Mental Health Access and Gun Violence Prevention Act of 2023

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, it is my honor and a privilege to share the podium today with my esteemed colleague, Sheila Cherfilus- McCormick, as we embark on this significant CBC Special Order hour, an hour that has come. We are going to dive deep into understanding how terms like colored people have shaped our racial conversation and histories. This isn't just an exploration of the past, it is about how we forge our future. We will be tackling the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Mr. Speaker, across every field and sector, we are seeing a retreat on this promise, and we are going to stress why it is so vital that our education system is inclusive, recognizing and celebrating our racial diversity, rather than suppressing it. We see a future where understanding our collective past enables us to shape a more equitable society.

Remember, this conversation isn't just about us or Congress. It is a conversation for every single American because together we can make a difference.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from the great State of New Jersey (Mr. Payne).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Donald Payne, Jr. from the great State of New Jersey for his remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the great State of Nevada (Mr. Horsford), who is the honorable chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the honorable chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressman Steven Horsford, from the great State of Nevada.

It is now my privilege to yield to the Honorable Congresswoman Joyce Beatty from the great State of Ohio.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Congresswoman Joyce Beatty for her remarks.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Congresswoman Robin Kelly from Illinois for her remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick from the great State of Florida for her remarks.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee from the great State of Texas for her comments.

I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Kamlager-Dove).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove from the great State of California for her remarks.

I would like to take a point of privilege and speak to the Record. Mr. Speaker, may I make an inquiry about the time remaining?

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heart burdened by the weight of history and a spirit ignited by the promise of the future. We gather here in these hallowed halls of power, where words bear the weight of action, and action shapes the destiny of our Nation.

But the words uttered by our fellow Congressman--and I have waited for a sufficient response for him to apologize to the Honorable Congresswoman Joyce Beatty and to other Members that seek truth and justice--but he has remained silent, and he says he has misspoken.

Misspoken means to also not have been made clear, so if he could clarify his remarks on who is a colored person--as the grandson of two soldiers that fought in U.S. wars, I would like to know what he was speaking about for colored.

When my grandparents could not go on the first-class car after returning from Europe, at the Union Station had to go sit in the second-class car for colored people, behind Nazi POWs that were allowed to go in the first-class car, we are trying to overcome a horrid racial past.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you a little history. When we hear, as African Americans, our brothers and sisters referred to as colored people in the year of 2023, it doesn't just make us uncomfortable, it transports us back through centuries of struggle, resilience, and a pursuit of justice often denied.

I stand here before you today, not just as a Member of Congress, but a freedom fighter. Our fight as Americans started before the country was even born. It has been over 400 years when the first persons that were imported from Africa had been enslaved.

Nearly two centuries after, in 1787, our Nation held a Constitutional Convention. It was there that the infamous Three-Fifths Compromise was struck. Three out of five Americans that had been enslaved were counted as representation for taxation, not for votes. The humanity of a person was whittled down to a fraction.

Can you imagine the audacity, the horror?

Just 2 years later, in 1789, we stand witness to a profound paradox that happened; the same 1789 that gave birth to this illustrious institution, the United States of House Representatives, founded in 1789.

On the one hand, we celebrate the inauguration of our first President, President George Washington--his picture stands proudly in this Chamber--a milestone in our Nation's narrative.

Yet, let us not overlook the uncomfortable truth that this esteemed leader was himself a holder of Americans enslaved; a chilling reminder that our Nation's foundation was laid with the sweat and blood of those in chains.

In the years that followed, from 1740 to 1834, Southern slave States employed another insidious tool to maintain the oppressive status quo, the anti-literacy laws. I have not been able to find any other nation that had instituted or enacted anti-literacy laws.

Imagine a system so threatened by the enlightenment of its subjugated people that they made it illegal for the enslaved and free people of color to learn to read and write.

In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was enacted, transforming ordinary citizens into accomplices for the slavery system. A free territory was no longer a sanctuary. It could transform into a hunting ground for those seeking freedom. Aiding the enslaved, a profound act of humanity was suddenly a criminal act punishable by fine and imprisonment.

This Act didn't just target the enslaved. It cast its nefarious shadow over the entire Nation, implicating all in the perpetration of this abhorrent institution.

