For their tremendous leadership that we are here on the floor today to speak about. I come today not just as a member of the senate representing my home state of washington, but as a former educator, as a mother, and as a grandmother, devastated by how the gun violence epidemic is tearing apart our families and ravaging our communities in every state. And i am furious at Republican Leaders who continue to stand by and do nothing while more and more lives are lost. Just as i was after newtown, parkland, Sutherland Springs and marysville in my home state of washington, i could go on. Mr. President , we dont have to continue this cycle of violence, heartbreak, and inaction, and we are here today to emphasize that there is action that we can take right now because earlier this year the house passed h. R. 8, meaningful, bipartisan gun safety legislation to address this terrible crisis through universal background checks and other popular rarms, but in the 260 days since h. R. 8 passed the house, it has languished here in the senate, despite repeated calls from myself and my democratic colleagues for a vote. And thats why 58 days ago, following the tragic events at el paso and dayton and midland, i joined my Democratic Senate colleagues here on the floor to try and break this cycle and demand that we address the scourge of gun violence in this country by taking a vote here in the senate on h. R. 8 which would install universal background checks. A policy that, by the way, is supported by an overwhelming majority of americans. In the face of republican apathy, people across the country raised their voices even louder, demanding action to end the endless wave of gun tragedy, so much so that after this summers string of horrors, President Trump bowed to public pressure and made a commitment to finally act to address the gun violence epidemic. After months and years of inaction and far, far too many lives lost, it was the first sliver of hope in a long while. That the president and Senate Republicans would finally for the safety of put the safety of families over their allegiance to the n. R. A. And do something substantive about ending this nations gun violence epidemic, working with democrats with commonsense reforms to End Gun Violence and keep people safe. Now, more than two months later, President Trump has betrayed his pledge to address this tragic epidemic, as if the past summer never even happened. Once again, hes chosen to abdicate his responsibility to keep our families and our communities safe, and its broken yet another promise he made to the American People. Kowtowing to the n. R. A. And its unpopular agenda to stymie commonsense gun reform as soon as Mass Shootings were out of the headlines. Well, i can assure you Senate Democrats and i are going to keep fighting for commonsense gun safety reforms like universal background checks, even when gun violence isnt making a headline that day, because while President Trump continues carrying water for the n. R. A. And Senate Republicans continue hiding behind President Trump, democrats here understand that congress has a duty to act to protect lives and the president s cowardice absolutely should not set congress agenda. While President Trumps backtracking on this serious issue is disgraceful, i ask my republican colleagues to remember we are not beholden to the president or to the gun lobby that we do not need President Trumps permission to vote on bills or to act to save lives. In fact, in states across the country, we have been able to take on the gun lobby and make meaningful progress to address this crisis. In my home state of washington, we have closed background check loopholes and we have enacted extreme Risk Protection orders. We were able to accomplish those things because of the advocacy of groups like moms demand action across my state, the Washington State alliance for gun responsibility, every tun for gun safety, march for our lives, so many more. As well as the dedicated volunteers and activists behind those organizations. The brave people who have been out making their voices heard and putting pressure on lawmakers to do their jobs to end this senseless epidemic. People like jane white who lives in mill creek, washington. After she tragically lost her niece to gun violence, jane joined the fight to pass lifesaving legislation in Washington State by putting pressure on her state lawmakers and won. There are people like jane all across the country who are speaking up, fighting back, even when it means reliving some of the hardest moments of their lives in order to prevent others from suffering as much as they have. Mr. President , that is hard and brave to do, but there is absolutely nothing hard or brave about simply having a vote on a bipartisan housepassed legislation to ensure universal background checks. To the contrary, its the height of cowardice not to hold that vote while families across the country wonder which Movie Theater or Shopping Mall or synagogue or mosque or church or Community Space is next. And while students spend their time in school on active shooter drills while they should be learning. But unfortunately, cowardice is what we are seeing from far too many republicans here in the senate and in the white house when it comes to protecting families from this scourge of gun violence. So i want to be clear. I hope my republican colleagues allow this legislation to pass today, but if they dont, for jane and so many others, Senate Democrats are going to keep shining its spotlight on the inaction on gun violence here in the senate and the broken promises coming out of the white house. Were going to keep making the case, building support, and we will not give up until this is done. