Floor Statements

Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 5065.

Mr. President, I ask to dispense with further reading of the amendment.

Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider.

Madam President, another criminal trial arising out of the events of January 6, 2021, is scheduled to begin on June 13, 2022, in Federal district court in the District of Columbia. The two defendants in this case, Kevin and Hunter Seefried, are charged with five counts: obstructing the counting by Congress of the electoral ballots for President and Vice President; entering and remaining in a restricted area within the United States Capitol grounds; unlawful parading, demonstrating, and picketing; and two counts of engaging in disorderly and disruptive conduct. Hunter Seefried is additionally charged with destruction of government property and two counts of engaging in physical violence.

The prosecution has requested trial testimony from Daniel Schwager, formerly counsel to the Secretary of the Senate, related to the obstruction count, including his knowledge and observations of the process and constitutional and legal bases for Congress' counting of the Electoral College votes. The prosecution is also seeking testimony at trial, if necessary, from Nate Russell and Diego Torres, custodians of records in the Senate Recording Studio, which operates under the authority of the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate, to authenticate Senate video of the proceeding that day. Senate Secretary Berry and Senate Sergeant at Arms Gibson would like to cooperate with these requests by providing relevant testimony in this proceeding from Messrs. Schwager, Russell, and Torres, respectively .

In keeping with the rules and practices of the Senate, this resolution would authorize the production of relevant testimony from Messrs. Schwager, Russell, and Torres, with representation by the Senate legal counsel.

Madam President, another criminal trial arising out of the events of January 6, 2021, is scheduled to begin on June 27, 2022, in Federal district court in the District of Columbia. The Federal indictment

charges the defendant with five counts: obstructing the counting by Congress of the electoral ballots for President and Vice President; entering and remaining in a restricted area within the United States Capitol grounds; unlawful parading, demonstrating, and picketing; and two counts of engaging in disorderly and disruptive conduct.

The government has requested trial testimony from Daniel Schwager, formerly counsel to the Secretary of the Senate, related to the obstruction count, including his knowledge and observations of the process and constitutional and legal bases for Congress' counting of the Electoral College votes. Senate Secretary Berry would like to cooperate with this request by providing relevant testimony in this proceeding from Mr. Schwager.

In keeping with the rules and practices of the Senate, this resolution would authorize the production of relevant testimony from Mr. Schwager, with representation by the Senate legal counsel.

Mr. President, as the Senate's June work period begins, the American people have one question front of mind: After years and decades of gridlock, will the Senate do something about our Nation's gun violence epidemic?

Democrats are ready to take action, and soon every single Member of this Chamber is going to have to answer that question.

Today is June 7, 2022. It is the 158th day of the year. Already-- already--this year, we have had over 250 mass shootings--over 250. That is more than one a day.

Two weeks ago, we saw the worst school shooting in America since the tragedy at Sandy Hook. An 18-year-old boy bought two assault rifles for his birthday and gunned down 19 children in Uvalde, TX--9-year-olds, 10-year-olds, 11-year-olds. You see the pictures of kids with their sweatshirts, with their awards, with their trophies. Every parent has seen pictures of children that age, and to know that they are no longer--that they were wiped out, that they were brutally murdered-- breaks your heart. It just sends shivers down your spine. A few hours later, after it happened, the parents realized and were told they would never see their children again.

Ten days before that, eleven more people were gunned down while grocery shopping in Buffalo, simply because of the color of their skin. I still can't get out of my mind the 3-year-old I met, when I visited Buffalo, who lost his dad because his dad made a quick stop to the Tops Supermarket to get his son a birthday cake. It was his son's birthday. He will never see his dad again and will live with that his whole life--knowing that his dad was killed in order to get him a birthday cake.

And for every tragedy that traumatizes the Nation's collective psyche, there are countless others that take place outside the national spotlight. They happen every single day in homes and communities in every part of this country. Across every neighborhood, every school, every small town, every large city, Americans of all persuasions are wondering the same thing: When is it going to be enough? When will Congress find the will to act? One party has that will and soon will determine whether the other side on the aisle will join. That is the challenge that faces this Chamber as we begin this work period.

Before Memorial Day, I made clear that the Senate will vote on gun safety

legislation in the near future. To that end, a handful of my Democratic colleagues, led by Senator Murphy, including the great work of Senators Blumenthal, Sinema, Manchin, Coons, Heinrich, and others, have been holding extended and substantive talks with Republicans to see what we can pass in this Chamber that will meaningfully address our Nation's gunfire epidemic.