In the wake of this Act, 7 years later, in 1857, the Supreme Court reached a decision in the Dred Scott case that shook the very foundation of freedom and human dignity.

The Court ruled that all Black people, regardless of their status as free or enslaved, were not and could never become citizens of the United States. This wasn't just a judicial ruling; it was a heartrending affirmation of the racial prejudice deeply rooted in our society, a prejudice that permeated even our Nation's highest courts.

In the year 1863, we saw a light, the Emancipation Proclamation. Freedom--after 246 years, freedom, it seemed, was finally within our grasp. A bloody Civil War, fought over the right to keep human beings in bondage, ended 2 years later, our Nation's deadliest war, and we dared to dream of a new dawn for our people.

Yet, as the sun of liberation rose, the shadows of oppression heightened. In a bitter twist of irony, freedom unveiled a new face of subjugation. The Black Codes of 1865 were enacted.

Though the iron chains of slavery had been shattered, this new set of manacles were fastened around us, chains woven with legal threads and tightened by the grip of racial bias. They were not as visible as the shackles of old, but they were no less oppressive, no less real.

A century later, in 1963, at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., gave voice to the bitter truth: ``One hundred years later, the colored American is still not free.''

A hundred years after emancipation, the struggle was far from over. We had been unshackled, yet we remained bound by the chains of systemic discrimination, segregation, and marginalization.

The term ``Jim Crow law'' surfaced in 1892. Just 4 years later, there was Plessy v. Ferguson. The verdict cemented the doctrine of ``separate but equal,'' which inherently meant being unequal.

Despite these oppressive circumstances, our ancestors fought with courage and determination. They fought for the Civil Rights Act in 1866, and fought in 1964, 1965, and 1966.

Our ancestors fought for the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery. Our ancestors fought for the 14th Amendment to have equal protection under the law and guaranteeing citizenship. They fought for the 15th Amendment so that we could have the right to vote for African-American men.

These victories did not come easy. They were bought with blood, sweat, and tears of our forebears.

Today, we find ourselves in 2023, but the echoes of our past are loud. Our colleague, Mr. Crane, has evoked the ghost of a very painful past by addressing us in this Chamber as colored people.

We have served in every war, Mr. Crane. It is a term as archaic as the prejudices it represents.

In doing so, he blurs the line between past and present, reminding us of an era we have struggled to move beyond. His words are not just a singular lapse in judgment but a symptom of a much larger disease--a disease that seeped into the highest courts of our land, where the 14th Amendment--the very symbol of our freedom--has been twisted into a weapon against affirmative action.

This very amendment, a cornerstone of liberty and equality, has been misused to dismantle a policy intended to level the playing field that has been historically skewed against African Americans.

Our attention is then drawn to the targets of this regressive decision: Harvard University, founded in 1636, and the University of North Carolina founded in 1789. The Supreme Court in 2023, cited the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, in the name of Make America Great Again.

Now, we have our colleague (Mr. Crane) using the words ``colored,'' the words that my mother and father had to see growing up in South Carolina and Florida and Virginia for colored water fountains, colored schools.

Can we please move forward? Can we please demand an apology to this great body of distinguished men and women from Mr. Crane?

I ask: Is it truly a coincidence that these specific institutions have been targeted as the battlegrounds for the dismantling of affirmative action, or is it an insidious reminder of our painful history, a pointed jab at the very heart of our struggle for equality and access in opportunity?

The African American community has been in bondage longer than we have ever been free. Our exclusion has lasted longer than our inclusion. Even half a century after the Civil Rights Act of 1965, we ask ourselves: Are we truly free to meritocratically grow?

This timeline, this history is a testament to our resilience. It is a reminder of our past, a measure of our progress, and a marker of the journey ahead. We stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us, those who have struggled, and those who have sacrificed. We owe it to them and to ourselves to keep the flame of justice burning bright.

This journey has been long, and it is not over, but we will not falter, we will not tire, we will not rest until we can unequivocally say that we are free--until justice is not just a word in our Pledge of Allegiance but a reality in our lives.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank both the gentleman from Illinois and the gentlewoman from Florida for their consistent and determined presence to bring to the American people truth and, of course, inspiration. I thank them both for their great leadership. I also thank Mr. Horsford, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, for his leadership.

