least 1,518 mass shootings with at least 1,715 people killed.

Each day an average of 92 Americans are victims of gun violence, resulting in more than 33,000 deaths. And I wonder why our friends could not feel the pain of the loss of guns being transferred illegally or improperly?

I was here for Columbine. That happened on April 20, 1999. High school students losing their lives. I was here when babies were killed in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 12, 2012. I was here in the United States Congress each moment we tried to pass sensible gun legislation like H.R. 8.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Thompson for his leadership and Chairman Nadler.

On February 14, 2018 I was here for Parkland and looked at these photographs. And as well I was here on May 18 when in San Jose, Texas, people died. It is time to pass H.R. 8. Stop seeing our children die.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 8, the ``Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021'' and H.R. 1446, the ``Enhanced Background Check Act of 2021,'' which would make it illegal for any person who is not a licensed firearm importer, manufacturer, or dealer to transfer a firearm to any other person who is not so licensed without a background check.

A 2013 study found that approximately 80 percent of all firearms acquired for criminal purposes were obtained from sources who were not required to run a background check, and that 96 percent of inmates who were not prohibited from possessing a firearm at the time they committed their crime obtained their gun this way.

This loophole exists largely because unlicensed sellers need not conduct any background check under current law, even if the seller sells a large number of guns.

Under H.R. 8, the ``Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021,'' individuals seeking to transfer a firearm under this measure would be required to visit a licensed firearms dealer to run the necessary background check before the transfer could be finalized.

H.R. 8 is intended to provide an accurate and speedy manner to ensure firearms do not end up in the wrong hands.

An internal assessment by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) demonstrated that NICS background checks are approximately 99.3 percent to 99.8 percent accurate, and in 90 percent of cases, are processed within 90 seconds.

I am particularly pleased that the rule reported by Rules Committee makes in order Jackson Lee Amendment No. 12 to H.R. 8, which makes clear that a gun owner who realizes that he or she is at risk of suicide may transfer the gun to someone else, if the risk is imminent, without a background check to prevent self-harm.

The Jackson Lee Amendment will help ensure that no person who is experiencing a suicidal crisis will feel compelled to retain their gun when it would be better for them to temporarily transfer it to someone else.

Mr. Speaker, the American people are demanding effective action to reduce, if not prevent altogether, the countless mass shootings and gun violence in our country that continue to claim so many innocent lives.

Newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention found firearm-related deaths rose for the second-straight year in 2016, largely due to spikes in gun violence.

In 2016, the new CDC report on preliminary mortality data shows that there were more than 38,000 gun-related deaths in the U.S.--4,000 more than 2015.

An Associated Press analysis of FBI data shows there were about 11,000 gun-related homicides in 2016, up from 9,600 in 2015.

Congress must act to keep our country safe through gun safety and violence deterrence.

There is nearly one mass shooting per day in the United States--355 mass shootings in 2018.

In December 2012, a gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and killed 20 children, 6 adults, and himself.

Since December 2012, there have been at least 1,518 mass shootings, with at least 1,715 people killed and 6,089 wounded.

On the night of October 1, 2017, a gunman opened fire on a large crowd of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, leaving 58 people dead and 527 injured.

And on November 5, 2017, a mass shooting occurred at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, where the gunman, 26-year- old Devin Patrick Kelley, killed 26 and injured 20 others.

Every day, on average, 92 Americans are victims of gun violence, resulting in more than 33,000 deaths annually.

States with higher gun ownership rates have higher gun murder rates-- as much as 114 percent higher than other States.

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looking at 30 years of homicide data, found that for every 1 percent increase in a State's gun ownership rate, there is a nearly 1 percent increase in its firearm homicide rate.

Gun death rates are generally lower in States with restrictions such as safe storage requirements or assault weapons bans.

Mass shootings stopped by armed civilians in the past 33 years: 0.

Because more than 75 percent of the weapons used in mass shootings between 1982 and 2012 were obtained legally, stronger legislation is needed to prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands.

Mr. Speaker, enhancing the gun transfer background check system has consistently garnered broad public support, as high as 92 percent, because the American people know that the status quo is simply intolerable and action must be taken to reduce gun violence by keeping dangerous persons from obtaining deadly weapons.

