Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act

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, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to submit extraneous material into the Record.

Mr. Speaker, gun violence is the leading cause of death for American children.

Let me repeat that: Gun violence is the leading cause of death for our kids. It is shameful that every Member in

this body knows that guns are used to kill our kids and the Republican majority is refusing to take any action to stop this epidemic.

Parents are scared to send their kids to school. They are worried that it may be the last time they see them alive. Kids are being impacted by active-shooter drills and are scared to death that their school will be the next site of a school shooting.

The Gun Violence Prevention Task Force is leading efforts in Congress to compel our Republican colleagues to bring gun violence prevention measures up for a vote.

The American people are with us on this. The only place that gun violence prevention is a partisan issue is right here in this Congress.

A recent FOX News poll shows that the American people overwhelmingly support gun violence prevention measures, 87 percent support universal background checks, 81 percent support raising the legal age to purchase firearms to 21, 80 percent support red flag laws, and in this same FOX poll, 61 percent support banning assault weapons.

It is time for the House Republicans to join House Democrats in prioritizing saving our kids. Democrats took an important first step in the last Congress when President Biden signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was the first major gun violence prevention bill signed in 30 years. There is still more work to do.

We are here this evening to shine a spotlight on the failure of the Republicans to join us in support of policies that will save lives. The Republican leadership's callous inaction is contributing to a mass casualty every day in our country. There have been more mass shootings this year than there have been days in the year.

As a combat veteran, a hunter, and a gun owner, not one Republican can tell me that background checks interfere with our Second Amendment.

When debating background checks, we have definitively refuted every tired Republican excuse time and time again. Republicans have countered with an even more callous response: They respond to every death with deafening silence.

The Gun Violence Prevention Task Force will continue our work to hold Republicans accountable for their obstruction. The leading cause of death of our children and teens demands our attention, and we are demanding that the House pass legislation to help save lives.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Crow), my friend and colleague from Colorado, and an Army Ranger who was deployed in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania, Mary Gay Scanlon.

Mr. Speaker, I would just remind you that guns are the leading cause of death for children in the United States of America, and we are here today because we can do something about it.

If you look at this other chart, it clearly points out that, again, firearms are the leading cause of death. However, if you look at other factors, the second, motor vehicle accidents, look at the steep decline in the loss of lives from motor vehicle accidents.

It is because we did something. We passed laws, we made cars safer, we reduced the number of children who were killed in automobile accidents by taking action on this floor, and it is shameful that the Republican leadership will not allow us to do that today to curb children's death by gun violence.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Auchincloss).

Mr. Speaker, can you give us any idea when the Republican leadership will bring bills to deal with gun violence prevention to the floor for a vote?

I didn't think so.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Scholten).

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Foushee).

Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman mentioned that our Republican colleagues aren't doing anything in regard to guns. It is actually worse than that. They have done something. The Republicans passed a bill, a gun bill, off this floor this year. Their bill would make this gun legal.

Short-barreled rifles have been regulated by the National Firearms Act for decades. They are regulated because they are incredibly dangerous, they are easy to conceal, and they are deadly accurate. They are used in crimes. They are responsible for the deaths of many, many people, and they have been tightly regulated.

The Republicans in this House passed a bill that makes this gun legal. They call it an arm brace. ``Arm brace'' is just another way of saying you are putting a stock on a semiautomatic assault pistol, so you are making it a short-barreled assault rifle. It is lethal. It is immoral. Everyone who voted for that bill and the leadership who brought it to this floor for a vote should be ashamed of themselves.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).

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

Mr. Speaker, 30 people every day are killed by someone using a gun. If you add accidental deaths and suicides, that number jumps up to 100 people per day. It costs the American taxpayers roughly $600 billion every year. Gun violence costs almost $600 billion every year. Communities across our country are upended. We already heard that there have been more mass shootings this year than there have been days of the year.