I think we are noted around the Nation and around the world for this outstanding presentation of great information every single week that enlightens people's minds and hearts.

Let me take just a moment to honor the Reverend Dr. Jesse Jackson, who this past weekend made a stupendous effort, as he always does, with Rainbow PUSH Coalition for its outstanding national convention, the many people who have come over the years.

This will not be a moment that I will take to completely pay tribute to Reverend Jackson, but I could not come to the floor without expressing my deep and abiding admiration for him. I have always said that Reverend Jackson, when no one else would be there to comfort those who are deprived, depressed, and simply outraged because of discrimination in this Nation, it would be the Reverend Dr. Jesse Louis Jackson who would be present and would be in the most difficult of situations. It is amazing that for decades he has consistently been doing this, over 50 years, being the first African American to run for President.

Frankly, I will say that I am in public service because of Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson. My first run was in 1984. I would not have won way down in Houston, Texas, had it not been for the unbelievable, positive uprising of voters who were moved and energized, rushing to the polls, excited.

For those of us who happened to be on the ballot for the first time, a young African-American woman seeking to be a judge in the county of Harris, I could not have made those steps without the unbelievable leadership and courage of not only Reverend Jackson but his wife and his family because they were doing it together.

Let me again express my appreciation. I know it was a stupendous conference, and I know that he has selected and given the anchor to a great leader. It is a great leader who can make choices of greatness, and he has done so.

I will very quickly touch on gun violence prevention and public safety. Excuse my raspy voice, and I will not take long, but I will just say that--do we need to say it?--every day, 120 Americans are killed with guns, and more than 32,000 people die from gun violence annually, including 2,677 children under 18 years of age.

In our respective communities, we see toddlers being shot, 10-year- olds being shot, senior citizens being shot.

Let me, in particular, give credit to the Houston Police Department, as they have worked very hard to bring down homicides, investigate homicides, and the numbers have gone down. However, it is very clear that they are desperately in need of Federal action. They desperately need the universal background check, which we have not been able to do. They desperately need, in many instances, the ban on assault weapons. They desperately need requirements for gun storage.

My bill, H.R. 52, the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act, named in honor of Kimberly Vaughan, a student at Santa Fe High School, who was just 17 years of age when a student entered her art class with a stolen gun and killed 10 people--stolen from the home. These guns were laid out and were owned by a family member. Firearm injury is the leading cause of death, as I said, of children.

Is it difficult to require the manufacturer to say to store guns and provide storage devices? Is it difficult for the retailer to provide storage devices? Is it difficult to be able to say as a nation that we believe in the Second Amendment, but life is so much more important?

When children as young as 9 and 10 are the victims of drive-by shootings intended for someone else, but it doesn't matter--I am reminded of children from Chicago to Houston who have been shot innocently, shot in their beds, or a woman who was shot in her house as the bullet whizzed close to her.

I am rising today to say that not only must we stop the gun violence, but we must also draw together, as the Congressional Black Caucus has done, to support funding for gun violence intervention. That is an important piece. We must expand responsibility to ensure that we give tools to the community to stop violence.

Workforce programs, as well, are very important. We must do it with our cities and do it with our law enforcement. Now is the time to stop gun violence in America and save lives.

Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, I must shed light on the growing public safety concern regarding gun violence.

Every day, 120 Americans are killed with guns.

More than 32,000 people die from gun violence annually, including 2,677 children under 18 years of age.

And each year, hundreds of law enforcement officers lose their lives to gun violence, having been shot to death while protecting their communities.

Gun violence affects us all, but our government's continued lack of proactivity towards preventing gun violence has led to countless unnecessary, preventable deaths.

We cannot continue to allow countless lives to be lost to guns, when we can instead work together to save them.

It is for this reason that I, once again, stand to advocate for my bill, H.R. 52, the Kimberly Vaughn Firearm Safe Storage Act, named in honor of Kimberly Vaughn, a student of Sante Fe High School, who was just 17 years of age when a student entered her art class with a stolen gun and killed 10 people.

Firearm injury is the leading cause of death for children and young adults in the United States.

American children are twice as likely to be shot and killed as they are to die drowning. And still, there are more safety regulations for pools than gun storage.

An estimated 4.6 million minors live in homes with at least one unlocked, loaded firearm.