That begins with passing H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021,'' and H.R. 1446, the ``Enhanced Background Check Act of 2021,'' and I urge all members to join me in voting for its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 8, the ``Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021,'' and urge its quick adoption.

While the COVID-19 pandemic dominated news headlines in 2020, the number of shootings surged in many communities across America.

Our public health and emergency resources have been straining to respond to the coronavirus crisis. Budgets are being crunched nationwide. Across the country, cities and states are struggling to find the resources to simultaneously address the pandemic and rising rates of gun violence.

We must take the steps that we know will make us safer.

Because approximately 80 percent of firearms used for criminal purposes are obtained without a background check, we must strengthen our firearms background check system and close dangerous gaps, such as the online sale and gun show loopholes.

Reducing gun violence starts with making sure that individuals who may not lawfully possess guns do not get their hands on them.

Our citizens overwhelmingly support this measure, and it is critical we pass it today and enact it into law.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.

As indicated, the Jackson Lee amendment is a simple, important, and straightforward amendment, and it is, frankly, to save lives.

Specifically, the amendment makes clear that a gun owner who realizes that he or she is at risk of suicide may transfer the gun to someone else if the risk is imminent, without a background check, to prevent self-harm.

This amendment will help ensure that no person who is experiencing a suicidal crisis will feel compelled to retain their gun when it would be better for them to temporarily transfer it to someone else.

Contrary to what my friends on the other side have said, H.R. 8 does already exempt from the requirement of a background check ``a temporary transfer that is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, including harm to self, family, household members, or others, if the possession by the transferee lasts only as long as immediately necessary to prevent the imminent death or great bodily harm, including the harm of domestic violence, dating partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, and domestic abuse.''

This amendment, however, clarifies that this last option is available to someone who is at risk for suicide.

I ask my colleagues to support the Jackson Lee amendment to protect those who may be a danger to themselves.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Jackson Lee Amendment No. 9 included in the Chairman En Bloc Amendment to H.R. 8, the ``Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021,'' which would require a background check on every gun sale or transfer with limited exceptions, such as gifts to family members and transfers for hunting, target shooting, and self- defense.

The Jackson Lee Amendment No. 9 makes a simple common-sense improvement to the bill.

Specifically, the amendment makes clear that a gun owner who realizes that he or she is at risk of suicide may transfer the gun to someone else, if the risk is imminent, without a background check to prevent self-harm.

This amendment will help ensure that no person who is experiencing a suicidal crisis will feel compelled to retain their gun when it would be better for them to temporarily transfer it to someone else.

H.R. 8 already exempts from the requirement of a background check ``a temporary transfer that is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, including harm to self, family, household members, or others, if the possession by the transferee lasts only as long as immediately necessary to prevent the imminent death or great bodily harm, including the harm of domestic violence, dating partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, and domestic abuse.''

A gun owner who realizes that they are at risk of suicide would have several options under this bill.

They may loan the gun to a family member pursuant to the family member exception.

They may ask a gun dealer to store the gun temporarily.

And if the risk is imminent, they may transfer it to someone else, pursuant to this exception.

This amendment clarifies that this last option is available to someone who is at risk for suicide.

As Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, I urge all members to join me in supporting Jackson Lee Amendment No. 9 by voting for the En Bloc Amendment to H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 8 is a strong bill to expand the federal firearms background check requirement as our citizens have demanded. To make the bill even stronger, I offer an amendment that will help save even more lives.

My amendment would make clear that a gun owner who realizes that he or she is at risk of suicide may transfer the gun to someone else, without a background check--if the risk is imminent to prevent self- harm.

The largest number of gun deaths each year are suicides. Studies have shown that the prevalence of suicide in the United States is directly linked to the easy availability of guns.

Roughly sixty percent of gun deaths are suicides. Tragically, an average of 63 people, die by gun suicide every day in the U.S.

The notion that suicides are inevitable, that people will just find another way, is wrong.

Suicide attempts are often impulsive acts, and forty-eight percent of people harm themselves within 10 minutes of deciding to attempt suicide. Seventy-one percent do so within one hour.

But those who reach for a gun during suicidal crises rarely have a second chance. Eighty-four percent of suicide attempts with a firearm are fatal. Think about this sad fact.

