WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) yesterday spoke on the Senate floor to urge bipartisan cooperation on common-sense legislation to address the gun violence epidemic. The Senate is expected to vote on several bills to address gun violence next week. This action comes in the wake of the tragic shooting that took place in Orlando, Florida.
Excerpts from Senator Coons’ remarks:
Our nation, my state, my constituents, my neighbors are crying out for members of this body to have the courage of our convictions and to address this moment.
Regardless of the Orlando attacker’s intentions or his background, Congress must act to prevent known or suspected terrorists from having the unfettered ability to purchase high-powered, military-grade weapons.
Our Constitution protects the fundamental individual right to bear arms, but no freedom is absolute, and no one Amendment can subvert all the others.
Orlando deserved to have the security of a functioning, universal background-check system that keeps guns out of the hands of people known to be dangerous. So, too, do the people of Wilmington.
There have been so many instances of gun violence on the streets of my hometown in the weeks and months of this year, and last year, and the year before, that some have become numb to them, almost lost count of them, yet this daily carnage continues.
We can and should take action to protect all of our citizens, of any ethnicity, any faith, any sexual orientation with common-sense gun legislation.
Senator Coons’ full remarks:
Mr. President, I am coming to the floor today to join so of my colleagues who have spoken in the last day to urge, to encourage bipartisan cooperation on common-sense legislation to address the gun violence epidemic that plagues our nation, and my home state of Delaware. I want to thank my colleagues Senators Murphy and Blumenthal for their persistent, their unwavering commitment to address this very real national crisis.
In the aftermath of the tragic mass shooting in Orlando, I have been filled with many emotions, as have so many of my colleagues.
Grief for the victims and their families. Concern for the City of Orlando, and grief for the greater LGBTQ community across our nation and world. Anger toward the perpetrator and the extremists that spread hatred, violence, and fear around the world.
And a powerful, deep-seated frustration that our government, our Congress, this Senate has not taken needed steps to keep dangerous and unstable individuals from getting access to guns.
The atrocity that took place at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, was more than just a cowardly act of terrorism and a despicable, violent rampage of hate against our LGBTQ brothers and sisters – it was also an attack on our very freedoms – on our way life.
From the brave first responders and law enforcement officers who rushed to the scene, to the hundreds, even thousands, of Floridians who've lined up in the days since to donate blood, tragedies like these so often showcase the very best and worst of humanity in the same heartbreaking moments.
This mass shooting, this worst mass shooting in American history, should force us to confront a number of powerful but unanswered questions:
Are we going to be a nation that celebrates our diversity or one that stokes fear, division, and hatred?
Are we going to engage the American Muslim community in pursuing our shared goal of defeating the scourge of terrorism, or are we going to malign and alienate 1.6 billion people from one of the world's great religions?
Are we together going to pass common-sense safety measures addressing gun violence, or is this Senate – yet again – going to accept the status quo?
Our nation, my state, my constituents, my neighbors are crying out for members of this body to have the courage of our convictions and to address this moment.
Regardless of the Orlando attacker’s intentions or his background, Congress must act to prevent known or suspected terrorists from having the unfettered ability to purchase high-powered, military-grade weapons.
That means ensuring that we have a universal system of background checks when a firearm is purchased. It also means ensuring that the United States Department of Justice gets notified when a known or suspected terrorist goes to buy a gun so that the Department can investigate or stop a transaction that might immediately endanger citizens' lives.
Today, an estimated 40 percent of all gun sales are sold by unlicensed dealers who are not required to conduct any criminal background check under federal law.
In the aftermath of the atrocity in Orlando, Deputy Attorney General Yates noted that the Justice Department, quote, “would have liked to have known” that Omar Mateen had gone to purchase an assault rifle.
Our Constitution protects the fundamental individual right to bear arms, but no freedom is absolute, and no one Amendment can subvert all the others.
Orlando deserved to have the security of a functioning, universal background-check system that keeps guns out of the hands of people known to be dangerous.
So, too, do the people of Wilmington.
Earlier this week, late Tuesday night, in my hometown of Wilmington, less than a block away from a business owned by one of my treasured staff members, four young teenagers were shot – ages 12, 13, 15 and 16. The 15 year-old-boy remains in critical condition at Christiana Hospital. He was shot in his stomach, hand, and leg.
And even earlier this week in Wilmington, a 15-year-old girl was a shot during an argument at a party.
There have been so many instances of gun violence on the streets of my hometown in the weeks and months of this year, and last year, and the year before, that we have become numb to them, we've almost lost count of them, yet this daily carnage continues -- in my hometown, in towns all across this country.
Orlando deserves the amount of attention it has received as one of the worst mass atrocities in American history. Yet we cannot forget the week in, week out tragedies where one, two, three, four individuals are shot in what now seems to be, sadly, routine gun violence all across this country.
And we’ve heard in speeches given by my colleagues about instances all over our country. From Orlando to San Bernardino, to Newtown. From Wilmington, to Chicago, to Los Angeles, Americans fall victim to gun violence each and every day.
It doesn't have to be this way.
Americans are 25 times more likely to be murdered with a gun than people in any other developed country. We can, we must do more to prevent senseless acts of gun violence.
So today, this week, we mourn the lives taken from us too soon in Orlando, and I mourn and many of my neighbors and constituents mourn the lives lost in Wilmington. But we all pray that the families and friends grieving the loss of their loved ones will find strength and purpose in the days to come and will bring encouragement from actions by this Senate.
Tragedies like these don’t just draw our attention, don't just hold our gaze, don't just break our hearts – they also challenge our values as a nation. In response to the atrocities in Orlando, America’s message to the world must not be one of fear and anger and isolation, as some proposed. Instead, I think, we can and should take action to protect all of our citizens, of any ethnicity, any faith, any sexual orientation with common-sense gun legislation.
I am encouraged to know that there have been filed bills that this body will take up and act upon next week, and that my colleagues, Senator Murphy and Senator Feinstein, have been able to submit for consideration by this body. Bills relating to background checks and to closing the terror gap that I look forward to supporting next week when we return.
I'd like to thank all of my colleagues from both parties who have advanced proposals or who have come to the floor to participate in an important effort to show the people of this country that we can work across the aisle, that we can listen to each other, and that we can, I hope, legislate.
And I'd like to specifically thank my colleague Senator Murphy for his discipline, his engagement, and his work in an important filibuster to show the people of our country that we are listening, that we are paying attention, we are working, and that we will soon take action.