I am encouraging my Democratic colleagues to keep talking to see if Republicans will work with us to come up with something that will make a meaningful change in the lives of the American people and help stop gun violence. There is virtual unanimity among Senate Democrats that getting something passed through this Chamber is worth pursuing if it will make a tangible difference in preventing gun violence.

We know we are not going to get everything we want. We know the push for even more meaningful gun safety will continue after this debate, but making real progress is very important. Senator Murphy has asked for some space to have these bipartisan talks continue, and I have given him that space. I look forward to discussing the status of those talks with my colleagues today.

We owe it to American parents. We owe it to American kids. We owe it to every single neighborhood, every single community, every single household that has been ripped apart by gun violence. This is a tough fight. Nevertheless, we have a moral obligation to do everything conceivable to break the cycle of violence.

In the wake of the tragedies in Uvalde and Buffalo, we have a chance to tell the American people that, this time, their anguish will not fall on deaf ears. We have a chance to tell them we hear them; that we, too, are angry and we will do everything we can to make real progress in the Senate, difficult as that is. But it is only going to happen if both sides keep working. Only with that will hope for a compromise translate into real, concrete legislation. We know it is a difficult hurdle to overcome; but, nevertheless, we must do everything we can to try and succeed.

Madam President, today, the Senate will have a chance to act on a pernicious issue that has recently become an increasingly prevalent component in America's gun violence epidemic: the evil spread of White supremacy and domestic terrorism.

In the past 2 weeks, the United States has endured two of the most traumatic mass shootings that we have seen in recent history. In my home State of New York, in the beloved city of Buffalo, 10 Black Americans were gunned down in broad daylight by a White supremacist armed with an AR-15 and whose mind was poisoned by online conspiracies--White supremacist conspiracies.

And 2 days ago, 19 children--19 children: 8-year-olds, 9-year-olds, 10-year-olds, kids on the verge of beginning summer, kids with their entire lives ahead of them; we saw them holding up their trophies and proudly in their T-

shirts, and a few hours later they were gone--slaughtered in the predominantly Latino town of Uvalde, TX. Two teachers, including a mother of four, were killed alongside them. Many more were injured and remain in critical condition.

It was the worst school shooting in America since Sandy Hook. Last night, I looked at the pictures of each of those kids online, and I wept--taken from us, taken from their families through senseless gun violence. I can't stop thinking about the parents, too, who lost their kids. I can't stop imagining the paralyzing horror of being one of the parents showing up to the school after the shooting, wondering where their kid was--the anxiety that will live with these parents forever-- forced to wait hours before a DNA test--a DNA test--confirmed that their son or daughter was gone. I cannot imagine a hell--a hell--worse than that.

And these families, my colleagues, don't want thoughts and prayers. They want their elected leaders to respond to their suffering. They don't want to be lifted up. They don't want good intentions. They want something to change. They want results.

Yet the MAGA Republicans don't want to get results. They are ossified in their opposition to any action on gun safety. No matter the cause of violence and no matter the cost on families, nothing seems to move them.

Yesterday, after Beto O'Rourke confronted Texas Governor Abbott's press conference, the MAGA Governor gave some empty platitudes about healing and hope. He asked people to put their agendas aside and think about someone other than themselves.

My God, how dare he. What an absolute fraud the Governor of Texas is. And this is the same Governor Abbott who tomorrow--tomorrow--will go speak at the NRA convention in Houston.

Governor Abbott, will you ask your MAGA buddies and your NRA pals to put aside their agendas and think of someone other than themselves like you asked the families to do? Will you ask the gun manufacturing reps who swarm over the NRA convention to put aside their agendas and think about someone other than themselves? Of course not.

The Governor--Governor Abbott--is more likely to outline some new plans to further loosen gun restrictions. No amount of bloodshed seems to be enough for MAGA Republicans.

This Nation is enraged as well as being exhausted. It has been through this over and over and over again over the last two decades. People are sick of mourning again and again while listening to the same string of hollow words from the MAGA Republicans that never lead to action.