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. A senator thank you, mr. President. Mr. Murphy i have two unanimous consent requests. The first wont draw objection. The second i fear will. My first is that the following five interns in my office be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the year madison mallon, chris brown, britt jackovich, kevin bradley, and alana van nostrin. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Murphy thank you very much, mr. President. Senator murray noted 100 people die from gunshot wounds every single day. We cant go 24 hours without news of another mass shooting somewhere in america. My kids and millions of others hide in corners of their classroom or in their bathrooms preparing for a mass shooting at their school, and this body does nothing about it. The good news is we have a piece of legislation that enjoys 95 support in the American Public and will undoubtedly make an enormous impact on gun violence rates in this country, and so i will give more extensive remarks after i make this unanimous consent request, but my request will be that the Senate Immediately take up h. R. 8, the universal background checks bill that was passed in a bipartisan way through the house of representatives and has received no action, no debate here in the United States senate since that time. So, mr. President , as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 29, h. R. 8. Further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer is there an objection . The senator from mississippi. Mrs. Hydesmith mr. President , reserving the right to object. Legislation that would affect the rights of american citizens under the Second Amendment should not be fast tracked by the senate. Efforts to criminalize otherwise lawful conduct with firearms by lawabiding gun owners should not be exempt from consideration by the appropriate committee of jurisdiction. It should not be exempt from debate on the senate floor. If this socalled commonsense Bipartisan Legislation was indeed crafted with strong bipartisan input, it shouldnt have any problems advancing by regular order. Many questions about this legislation need to be answered before its forced upon lawabiding gun owners. If i wanted to give my best friends son or grandson my hunting rifle, would we first have to appear before a licensed gun dealer and go through a lengthy and potentially expensive background check . This is my understanding. We have many questions like this. My constituents would like to have an opportunity to weigh in on our measures like these, which is why we cant fast track legislation that affects americas Second Amendment rights. I object to this unanimous consent request, mr. President , and i yield the floor. The presiding officer objection is heard. Mr. Murphy mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from connecticut. Mr. Murphy i appreciate the goodfaith objection from my friend from mississippi, but the good news that i can convey to her is that my Republican Senate friends who want to have some impact into the consideration of the future of american gun laws have ample opportunity to do that because youre in the majority. Senate republicans control the judiciary committee. Senator mcconnell can decide to bring any measure to the floor. And so if the concern is there hasnt been enough republican input into the question of whether criminals or terrorists or people who are seriously mentally ill have access to guns, have a committee hearing, dont just stay silent. It doesnt pass the straightface test to come down here to say, we cant take up h. R. 8 because we havent had input on it. Youre in the majority. You have the ability to pass legislation that you support, that democrats can support as well. And the idea that we are just going to sit here and twiddle our thumbs week after week as 100 people are killed by guns through suicides and homicides and accidental shootings, its an abdication of our basic responsibility as United States senators. Theres nothing that matters more to our constituents than their physical safety. And there are kids that are walking to school in cities in every single state in this body who fear for their lives, whose brain chemistry is changed by the trauma that they go through because of that fear for their safety, and they cant learn, they cant cope, and they cant build strong relationships. My kids go through active shooter drills at school because they in fact expect that someday someone will walk through their doors and start firing a militarystyle assault weapon in one of of their classrooms. And i get it. There is a difference of opinion on exactly how we should expand background checks. I understand that maybe my republican colleagues dont want to support h. R. 8. But youre in the majority. You have the ability to lead a conversation that can find that Common Ground on expanding background checks. So im not just going to accept this argument that we cant bring h. R. 8 to the floor because weve got some concerns about it. I cant get a piece of legislation to the floor in any other way other than to offer this motion. And the American Public are not going to accept silence from this body week after week, month after month, in the face of this epidemic carnage that is happening across this country. Parents know that they are kids arent same they know that they are kids arent safe and they expect us to act. The president s attorney general said the other day that we made some progress on the issue of background checks over the summer, but now weve got the impeachment proceedings and so thats stopped all this discussion. Thats