Police officers across the country are taking ghost guns off the streets every single day, guns that can be purchased as a kit so they don't need a background check and they are unserialized. These are guns that are used a lot in crime. Cops are taking them off the streets every day.

This is a serious problem. Our communities are hurting. People are being killed. We need to take action. The Republican leadership in this House needs to bring gun violence prevention legislation to the floor so we can vote it out and help keep our communities safer.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. DeSaulnier).

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his remarks.

Mr. Speaker, tonight, members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force have made clear the terrible cost of gun violence on our kids, families, schools, and communities.

We have talked about sad milestones. In 2020, guns became the leading killer of kids in America after overtaking motor vehicle accidents.

Another dark milestone has been the 389 mass shootings already this year. We have had more mass shootings by mid-July this year than we had in all of 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.

We know it doesn't have to be this way. We know that States with the most gun violence prevention laws have half the death rate for children and teenagers compared to States with the least gun violence prevention laws. The States can't do it alone.

These weak national gun safety laws make it much too easy for people who are a danger to themselves or a danger to others to access guns regardless of where they live.

According to the ATF gun-tracing database, the largest source of out- of-State guns used in crimes in my home State of California is Arizona, a State with over twice the gun death rate whose gun laws are rated an

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her remarks, her good work on gun violence prevention efforts, and her dedication to making sure that we pass the laws that will keep our kids and our communities safe.

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, we have had Army combat veterans, Marine Corps combat veterans, hunters, gun owners, gun collectors, and moms and dads on this floor tonight asking and pleading with the Republican leadership to allow gun violence prevention legislation to come to this floor for debate and for a vote.

Mr. Speaker, can you give us any idea when your leadership will be bringing gun violence prevention bills to the floor for action?

Sadly, that is what I was afraid of. Silence. Just like after every mass shooting, silence.

There has to be an effort on the part of this leadership to deal with this issue that is disrupting communities and leading to thousands and thousands of deaths.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman very much, and I want to join the stellar Members from so many different backgrounds to add another 2 minutes to that 30 minutes and emphasize that it is now 32 more minutes than we have had an opportunity to discuss gun violence--gun violence against our children.

I am reminded of the late John Lewis, and as I look to the front, Mr. Speaker, where you are, I am reminded of the overwhelming impact that gun violence had just a couple of years ago when he was alive, so much so that Members took to the floor--the actual floor--and sat down on the floor because the pain was so deep.

I remember the tear that President Obama shed as he had to speak about Sandy Hook. I remember going to Uvalde within days of 19 children and teachers being slaughtered. Yes, Mr. Speaker, they were slaughtered with an AR-15 that a young man was able to get online and have shipped to him without any background check of sorts and without any supervision. He was able to recklessly shoot his grandmother in the face and leave his house to go to an elementary school just a few blocks away.

One could not expect law enforcement initially to know what was going to happen. One thing we do know is that if that young man had not had an AR-15, those little babies in Uvalde, where parents are still in such abject pain, would still be alive.

We also know that as I worship with them, as I hug them, they have now become, through their own advocacy, absolutely incredulous that we in this country have not been able to pass bans on assault weapons. I support bills like the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act, which impacted Kimberly Vaughan, a 14-year-old who died in Santa Fe because another young man was able to get guns that were left at home.

I think I am here as a mother and as a Member of Congress who has been here since Columbine. I remember being on the Columbine task force to see what we could do about guns. I have been through Sandy Hook, Parkland, Santa Fe, Virginia Tech, various churches, synagogues, and temples that have seen gun violence--and dance studios.

I don't know what it takes for this Congress to come together. No one is trying to take away anyone's firearms. The Second Amendment is constitutionally present. It is in place. None of the language in the Second Amendment prevents us from having a reasonable, safe regulatory scheme that will help save all of our lives.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman very much. As the vice chair of the gun task force and the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, we are waiting and ready to take up bills as we did with the Protect our Kids Act and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. There is still a lapse of real bills that further need to be in place to change laws. The waiting period, the issue of universal background checks, and storage bills are really crucial to saving lives.