One in three U.S. households with children have firearms, and firearms accounted for nearly 19 percent of childhood deaths in 2021, which is a 50 percent increase since 2019.

My Bill, H.R. 52, establishes best practices for safe firearm storage to protect Americans, especially children, from improperly stored or misused firearms, to ensure that tragic deaths, such as the one of Kimberly Vaughn, do not happen again.

H.R. 52 will require labeling for weapons that says ``Safe Storage Saves Lives'' to spread awareness of the importance of storage to those that purchase firearms.

My bill will also provide grants and tax incentives to incentivize safe-storage devices to those that purchase weapons.

Gun storage will save countless lives by ensuring that weapons do not end up in the hands of the young.

We must work together to secure firearms and protect children, by passing legislation such as H.R. 52 to help prevent unintentional shootings and ensure that tragic stories such as Kimberly Vaughan never happen again.

Furthermore, despite affecting all communities, gun violence affects all communities differently, with a disproportionate effect on Black communities.

Black Americans are 10 times more likely than white Americans to die by gun homicide.

Black Americans are three times more likely than white Americans to be fatally shot by police.

And while Black Americans made up 12.5 percent of the United States population in 2020, they were the victims in 61 percent of all gun homicides.

According to the American Progress, ``this is due to a combination of weak gun laws; systemic racial inequities, including unequal access to safe housing and adequate educational and employment opportunities; and a history of disinvestment in public infrastructure and services in the communities of color most affected by gun violence.''

Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by gun violence and experience gun homicide at 10 times the rate of white Americans.

Nonfatal shootings, most of our nation's gun violence, impacts Black Americans at an even higher rate.

They experience gun assault injuries at 18 times the rate of White Americans.

Despite not directly causing these horrific events, our government shares in the blame.

Our role as executives in municipal government is to ensure we utilize every tool available to us and those provided by the state and federal government to keep our cities safe.

We need to reimagine public safety by holding law enforcement officers who violate the public trust accountable, using public health

resources to address mental health crises, and ensuring all communities are not overpoliced, well-resourced with access to job opportunities, affordable childcare, and capable social services to improve the quality of life.

We need to increase the use of civilian responders deployed to incidents involving mental health concerns and disturbances or disputes.

We need to strengthen governmental agencies dedicated to violence intervention and neighborhood safety.

We need to pass legislation, such as H.R. 48, the Gun Violence Reduction Resources Act of 2023, which will work to hire additional Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive agents and investigators to enforce gun laws.

We need to pass legislation such as H.R. 46, the Mental Health Access and Gun Violence Prevention Act, which will authorize funding to increase access to mental health care treatment to reduce gun violence. Being that:

Suicide is the leading cause of gun related deaths in America;

more than 60 percent of deaths by guns in the country are the result of individuals using these weapons to commit suicide;

approximately 1 in 4 American adults have a mental illness and nearly half of all adults in America will develop at least one mental illness during their lifetime; and

less than half of children and adults with diagnosable mental health problems receive the treatment they need.

Gun violence is a nonpartisan issue with bipartisan solutions.

We act as though as hands are tied behind our back, despite the countless options at our disposal.

I join my CBC colleagues in advancing their bills that work to prevent gun violence.

Protecting our communities and protecting our family's need to be a priority.

Mr. Speaker, first, let me say thank you to the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressman Steven Horsford, for shaping our message tonight and reminding us so eloquently of what our role is to be here as a Member of Congress, as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, representing some 80 million Americans and some 18 million Black Americans.

To our Special Order hour chairs, the gentleman from Illinois and the gentlewoman from Florida, thank you for your leadership role. Thank you for your opening remarks reminding us that words matter, reminding us that as leaders, we are elected to represent diverse bodies across this wonderful America that we live in. Thank you to my classmate, Congressman Donald Payne, for giving us a history, for setting the record straight.

Mr. Speaker, we are here today because we want America to know how important our work is. We want them to know when we say we are woke, we are proud. We are speaking to constituents across America.

Somehow, my colleagues have started with that, turning that into a negative. Well, we are very clear that we are very woke. We are woke about what is needed to all constituents, and we are fighting for everyone, but, yes, we clearly stand up and represent Black America.

