Minority leader harry reid congratulated chris murphy for leading the 15hour debate against gun violence on wednesday in the senate. His remarks were followed by Mitch Mcconnell criticizing senate crast democrats for the debate calling it a talkathon. This is 20 minutes. Mr. President . For 14 hours and 50 minutes, beginning Late Wednesday morning and ending early thursday morning, the entire nation watched the senator from connecticut teach our republican colleagues a lesson and another things not the least of which is courage. It is easy to say we stood for 14 hours. We talk a lot about filibusters in the senate. They dont happen very often. I have been in congress for 34 heres and i have probably led two more than anyone else. They dont happen much. There are a lot of fake filibusters but this was real. I admire and appreciate the junior senator from connecticut very much. Four days after 49 innocent americans were gunned down in a nightclub, senator murphy stood here as indicated for 14 hours, pleading with republicans to join and stop the nations scourge of gun violence. 40 other democrats joined him and without exception all 46 of us united together, led by the senator in support of what we was doing. Because we all believed he ecoed the words we wish to speak, to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and terrorist was inspiring. A reminder the Senate Democrats will not cave into the fashional Rifle Association or the gun owners of america. National. The people of the nation responded nan overwhelming way. Throughout the course of senator murphys filibuster hundreds game and watched in the senate galleries. A hundred people were still sitting in the gallery at 2 12 a. M. This morning as senator murphy brought the filibuster to a close. Thousands and thousands and thousands of constiuents called and demanded congress do something to address this gun violence. Senator murphys filibuster took over social media. Hold the floor was a top trending topic nationally and globally. Senator murphy got the worlds attention and certainly americas attention and i hope he got the attention of the senate republicans. In the Early Morning hours, the republican leader spoke, and we talked and he indicated he would commit to allowing votes on two gun Safety Measures. The booker legislation, sorry, the fienstein booker legislation to expand background checks and the fienstein to close the terror loophole preventing terrorist from walking into a gun store and buying all of the firearms and plosives they want. Why the passion of senator murphy, mr. President , could a man get to these babies by the mad man walking to Sandy Hook School . Of course it was. He said he cannot get that out of this mind. Every day that is what he thinks about. Not 24 hours a day but every day. Why was clay booker here every minute of the time with senator murphy . He was here because he lives in an area where people are killed, several a week, in his neighborhood. He gave one of the most passionate speeches on tuesday in our caucus about holding a little boy, shot in the head, and dying in his arms. He has been involved in gun control since the early days in house of representatives. Dian diane fienstein. Doing something about guns has been on her portfolio since he she was a member of the board of supervisors of San Francisco, became mayor as a result of the mayor being murdered. Dianne fienstein led the charge to pass on this floor, when filibusters were not what we did around here, stopping every piece of legislation going through. Now see persuvievered and made legislation to stop the assault weapons. Does anyone think assault rifles are used for hunting or protecting a family . This evil man that went into a nightclub in orlando had at least three bullet clips. It takes about less than 20 seconds to shoot those. All gone in less than three seconds. It takes, if you are not very good at it, 12 seconds to reload. So to fire off 90 shells it would take 1015 seconds if that is what he wanted to do. Many years later she is still right. The assault rifles are not for the American Peoples entertainment. They should not be. What the nra and gun owners of america love to sell these guns. So we are going to vote on the murphybookerschumer legislation to expand background checks and the fienstein measure to close the terrorist loopholes and prevent terrorist from walking into a gun store and buying all of the firearms and explosive they want. These are common sense measures that the American People overwhelmingly support. Look at the polls from september, october, it doesnt matter. I ask anyone do we want someone who is a criminal or has problems with their mental capacity, do we want them going in there and purchasing a gun . Of course not. More than 80 of americans want to close the socalled loophole preventing suspected terrorist from purchasing firearms. And the legislation of fiensteins bill will cover just that. I appreciate it very much. We dont get votes on a lot of stuff. But i want to be clear it is not enough to let us simply vote. Democrats cant pass these gun Safety Measures by ourselves. We are the Minority Party as a result of the election two years ago. Any change, there will be a new majority here coming the first part of the year. Republicans must join us for those measures to pass. That wont happen if the republicans continue to take their orders from the national Rifle Association and the gun owners of america. We need americans to understand that we need republicans to follow senator murphy lead and senator fiensteins lead and show courage in standing up to the gun lobby in the aftermath of the worst massacre in history the American People are looking to us to make them safe. We can close the loophole and support background checks today. Immediately. We need gun safety. Not more guns. Lets take a stand in the senate and say enough is enough. On another subject, this sunday, june 19th is juneteenth. The day we celebrate the reminder that liberty and justice much reach all corners of the great nation. On june 19th, 1865, two months after general lee surrendered, one of the slaves in galveston, texas learned the slavery was no more. There was no press, no internet or television. As we celebrate june 19th, i hope we remember the celebration