So in a few moments, the Senate will have a chance to vote on one important cause of gun violence. The legislation before the Senate today is the Domestic Terrorism Protection Act, which I scheduled for a vote earlier this week before what happened in Uvalde occurred. It was done to respond to the massacre in the supermarket in Buffalo.

The bill is so important because the mass shooting in Buffalo was an act of domestic terrorism. We need to call it what it is: domestic terrorism. It was terrorism that fed off the poison of conspiracy theories like ``White replacement theory''; terrorism that left 10 people dead, a community forever torn asunder. This bill will give the government the tools to monitor, find, and arrest these evil actors before they have a chance to inflict violence on their communities. I thank my colleague Senator Durbin for championing this bill.

I have been going to bed every night thinking about the families I met in Buffalo in the aftermath of the shooting. I think about this little 3-year-old boy. He lost his dad who went to that Tops grocery store to buy him a birthday cake--a birthday cake for his son. That little boy is going to live with that the rest of his life--the rest of his life. I think about all the families impacted by other racially motivated shootings over the year. Buffalo, certainly, unfortunately, wasn't the first--Charleston, El Paso, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and so many others; the shooting of Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, gay Americans, Jewish Americans, as well as Black Americans all because of this horrible ``White replacement theory.''

So today is the day we can begin to debate on how to make these shootings less likely. And there is an additional benefit to moving forward today. It is a chance to have a larger debate in considering amendments for gun safety legislation in general, not just for those motivated by racism, as vital as it is to do that.

I know that many Members on the other side hold views that are different than the views on this side of the aisle. So let us move on this bill. Let us proceed and then they can bring them to the floor.

Senator Johnson brought a bill to the floor yesterday about school security practices. I didn't agree with the bill, and I don't think it is the answer to mass shootings. We don't need more guns in the schools. There were security guards at the supermarket in Buffalo, police and security at the school in Uvalde, but we can debate it. The same with Senator Cruz's plan to limit schools to only one door. Fire marshals and tactical experts totally and vehemently disagree. Let's debate it.

And there are other Senators with other proposals--proposals that come from our side of the aisle--background checks, red flag laws, the Charleston loophole, assault weapons, and other ideas.

Look, I know the chances of getting 10 votes on this bill are small, unfortunately, given the influence of MAGA Republicans. Many Republicans have made their opposition clear. Again, there are a lot of MAGA Republicans for whom no amount of gun violence--whether it is domestic terrorism, a school shooting, a neighborhood shooting, or something else--will ever--ever--convince them to take any action.

If Republicans obstruct debate today, we are prepared to have an honest and realistic discussion, conversation, negotiation for a little more time to see what they can come to the table with.

We are under no illusions that this will be easy. We have been burned in the past when Republicans promised to debate only for them to break their promise. But even with long odds, the issue is so important, so raw to the American people, so personal to countless families who are missing children, that we must pursue that opportunity. We also know that the American people--as many as 80 percent or 90 percent--support gun safety legislation.

We have an obligation to pursue every path and explore every realistic option to break the cycle of suffering and inaction. Not trying everything is not acceptable to the families who have lost their loved ones to our Nation's gun epidemic. To those beautiful children we see pictures of in the newspaper and their families, we have to try everything. We must not leave a single stone unturned.

Senator Murphy, who has been such a strong and valiant leader within our caucus on gun safety legislation and who has seen the suffering firsthand of the families at Sandy Hook whom he has become very close to, has asked for space to see what progress can be done with Senate Republicans.

Neither he nor I is under an illusion that this will be easy; it will not. But his view, my view, and the overwhelming view of our caucus is that we need to give it a short amount of time to try. There are others, too, in this caucus reaching out to our Republican colleagues as we speak--Senator Blumenthal, Senator Coons, Senator Heinrich, Senator Manchin, and others. We have also been in talks with our allies across gun advocacy groups, and we all have a strong and burning desire to see something real, something tangible come across, come together here in the Senate.

Again, none of us are under any illusions that it will be easy. None of us want to let this drag out. We know all too well the vice grip that the NRA and MAGA wing hold over the GOP, and we have been burned in the past. America has been burned in the past.

After the shootings in El Paso and Dayton 3 years ago, the Republican leader promised red flag laws and background checks would be front and center in the Senate debate. He didn't put them on the floor, and Republicans did nothing. But that is not an excuse for Democrats not to try. Too many families have suffered, too many kids have been lost, too many communities have

been destroyed. This is too important not to explore every option.