Temporarily reducing access to guns significantly increases the likelihood of surviving a suicide attempt.

That is why I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the bloc of amendments that includes my proposed revision to H.R. 8.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), the chairman of our task force.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 188, I call up the bill (H.R. 8) to require a background check for every firearm sale, and ask for its immediate consideration.

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 H.R. 8.

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

Mr. Speaker, gun violence impacts all of our communities, and no place is immune from its reach, including our homes, our streets, our schools, and even our places of worship. That is why we must take swift and decisive action to reduce the daily toll of gun violence that afflicts our Nation. H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 is sensible and effective legislation to do just that.

Under current law, gun sales conducted by licensed firearms dealers may only be completed if the buyers clear background checks. This bill would simply extend that requirement, with limited exceptions, to guns transferred by unlicensed individuals as well. That simple change to close a gaping loophole in the law is one of the most effective steps we can take to address the scourge of gun violence in this country.

According to one study, 22 percent of gun owners in the U.S. acquired their most recent firearm without a background check. We do not know if they were felons, fugitives, domestic abusers, or otherwise prohibited under the law from possessing firearms. A huge volume of guns was sold with no questions asked. It is time to close this dangerous loophole.

There is no reason to continue to make it easy for people who are legally prohibited from possessing firearms to acquire them. The evidence clearly shows that background checks work and significantly curb gun violence. One study found that a Connecticut law requiring background checks was associated with a 40 percent decline in gun homicides and a 15 percent drop in suicides. On the other hand, when Missouri repealed its background check law, the State's gun homicides increased by 23 percent and suicides increased by 16 percent.

Gun violence of this magnitude is a distinctly American problem. A recent study in the American Journal of Medicine found that compared to 29 other high-income countries, the gun-related murder rate in the United States is 25 times higher. Even when you adjust for population differences, Americans are disproportionately killed by gun violence. This is a disparity that we can remedy by passing this bill.

With the exception of certain limited transfers, such as gifts to family members and transfers for hunting, target shooting, and self- defense, H.R. 8 would extend the current Federal background check requirement--which applies now only to licensed gun dealers--and would require virtually all transactions to undergo a background check to help ensure that firearms do not end up in the wrong hands.

I thank Representative Mike Thompson of California for drafting this important legislation and for being a champion of gun violence prevention in Congress.

Simply put, H.R. 8 will save lives. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and to support safer streets, safer schools, and safer communities.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that 160 families every day buy guns. All this bill does is to say that people who obtain guns from unlicensed dealers, as well as licensed dealers, must be subject to the background check, and that will save a heck of a lot of lives.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin).

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

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

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

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Mrs. Trahan).

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

Mr. Speaker, how much time remains?

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).

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 Texas (Mr. Doggett).

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time remains.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, since the House passed H.R. 8 more than 2 years ago, an estimated 80,000 people have lost their lives to gun violence. We have had too many moments of silence and too many expressions of sympathy. Too many families are grieving the loss of a loved one.

Expanding background checks is overwhelmingly supported by the American public because they know that it will make a meaningful difference in reducing gun violence and saving lives. It is time to enact this important legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, that is correct.

Amendments En Bloc Offered by Mr. Nadler of New York

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 188, I offer amendments en bloc.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 45 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, this en bloc amendment includes several amendments that strengthen the bill and that thoughtfully modify it to account for practical considerations surrounding the use and misuse of firearms.

Among this group are a provision that clarifies the exchange of firearms between family members, a measure to protect more expansive State firearm laws, an amendment that would ensure ATF background check forms are available in Spanish, and a proposal that would allow for temporary transfers for pest control.

Representative Jackson Lee's amendment concerning suicide is particularly important as it highlights the tragic consequences that access to firearms can have on those who intend to harm themselves.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the en bloc amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, every day 30 people are killed by someone using a gun. That number jumps to 100 if you factor in accidents and suicides involving guns. The steady stream of gun violence devastates families, communities, and schools.

Gun violence costs our country $280 billion every year. This status quo is not okay.

Our constituents know it, and they support H.R. 8 overwhelmingly.