thats not true. The impeachment proceedings right now are in the house of representatives. The discussion on the future of a background checks bill was in the senate. It was happening between myself and senator manchin and senator toomey. We are still at the table ready to negotiate a compromise version of a background checks expansion act, and we frankly got hot lots of time on our hands in the senate. Weve got plenty of time. Weve got plenty of bandwidth here in the senate to negotiate with the white house over a universal background checks bill. So you cant say that we cant tank h. R. 8 because we havent had input. Republicans are in charge the. You have the ability to have as much input as you want. The white house cant say that impeachment is stopping a debate on background checks from happening. Im ready to talk. Senator toomey is ready to talk. Senator manchin is ready to table. And we have evidence just from this summer about how important universal background checks are. On the last day of august, a gunman fled from police in odessa, texas. He hijacked a United StatesPostal Service van. He killed its driver and then randomly fired on people as he drove through the streets. During his shooting spree, the gunman killed seven people and wounded over 20 others, a reign of terror throughout the streets of this texas town. Now, the current background checks bill worked as it was intended to work. The shoot irtried to buy a gun the shooter tried to guy a gun in 2014 but was denied. Why . Because he had been found to be so seriously mentally ill when he was committed to an inpatient institution that his name was placed on the list of individuals who are prohibited from buying weapons. The problem is, texas doesnt have universal background checks. Meaning that it was as easy as pie for the shooter, after he got deny add gun purchase at denied a gun purchase at a bricksandmortar store, to find a private seller who would sell him a militarystyle weapon without a background check. And in this case, it resulted in 020 people getting hurt and seven people being wounded. This easy way to find loopholes through the nations background check system. But what happens every single day. Every single day somebody buys a gun at a show, or online or at a private sale. And so i am deeply, deeply troubled. Im profoundly, profoundly aggrieved by the my bodys reluctance to even take up a conversation about the future of gun policy in this country. I wish there wasnt an objection. I wish that we had an opportunity to be able to discuss the future of background checks, the future of our gun laws on the senate floor. Our constituents expect us to have that debate. This wont be the last time we come down to the floor to try to force a debate, to try to force a conversation in this body so that we can find bipartisan consensus on an issue that enjoys 95 public support, 80 from gun owners, 70 support from n. R. A. Members. There is almost nothing else that is less controversial in America Today than the issue of universal background checks and we will continue to press that case on behalf of the American People. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from connecticut. Mr. Blumenthal mr. President , we ought to be aggrieved, we ought to be angry, and we ought to be in fact furious not just frustrated, but furious at this sad, even pathetic objection to moving forward with a bill that is supported by 95 of the American People. And the simple fact is that our Senate Colleagues have been talking to us in good faith, not only about a background check bill but also about emergency Risk Protection orders because we know there is no single solution, no panacea, and that emergency Risk Protection orders are the other side of the coin to background checks. Last week the Washington Post reported that President Trump has given up on passing lifesaving gun violence legislation. The reason . Fierce lobbying by the n. R. A. Lets face the stark truth here. The objection on the floor today is not the result of any lack of clarity about the need for background check legislation. It is the result purely and simply from the president saying no. We need to do our job. We have continued talks, in fact, with members of the white house staff, after the impeachment proceedings began. My hope is that the Washington Post article is untrue. I believe it certainly in no way forestalls or prevents these discussions from continuing. I think there is a reason to hope. But it will take courage and strength to do it. The president said yesterday that he was too busy doing his job meeting with the president of turkey, an individual who has potentially enabled war crimes in northern syria. If he wasnt too busy to do that kind of meeting, he shouldnt be too busy to do gun violence prevention. And the fact is that the stakes are simply too high for there to be delay. 36,000 americans are killed every year or more. Thats 100 every day. And gun deaths are in fact rising, not declining. The trends are absolutely alarming and appalling, and we are complicit in these deaths if we fail to act. As i speak on the floor right now, there is a School Shooting in santa clara, california. How can we turn the other way . How can we refuse to see that shooting in realtime demanding our attention, requiring our action . We are complicit if we fail to act. It is not just a political responsibility, it is a moral imperative. And the unconscionable loss of life is our responsibility. This problem is one that we can solve. We may not be able to prevent all the deaths that occur, all 100 every day in america, but we can save lives, and our goal has to be to save as many lives as quickly a