I want to be clear. This is not an invite to negotiating indefinitely. Make no mistake about it, if these negotiations do not bear fruit in a short period of time, the Senate will vote on gun safety legislation. Let me repeat. If these negotiations do not bear any fruit, the Senate will vote on gun safety legislation when we return. But our hope, even amidst our deep skepticism, is, during this week, Democrats and Republicans, at long last, will come to agree on something meaningful that will reduce gun violence in a real way in America. Senator Murphy and some of our colleagues believe that it is worth a chance, and we will give it that chance.

Unfortunately, though, Republicans haven't come forward in too long a time. There hasn't been this debate in too long a time. But even though it hasn't happened in too long a time, we feel an obligation to give it a chance.

I yield the floor.

Recognition of the Minority Leader

Mr. President, now let me explain. I entered my ``no'' vote so we can bring this up again and gain more support. So I enter a motion to reconsider the failed cloture vote.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 477.

Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Madam President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 388,

I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, May 26, be waived.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations en bloc: Calendar Nos. 707, 743, 769, 964, 894, 895, 905, and 906; that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening action or debate; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following nominations en bloc: Calendar Nos. 927 through 963 and all nominations on the Secretary's desk in the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; and that the Senate resume legislative session.

Madam President, there is a plague--a plague--upon this Nation, a plague of gun violence that has taken over this country. Two weeks ago, that plague claimed the lives of 10 Black Americans who were massacred in broad daylight while shopping at a grocery store in Buffalo. They were Black, and they were in a grocery store. That is the reason they were shot by an 18-year-old with an AR-15.

And then, yesterday, just 10 days after Buffalo, that plague struck again in Uvalde, TX, where 19--19--innocent children and 2 teachers were gunned down at Robb Elementary in the middle of the school day, just before the start of summer when these kids were looking forward to having such a wonderful time with their family and friends.

Gone. They are gone.

The shooter crashed his truck near the school, overpowered the police already at the scene, and reportedly began shooting inside a fourth grade classroom. Nineteen kids, two teachers, forever gone in the blink of an eye.

America's gun epidemic is unmatched by any of our peer nations in the world. No American is safe from it, and the American people are sick and tired of it. But we also have a problem--a big problem--here in the U.S. Senate--a big problem in the U.S. Senate. The problem in the Senate is simple: Too many Members on the other side of the aisle are disconnected from the suffering of the American people. Too many Members on that side care more about the NRA than they do about families who grieve victims of gun violence.

As I said, the American people are sick and tired of mass shootings. They are sick and tired about active shooter alerts. They are sick and tired of children--children: 9-year-olds, 10-year-

olds, 11-year-olds--being shot, gunned down in their schools.

When I read the news of yesterday's shooting, I ached for the families and then thought: What if it was one of my children? I imagined what I would feel if this happened to one of them. The mere thought--just thinking about it--was a gut punch in my stomach. The fear sent ripples down my spine.

To my Republican colleagues: Imagine if it happened to you. Imagine if this was your kid or your grandkid. How would you feel? Could you ever forgive yourself for not supporting a simple law that would make these mass shootings less likely?

Please, please, please--damn it--put yourself in the shoes of these parents for once. Maybe that thought, putting yourself in the shoes of these parents instead of in the arms of the NRA, might let you wriggle free from the viselike grip of the NRA, might free you to act on even a simple measure for the sake of these children--these 9-year-olds, these 10-year-olds, these 11-year-olds, these beautiful children. Please-- damn it--think if it were your child or grandchild.

Now, Madam President, it wasn't always this way in Congress. Nearly 30 years ago, I was proud to be the author of the Brady Bill and a leader of the assault weapons bans. These were major legislative accomplishments, and they worked because they were good, commonsense laws, and they passed because both sides of the aisle worked together. And because they became law, tens of thousands--hundreds of thousands, perhaps--of lives were saved: children, elderly people, people of color, you name it, people now walking the streets who might have been dead had we not passed these laws. But today the NRA has made it all but impossible for even the bare minimum to move forward in Congress, and the other side is all too ready to bow in obeisance to the NRA, in service of their whims.

Madam President, these types of shootings used to be rare--so rare, in fact, that each occurrence stood apart as a singular event. But now these shootings happen so frequently that the Nation can barely keep up, barely mourn the 10 people shot in the grocery store in Buffalo before being rocked to our collective core by the slaughter of 19 elementary schoolchildren in the predominantly Latino community of Uvalde, TX.