I rise today to join my colleagues in shedding light on the deeply derogatory term that has perpetuated the pain and suffering endured by Black Americans throughout history; the term that was used by a Member of this Chamber just a few days ago--colored people.

It was equally as disturbing, Mr. Speaker, that he made reference to DE&I as lowering standards, getting less than. Well, today I rise as a strong supporter of DE&I.

Through the bold leadership of then Chairwoman Maxine Waters, chair of the prestigious Financial Services Committee, I was appointed by her as the first-ever D&I chair of the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion under the powerful Financial Services Committee.

Now, I mention this for a reason, Mr. Speaker. We brought in the largest financial institutions in this Nation, CEOs of companies like J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and the list goes on and on.

Each one of those CEOs under oath testified that they were committed to DE&I because it was a good business thing, and it would make a difference in this country.

They hired DE&I corporate executives across America not because it was lowering standards, not because they were employing people who were less than, but because they had an understanding in this America that we live in that that makes us more united, and it helps us avoid the culture wars that I am sadly seeing on this floor.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I stand here as a Black woman, proud to serve all of my constituents, but, today, it is very personal and somewhat emotional for me

because I am standing here in the same spot that I stood in last week where I am now reminded that I was faced to deal with in 2023 what I heard on this floor.

On this floor, Mr. Speaker, the people's House, I am forced to deal with what for centuries Black Americans have been subjected to: systemic oppression, denied human rights, and treated as lesser human beings, simply because of the color of their skin.

Phrases like this have no place on the House floor in Congress or anywhere else. This term, more commonly used in the Jim Crow years, is a phrase that is deeply offensive and considered as a slur to delineate Black Americans as less than, and it carries the historical burden of pain and violent discrimination, widespread inequality, and segregation.

Mr. Speaker, as I come to a close, let me just share with you that we live in a world where the United States of America is a superpower on the global stage because of our rich diversity, something that is to be celebrated, not used as a tool to shame not only us but those servicemen who signed up to put their life on the line for this country.

I am sitting here and thinking what John Lewis would say because so many of my Republican colleagues proudly quote him: See something, say something. I am feeling like what Shirley Chisholm must have thought when she was the only female to be one of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus and to stand on this House floor as a Black woman having to deal with the things that we are having to deal with now.

Certainly, I could go on and on and do a roll call of many other Black Americans, White Americans, and Brown Americans who have stood on this floor defending this House.

This word should not be allowed to be used as a tool to shame or admonish those who are systemically marginalized or oppressed.

I know well the consequences that have come as a result of systemic discrimination, whether by policy or by everyday hate speech. Each of us, Mr. Speaker, in this body is responsible for challenging and dismantling systems of discrimination that have perpetuated throughout our society.

I am going to offer a resolve. We have heard our chairperson say no apologies, seen a few statements on social media, but since the Speaker of the House issued a statement that there was no place for this, the leader of the House supported that the words be taken down, there is an issue that can help me with resolve.

You see, several of us, as Democrats and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, have a piece of legislation that says Black history is American history. If we really believe in bipartisanship, if Representative Crane, as he said, wanted to amend his words because he did not mean that, and somewhere on social media he invoked God and what this was causing him with his team, then let's have all of our Members recognize that there are so many things that Black Americans did because Black history is American history.

If we had the time, I could rattle off a list of things that we are allowed to do because a Black person invented it or a Black person designed it. If we really meant to say ``people of color,'' then let me say people of color have led and continue to lead this Nation.

A Black man served as President of these United States. A Black woman serves as Vice President of these United States. Right here in the spot that you are standing, Mr. Speaker, a Black man, for the first time in the history of this country, became sworn in by this body as the minority leader in this House and held that most sacred gavel to put in the hands of the Speaker.

As I end, I will use my voice and my platform to make the world a better place for my children--for all the children and grandchildren-- and my grandchildren, so Spencer and Leah will know that they, too, will be valued as strong Black Americans. I charge all of my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Congressman Jonathan Jackson, I commend you and Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick for co-chairing tonight's Special Order hour.

I rise today with my colleagues of the Congressional Black Caucus to address the recent comments made on the House floor by Representative Eli Crane of Arizona during last week's debate on the National Defense Authorization Act.