The last point I will make is that we often use mental illness. Let me say that we pray for people who suffer from mental health concerns, but other countries around the world have people who suffer from mental health concerns, and I do not label them in generality. These are human beings who fight every day to survive. That is not a good excuse for saying that is what is causing gun violence. It is not.

In tribute to my colleagues who come from cities like Chicago and other cities where there is handgun violence, individual violence, and domestic violence, you need to have a response to just plain gun violence. That means we have to debate on this floor and find a common solution.

A word to my colleagues in the name of the children who have died, the number one killer of our children in America, and in the name of places like Uvalde and Sandy Hook that comes to mind, Parkland and other places where children have died, we can minimally do something to help our children. Let's do real anti-gun violence legislation. Let's make our children safe.

Mr. Speaker, today, I speak out in support of my bill H.R. 52, the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act.

This bill establishes best practices for safe firearm storage to protect Americans, especially children, from improperly stored or misused firearms.

The Kimberly Vaughn Firearm Safe Storage Act is named after one of the victims of a shooting rampage that took place on May 18, 2018, when a 17-year-old student went on a shooting rampage, killing 8 students and 2 teachers and wounding 13 others at Santa Fe High School in Houston, Texas.

The shotgun and pistol used by the perpetrator belonged to his father and were available to him at home.

In 80 percent of gunfire incidents at schools where the shooter is under 18, the shooter obtained the firearm from their home or the home of extended family or friends.

Texas is the state with the second most mass shootings this year so far with a total of 50, and the highest number of mass shooting deaths in the U.S.

Only 3 of 10 adults in households with children report storing all guns unloaded and locked up.

Safe storage practices are also important to keep firearms away from dangerous individuals.

In the last decade, nearly two million firearms have been reported stolen.

An estimated 47,000 guns are stolen each year in Texas alone.

Overall, at least 186,548 firearms were reported stolen in Texas over from 2007 to 2016, which is more than any other state in the nation.

America's gun epidemic is as deadly as ever.

The frequency of firearm violence can largely be accredited to the lack of safe firearm storage.

Previously part of the Protecting Our Kids Act in the 117th Congress with the addition of a tax credit program, the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act is an exhaustive solution to improperly stored or misused firearms.

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.

However, 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.

Securing firearms protects children in preventing unintentional shootings and firearm suicides.

The spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association noted earlier this year that, ``the NRA supports safe storage for every firearm owned in America, and we educate gun owners to keep firearms away from unauthorized users.''

This is a nonpartisan issue with a bipartisan solution.

On average, 9 minors are killed by improperly stored or misused guns every day.

In my home state of Texas, more than 4,000 Texans are shot and killed each year.

The Kimberly Vaughn Firearm Safe Storage Act is an important bill that will establish best practices for storing firearms.

In particular, the Attorney General is directed to establish voluntary best practices relating to safe firearm storage and publish them on a website and in print.

Second, it will require most weapons to have a clear written notice on the packaging that says, ``Safe Storage Saves Lives'' and how to obtain the best practices established by the Attorney General.

Additionally, the bill will provide grants to states and local governments with a ten-year, $10 million grant program to distribute safe storage devices.

Every year, almost 20,000 children are shot and killed or wounded by a firearm, and 3 million are exposed to gun violence.

The presence of unsecured firearms in the home increases the risk of unintentional and intentional shootings.

It is long past the time to do something about the epidemic of gun violence in our nation--the nation that prides itself on protecting our children and the future generations.

If we want to protect the youth, we must start by learning how to effectively store guns in the homes that choose to have them.

The Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act will help protect our children and adults from senseless gun violence through simple gun storage legislation.

I encourage my colleagues in the House and on the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force to push this bill forward so we can promptly and proactively act on preventing firearm violence in America.

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.