These shootings happen everywhere: movie theaters, churches, synagogues, concerts, nightclubs, grocery stores, college campuses, high schools, elementary schools--elementary schools, with beautiful children getting ready to move out into the prime of life.

Honestly, I thought Sandy Hook 10 years ago would be the breaking point. I thought that that would be the tragedy that forced Republicans to examine their conscience and think: Oh, God, we can't allow schoolchildren to be slaughtered.

Well, I was wrong. The slaughter of 20 elementary schoolchildren in Sandy Hook didn't move them. We heard about their thoughts and their prayers--but no action. Then came Aurora. And the Navy Yard. Then, after Charleston, I thought: Maybe this--maybe this is the moment. Nine Americans shot in a church during Bible study? This has to move the Republicans here in the Senate.

Nope. It didn't. They gave a few more thoughts, a few more prayers, no real effort to solve the problem.

So, Madam President, it continued on and on and on: San Bernardino; Orlando; Las Vegas; Sutherland Springs; Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School; Thousand Oaks; the Pittsburgh synagogue; Santa Fe, TX; the El Paso Walmart; Dayton; Virginia Beach; Boulder; Buffalo; and now Uvalde.

When will it end? We must act to have it end, not thoughts and prayers--action.

After the shootings in El Paso and Dayton 3 years ago, the Republican leader promised that red flag laws and background checks would be front and center in a Senate debate. He was then majority leader, but then the Republicans did nothing. They ensured there was no debate, just as they wanted. They don't want to debate this issue. Indeed, all we hear from Republicans are thoughts, prayers. And now there is a new phrase. Now some of my Republican colleagues want to ``lift up'' the community. That sounds heartening, but it does absolutely nothing--nothing--to prevent the next family from having to grieve their loss, and it won't do a single damn thing to prevent another life from being taken. It won't do a single damn thing to prevent another child from being shot at school--a 9-year-old, a 10-year-old, an 11-year-old--beautiful children.

Madam President, you may have noticed that when they aren't offering thoughts and prayers to distract from their inaction, many of my Republican colleagues focus on the motives of the shooters instead of focusing on the obvious common denominator. They talk about the real villain being mental illness and say nothing of the fact that we are a nation suffocated by firearms. Rates of mental illness are more or less the same across the developed world. The United States is not an outlier on mental illness, but we are an outlier in the sheer number of guns available in this country. That is why we have so many shootings and other Western countries don't. If mental illness were the simple cause, you would see mass shootings happening all over the developed world, but you don't.

What you do see here in America are enough guns to give every man, woman, and child in this Nation a firearm and still have nearly 70 million guns left over. What you do see is that it is far too easy for people to access weapons in this country and then to use them to slaughter people, to slaughter children by the dozens--by the dozens.

Again, America doesn't stand out when it comes to the rate of mental illness, but we are unique among the world's developed nations in that today, the leading cause of death among children is no longer a car accident; it is no longer illness or malnourishment. The leading cause of death among children is a firearm. The leading cause of death of children--do you hear that, my Republican colleagues?--is a firearm.

Clearly, many of these shooters had different motives, but at the end of the day, does the motive really matter to the family with an empty seat at their dinner table? Children who lost parents don't just care whether the shooter was mentally ill; they care that the shooter had ready access to a gun. Spouses who lost their partners don't just care that the shooter had a grudge or an agenda or a grievance; they care that the shooter had ready access to a gun. Americans who lost friends and coworkers and parishioners, who lost fellow worshippers don't just care whether the shooter wrote a manifesto; they care that the shooter had ready access to a gun. They care that their loved ones had been taken from them by someone who had access to a gun--taken from them while some Members of this body refuse to do what it takes to prevent those losses, refuse to focus on the denominator to every single one of these shootings, refuse to even do the bare minimum as they bow in obeisance to the wretched NRA.

What do we do about it? If the slaughter of schoolchildren can't convince the Republicans to buck the NRA, what can we do? There are some who want this body to quickly vote on sensible gun safety legislation--legislation supported by the vast majority of Americans, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike. They want to see this body vote quickly so the American people can know which side each Senator is on--which side each Senator is on.