The Special Order last night on H.R. 8 was another low point for decorum in the House. To be generous, it was an embarrassing display and a complete misrepresentation of the facts.

Viewers were told that the bill would create a Federal gun registry. Wrong. Read page 5, line 18. H.R. 8 prohibits any registry.

They were told you can't give a gun to a family member. Wrong. Read page 3, line 7. You can.

They were told that you can't transfer a gun if someone was suicidal or needed it for protection to address a self-defense situation. Wrong. Read page 3, line 21. You can.

They were told that you can't lend a gun to a friend to go hunting. Wrong. Read page 4, line 16. You can.

What the bill does do is close the private gun sale loophole, which has made it easy for felons and other prohibited purchasers to buy a gun online, at gun shows, or in person-to-person sales.

We know universal background checks work. Every day they stop some 160 felons and some 50 domestic abusers from buying a gun. Every day.

But without universal background checks, these people can take their business elsewhere, to someone without a Federal firearms license and buy the same gun.

I have personally filled out the 4473 form required to buy a gun from a licensed dealer. I have done it many times. It is something that every responsible gun owner should be able to live with. Heck, they should welcome it because it helps stop dangerous individuals from getting a gun.

In 90 percent of the cases, background checks are completed within minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that these letters that I have from dozens of gun violence prevention groups, healthcare workers, law enforcement, and others be included in the Record.

March 5, 2021.

Hon. Chuck Schumer,

Majority Leader, U.S. Senate,

Washington, DC.

Hon. Nancy Pelosi,

Speaker, House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Hon. Mitch McConnell,

Minority Leader, U.S. Senate,

Washington, DC.

Hon. Kevin McCarthy,

Republican Leader, House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Majority Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Speaker

Pelosi, and Leader McCarthy: We write to you in support of

H.R. 8/S. 529 the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and H.R.

1446/S. 591 the Enhanced Background Checks Act. As gun

owners, we understand that responsible gun ownership starts

with background check. Loopholes in federal law have

perpetuated the gun violence crisis in our country, including

those in our background checks system. Congress must enact

meaningful legislation to reduce gun violence. The Bipartisan

Background Checks Act would close one such loophole by

ensuring that a background check happens on every firearms

sale.

Since 1993, the National Instant Criminal Background Check

System (NICS) has conducted firearm background checks on gun

purchasers. Federally licensed dealers must run a check

through NICS to determine whether a potential buyer is

prohibited from purchasing firearms. If information in NICS

shows that a person is indeed prohibited, the dealer must

deny the sale.

However, no background check is required for sales at gun

shows, through online marketplaces, or between private

individuals. Individuals who would otherwise be prohibited

from purchasing or possessing a gun can easily buy guns

through such unregulated sales. And the frequency of these

unregulated sales is growing: recent studies indicate that

approximately 22 percent of firearms are purchased without a

background check, up to 80% of firearms used in crimes are

obtained without a background check.

H.R. 8/S.B. 529 the Bipartisan Background Checks Act/

Background Check Expansion Act would require a background

check on every sale, ensuring that people prohibited from

purchasing firearms cannot exploit loopholes and purchase

guns through an unregulated sale at a gun show, online, or

from an unlicensed private seller. In addition, individuals

would no longer be able to cross state lines solely to

purchase a firearm in a state with less stringent background

checks. Closing these background check loopholes is critical

to reducing gun violence throughout the United States.

Additionally, H.R. 1446/S. 591 the Enhanced Background

Checks Act/Background Check Completion Act would provide the

FBI more time to complete background checks and ensure that

people prohibited from possessing firearms are not able to

obtain them by default because of an incomplete background

check. This deadly loophole in existing law was exploited by

a white supremacist who killed nine people at the Mother

Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

As responsible gun owners, we urge you to consider this

legislation which would help keep our communities safe. Our

support for universal background checks stems from our desire

to protect the Second Amendment rights of law abiding

citizens while maintaining checks and balances to keep

communities safe.

We urge you to pass H.R. 8/S. 529 the Bipartisan Background

Checks Act/Background Check Expansion Act and H.R. 1446/S.

591 the Enhanced Background Checks Act/Background Check

Completion Act, as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Giffords Gun Owners for Safety.