While offering an amendment that would prohibit the Pentagon from participating in race-based concepts in hiring, promotion, or retention in our military, Representative Crane stated that the military was never intended to be ``inclusive,'' adding that the military strength is ``not in its diversity.''

Representative Crane would go on to refer to Black servicemen and servicewomen who defend our country with their lives as ``colored people.''

These words harken back to a dark and racist time in our country's history and should not be tolerated. Representative Crane's comment on the House floor was unprofessional, wholly inappropriate, and unbecoming of a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Furthermore, to have a word like that spoken anywhere but here on the

House floor in the year 2023 actually speaks to the very need for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Sadly, in the days since, we have heard from Members on the other side of the aisle who have tried to provide cover for Representative Crane. We need to be absolutely clear here tonight. For a Member of this body to use the words ``colored people'' in this Chamber in 2023 is unconscionable, and it calls for nothing short of full condemnation.

From the Speaker of this body to the leadership on the other side of the aisle, to those who claim to be allies of the Congressional Black Caucus, your silence is deafening.

Representative Crane has publicly stated that he misspoke during debate. However, he has yet to formally apologize directly to his colleagues, including our former chair, the previous chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Representative Joyce Beatty, who was handling debate on the very amendment before this body, or to the servicemen and servicewomen who deserve far more respect than the indignity of being reduced to a racial slur on the House floor; to our veterans, our veteran servicemembers who have had to deal with the consequences of segregation in our military, of being referred to as colored, even on the battlefields while fighting for our freedom and our justice.

What Representative Crane said last week while defending his amendment was shocking, but it was not unsurprising, given what the Republicans have shown us every single day on this issue.

Right now, in fact, the U.S. Marine Corps is without a confirmed commandant for the first time in over 160 years. Why? All because one Senator believes his political agenda is more important than the servicemembers of our military. That same Senator went on to say he thinks that White nationalists aren't racist. Well, what are they, then?

MAGA Republicans have made it their entire political agenda to fight against ``wokeism.'' Every time they use the word woke, I think they mean Black.

They want to ban diversity. They want to ban equity and inclusion programs and erase Black history from the classrooms. Ironically, what Representative Crane's comments made clear is that the very diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that they fight against are necessary. They are necessary in boardrooms, in our schools, in the halls of Congress, and, yes, in our military, which grows more diverse every day.

In fact, more than 40 percent of our servicemembers today are servicemembers from a broad array: African American, Latino, Asian American, and Pacific Islanders who are serving our country and do not deserve to be called anything other than honorable.

Instead of prioritizing military readiness and the needs of our servicemembers, MAGA Republicans are more concerned with stoking culture wars to appease their base, which will only make it more difficult to recruit servicemembers from diverse backgrounds.

In fact, I am a member of the Armed Services Committee, and when we were discussing this in committee, I put into the Record a report from the Gold Star families who conducted a survey of our servicemembers and their families who expressed the very concerns around racial tolerance and discrimination as a factor of whether or not people wanted to join the military.

If you are so concerned about recruitment, you might actually want to focus on eliminating the issues of hate, discrimination, and white supremacy in the military.

My message here tonight, along with my colleagues, is not only will the Congressional Black Caucus continue to call for Representative Crane to make a formal apology to this body, as well as to the servicemembers that were disrespected, but we also want to state in no uncertain terms that his views on diversity in the military are misguided.

Representative Crane, Representative Gaetz, and Senator Tuberville, we are not going back. We are not going back to the days of the 1950s. We are not going back to when our communities were segregated. We are not going back to when the term colored people was normalized. We are not going back here on the House floor, and we are not going back in America, and we will not be silenced. Our military is stronger when it reflects the entire American experience.

Now, it is unfortunate, and, in fact, it pains me that this must be said in 2023, but diversity is our Nation's strength, not its burden. Instead of using it as a culture war issue, a wedge issue, I hope that the Speaker of this body will condemn the remarks of Representative Crane and anyone else who would try to bring that type of divisive language to this body.

I commend my colleagues for being here tonight. I know that this is an issue that strikes to the core of who we are and who we represent.

We understand that when we lift up the Black community, we lift up everybody. The Congressional Black Caucus may stand for the 80 million people across the country, but we stand for all Americans, and, yes, we stand for our servicemembers in the military. May God bless them, and may God bless the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, I must shed light on the growing public safety concern regarding gun violence.