I am sympathetic to that, and I believe that accountability votes are important. But, sadly, this isn't a case of the American people not knowing where their Senators stand. They know. They know because my Republican colleagues are perfectly clear on this issue, crystal clear. Republicans don't pretend that they support sensible gun safety legislation. They don't pretend to be moved by the fact that 90 percent of Americans, regardless of party, support something as common sense as background checks, that the vast majority of gun owners support the background checks bill. They don't pretend that they want to keep guns out of the hands of those who might use weapons to shoot concertgoers or movie watchers or worshippers or shoppers or children. They don't pretend at all.

Just listen to them when they show up in obeisance to the NRA at the NRA's convention in Houston--the same State as Uvalde--on Friday. They

will offer their thoughts and prayers. They will say they want to lift up the community. And then they will go back to their smoke-filled rooms and ensure the NRA and gun manufacturers that nothing will change, that they have the NRA's back.

No, Madam President, no, this isn't a case of Republicans hiding their position. They proudly tell the American people which side they are on, and America is much worse off for it. And if nothing does change, we are condemned to find ourselves right here once again very, very soon.

As I was reading the reports of the tragedy in Texas, I saw that Amanda Gorman, the young woman who mesmerized the Nation at President Biden's inauguration, tweeted:

The truth is, one nation under guns.

``One nation under guns.'' That is simply heartbreaking-- heartbreaking--to think that this is the legacy that older generations are leaving behind for young Americans: ``one nation under guns.''

It doesn't have to be that way. Our parents don't need to drop their kids off at school and wonder if their kid will be next. That is in the thoughts of millions of moms and dads right now. Our citizens don't have to endure the fear of getting groceries while constantly keeping an eye behind their backs. Again, millions of Americans are worried about that right now.

Americans can make a choice. Americans can reject the Republican ``guns at all cost'' doctrine, obeisance to the NRA, not even voting for the most simple, sensitive, positive, and popular gun legislation. Americans can cast their vote in November for Senators or Members of Congress who reflect how he or she stands with guns, with this issue-- this issue--at the top of the voters' lists.

In the meantime, my Republican colleagues can work with us now. I know this is a slim prospect--very slim, all too slim. We have been burned so many times before. But this is so important, and I have such a firm belief--taught to me by my late father, who passed away in November--that if you do the right thing and persist, justice will eventually prevail. But you have to keep persisting, and we will.

For that reason alone, we must pursue action and even ask Republicans again to join us--maybe, maybe, maybe. Unlikely. We have been burned in the past. But their hearts might see what is happening and join us and do the right thing. They know it is the right thing. They can work with us to craft legislation that would prevent needless loss of life. It is their choice.

As majority leader, I haven't been shy about putting bipartisan legislation on the floor for a vote, but bipartisan means both parties must engage in crafting a bill, like what happened in the House and Senate 30 years ago with the Brady law and the assault weapons ban.

Democrats have been trying to work hard with Republicans--Senator Murphy, Senator Manchin--on legislation that will eventually pass and become law. The other side has refused. There are so many options available to us, so many ideas. We just need some brave Republicans to stand before history and yell ``stop,'' to think, if it was your child, your grandchild, how you would feel. Would that move you to do something--something--about this plague of guns?

Like my colleague Senator Murphy, I refuse to believe that we cannot find a path forward. Make no mistake about it, if we can't find a good, strong bill that has bipartisan support, we will continue to pursue this issue on our own. We have no choice. It is too important. Lives are at stake.

I accept the fact that most of my Republican colleagues are not willing to do what it takes to prevent this needless loss of life. The NRA will have a hold on them. That is just a reality, unfortunately. But it is unacceptable to the American people to think that there are not 10 of my Republican colleagues, just 10--1 out of 5 over here--who would be ready to work to pass something that would reduce this plague of gun violence.

It is unacceptable that there are not 10 Members of the Republican caucus willing to save lives, find a way to do it. Yet that is where we are. That is where we are. Another week, another American community devastated by a mass shooting. All of us thinking of these 9- and 10- and 11-year-old children just shot, gone. Another American community, Uvalde, which will never recover, like the other communities before it. Will it be yet--Uvalde--another example of Republicans unwilling to do what it takes to keep Americans safe?

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I understand there are five bills at the desk due for a second reading en bloc.

In order to place these bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceeding en bloc.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.