On this bill we have coauthors who are Democrats and Republicans, cops, hunters, gun owners, district attorneys, a former FBI agent, and veterans, who have served in combat and put their lives on the line to protect our Second Amendment.

There is bipartisan support for universal background checks in Congress and near universal support for background checks from the American people.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 8.

Mr. Speaker, that is nonsense. What was just said on the floor is not accurate.

The only thing this bill does is require a background check. If someone has legally purchased a firearm and passed a background check, nobody is going to take that gun away from them. They legally purchased it. They passed the background check.

To come out with that kind of nonsense, that type of scare tactic, is not complementary to the decorum of this

House, and it does not speak to this bill.

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from California for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I am also happy to see him back doing well. I appreciate that, and that we are here in the Chamber together.

Madam Speaker, we are here considering the rule for three controversial, divisive bills being moved forward by the majority with very little input from Republicans or the millions of Americans these bills will affect. Two of these bills are highly controversial gun control bills that undermine the constitutional right to bear arms.

H.R. 8, the so-called universal background check bill, would criminalize the private transfer of firearms. Combined with the restrictions already placed on private transfers during the pandemic, this makes it impossible for law-abiding gun owners to acquire or even borrow or lend firearms.

Universal background checks do not stop criminals. In fact, the majority of the criminals in State and Federal prisons who used a firearm during their offense got that firearm by stealing it, taking it from a family member or friend, or just an underground market. In 2013, the Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice researched universal background checks and determined that they would not be effective without additional restrictions on firearms.

The other gun control bill, the Charleston loophole bill, would permit the Federal Government to delay a firearm transfer indefinitely without any proof that the person is ineligible to possess a firearm. This bill undermines the ability for Americans to legally purchase a firearm, as it subjects firearm dealers to the mercy of the Federal bureaucracy.

Before we jump straight to this kind of constitutional overreach, it is important to remember that gun control legislation isn't going to stop criminals from gaining access to guns.

In the rural district I represent, many of my constituents are hunters, sportsmen, and law-abiding gun owners who utilize their Second Amendment rights. These bills undermine their ability to do so, and flies in the face of unity that has been promised by the President and Democrats.

Lastly, we are considering a bill that amounts to a union boss wish list that the majority is pushing, circumventing regular order and without input from the minority.

Madam Speaker, labor law must strike a balance--a careful balance between labor unions' rights to organize and employers' abilities to respond to these efforts. However, the PRO Act, a monumental rewrite of Federal labor law, will massively tip the scales in favor of unions, leaving employers and small businesses with massive costs and burdensome or vague legal standards.

Among the most egregious, a section of this bill is applying a one- size-fits-all standard for union contracts, rendering the franchise industry completely unviable by imposing a burdensome joint-employer Obama rule and requiring the disclosure of private information of employees to union organizers without their consent.

My great home State has a proud history of supporting organized labor, and I support employees' right to collective bargaining. However, this legislation before us today represents a misguided and unbalanced approached to labor law.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to think twice before supporting these bills that could permanently alter our job market and threaten our constitutional rights. I urge opposition to this rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Reschenthaler), my good friend and colleague from the Rules Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from

the 26th District of Texas (Mr. Burgess), who is another one of my colleagues on the Rules Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Texas an additional 15 seconds.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the Fifth District of Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice).

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

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

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the First District of Iowa (Mrs. Hinson).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the Third District of Florida (Mrs. Cammack).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the Ninth District of Georgia (Mr. Clyde).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Alabama's Second District (Mr. Moore).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Harshbarger).

Madam Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to provide for consideration of Congresswoman Hinson's bill, H.R. 682, the Reopen Schools Act.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record, along with extraneous materials, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 682, the Reopen Schools Act, provides a safe and responsible path forward to reopen our schools and to get our students back in the classroom.

To speak further on the bill, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Hinson), my colleague.

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

Madam Speaker, the Centers for Disease Control has indicated schools can operate safely with students in the classroom, yet many schools across the country remain closed.

President Biden has chosen to side with political allies and big labor groups over scientists, and our students are being denied their right to a good education as a result.

Kids need to be in school, and we should follow the science and reopen the schools for in-person instruction now.

Madam Speaker, I urge a ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the underlying measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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