In 2022, firearm injury was the 12th leading cause of death in the United States of America.

Every day, 120 Americans are killed with guns.

And each year, hundreds of law enforcement officers lose their lives to gun violence, having been shot to death while protecting their communities.

Our government's continued lack of proactivity towards preventing gun violence has led to countless, unnecessary deaths.

Countless lives have been cut far too short, and countless families have had to experience the excruciating pain of knowing their loved one will never make it back home.

And although gun violence affects us all, I would like to highlight the disproportionate effect of gun violence on Black communities.

Black Americans are 10 times more likely than white Americans to die by gun homicide.

Black Americans are three times more likely than white Americans to be fatally shot by police.

And while Black Americans made up 12.5 percent of the United States population in 2020, they were the victims in 61 percent of all gun homicides.

According to the American Progress, ``this is due to a combination of weak gun laws; systemic racial inequities, including unequal access to safe housing and adequate educational and employment opportunities; and a history of disinvestment in public infrastructure and services in the communities of color most affected by gun violence.''

Discriminatory and unjust policies and practices such as slavery and Jim Crow are the reason that Black communities are still struggling to overcome the inequities in our society today.

Time and time again our country has forced Black Americans to pay the price for its sins, causing countless lives to be lost in the process.

Instead of acknowledging this public safety concern, our government continues to choose to remain ignorant, crafting a narrative of a war on the Second Amendment.

So, allow me to be clear: I support the Second Amendment.

But I will not sit idly by and hear the abuse of the far right's interpretation of the Second Amendment.

In June 2022, the Supreme Court took a radical step when it ruled in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. V. Bruen that the right to carry a weapon or self-defense extends to outside the home.

In this case, plaintiffs challenged the 100-year old New York state handgun licensing law requiring individuals to show proper cause before they can be licensed to carry a concealed weapon in public.

The Court ultimately ruled New York's concealed carry law unconstitutional, extending the right to own a gun for self-defense in the home to exist outside the home as well.

This decision altered the well-established test for evaluating gun safety laws and threatens the lives of millions around the country.

The Court's decision sheds light to a growing misinterpretation of the Second Amendment.

As both a legislature and a legal scholar, I must point out that the Second Amendment is not absolute.

No where in the Second Amendment does it prohibit regulating guns.

How dare we sit by when lives are being lost and act as though there is nothing we can do?

Is there no sense of responsibility to provide restrictions to save lives?

Our role in Congress is to ensure that we utilize every tool available to us to keep our cities safe.

We need to reimagine public safety by holding law enforcement officers who violate the public trust accountable, using public health resources to address mental health crises, and ensuring all communities are not overpoliced, well-resourced with access to job opportunities, affordable childcare, and capable social services to improve the quality of life.

We need to increase the use of civilian responders deployed to incidents involving mental health concerns and disturbances or disputes.

We need to strengthen governmental agencies dedicated to violence intervention and neighborhood safety.

We need to pass legislation such as H.R. 52, the Kimberly Vaughn Firearm Safe Storage Act, a bill I introduced which establishes best practices for safe firearm storage to protect Americans, especially children, from improperly stored or misused firearms.

We need to pass legislation, such as H.R. 48 the Gun Violence Reduction Resources Act of 2023, which will work to hire additional Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive agents and investigators to enforce gun laws.

We need to focus on mental health and pass legislation such as H.R. 46 the Mental Health Access and Gun Violence Prevention Act, which will authorize funding to increase

access to mental health care treatment to reduce gun violence.

These bills are particularly important as it pertains to mental health given the following facts:

Suicide is the leading cause of gun related deaths in America.

More than 60 percent of deaths by guns in the country are the result of individuals using these weapons as a means to commit suicide.

Approximately 1 in 4 American adults have a mental illness and nearly half of all adults in America will develop at least one mental illness during their lifetime.

Less than half of children and adults with diagnosable mental health problems receive the treatment they need.

Gun violence is a nonpartisan issue with bipartisan solutions.

We act as though our hands are tied behind our back, despite the countless options at our disposal.

I join my CBC colleagues in advancing common-sense bills that work to prevent gun violence.

Protecting our communities and protecting our families need to be priority.