and freedom for all americans. Sadly 150 years later we have much work to make sure all citizens regardless of race, nationality or who they love are treated equally. Our nation continues to struggle. We continue to disfranchise exfelons. They have done their time. Let them be part of society. If we want them to come back and help out. Citizens that are part of our networ network, our great community, let them vote. Right here in the capitol, 600,000 residents continue to face taxation without r representation. I have been here a long time and supported this for d. C. I hope we can remember the troops sent to galveston, texas and the lesson of no matter who you are and where you may be this is a nation of liberty and justice for all. And let the record reflect, i understand protocol here and i was told senior mcconnell would be a little late so i was told to hold the floor. Mr. President . The Senate Majority leader. I ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of debate only until noon today. Without objection. Only the past few months, terrorist directed or inspired isis have committeded mass murder in brussels, california, and in france. When isis issued a call for lone wolf attacks during ramadan the followers heard the attack. A terrorist broadcasted news of the attack over the news of the internet. In orlando, americans were targeted deliberately and taken forever from their families by terrorist isil has claimed is one of the soldiers of the caliphate. It is clear from his behavior that this was not a random act of violence. This was a calculated act of terror. The cia director john brennan testified before the Senate Select committee on intelligence Islamic State militants are quote training and attempting to deploy officers for further attacks on the west. He called the terrorist attack the assault on the values of openness and tolerance that define the United States as a nation. Of course he is absolutely right. It goes into the sharp relief that the troubling reality we face. Isil is not the jv team. Isil is certainly not contained. Isil is the personification of evil in the world and it will continue to bring tragedy after tragedy to our own door steps until it is defeated. President obama needs to lead a campaign to accomplish this or at the least prepare the military and Intelligence Committee to help the next president do it if he wont. This is his primary responsibility in the wake of this terrorist tragedy. Here is what we need to do. Our responsibility in the senate is to make a choice. Work on Serious Solutions to prevent terrorist attacks or use the senate as a campaign studio. A campaign studio. Yesterday, the fbi director came to deliver a critical briefing on orlando and explain what is needed to prevent similar terrorist attacks in the future. Senate republicans attended and asked serious questions. A rather Significant Group of Senate Democrats skipped it. Skipped the briefing all together for a campaign talkathon out here on the senate floor. It is also prevented us from Going Forward on the bill offering amendments and votes. It is hard to think of a clearer contrast between serious work for solutions on the one hand and endless partisan campaigning on the other. Doing what we can to fight terror beyond our borders and prevent attacks within the border were priorities of ours well before the terrorist attack in orlando and they continue to be at the forefront of our efforts now. We passed the annual Defense Authorization act that will go a long way helping americans confront Global Security challenges today and preparing the next commander and chief to take on tomorrow. We are now working to pass an appr appropriation bill that will give more resources to track down and diffuse threats here on american soil. As we continue that measure, we are continuing to explore additional tools that can help prevent devastating terrorist attacks. Tools that will help us prevent the threat of lone wolf terrorist and help us connect the dots when it comes to terrorist communications. Now is the time for democrats to finally join with us in pursuing Serious Solutions that can actually make a real difference. As we said on tuesday, there will be amendment votes on this bill. There will be amendment votes on this bill. And yesterday, we were prepared to begin that process but were unable to get amendments pendig because of the extended floor debate that went until two in the morning. We will try again to move forward and get agreement on both sides and once there is an agreement we will update everyone. No one wants terrorist to be able to buy guns. No one wants terrorist to be able to buy guns. So if democrats are actually serious about getting a solution on that issue, not just making a political talking point, they mean join with us to support the shield act. It would give the Justice Department the ability to prevent known or suspected terrorist from purchasing firearms. It will protect the Constitutional Rights of all americans. It will go a step further and allow terrorist to be taken into custody if a judge finds probably cause. That is a serious solution on this issue. Lets remember, however, this issue represents only a piece of a much, much bigger challenge. Director brennen told us despite fight against isis on the battlefield and the financial ral realm we have not stopped the global reach. If we want to prevent isis inspired directed attacks we have to defeat isis in iraq and syria. If we want to prevent isis inpired and directed attacks we have to defeat isis in inspired iraq and syria. Here is what that means. From the white house it means we dont need another lecture. Another lecture or another threat to veto to defense bill. It means we need real leadership and a plan to defeat isis. From our colleagues here in the senate, it means we dont need more campaign talkathons like yesterday preventing us from voting. It means we need Serious Solutions and hard work. Afterall, that is what the people sent us here to do. After all. We may have gotten held back by a day but we can keep moving forward and setup votes on both sides just as we always expected. I yield the floor. Texas senator ted cruz responded to the murphy filibuster. He blamed the shooting on the Obama Policies and showed support for the nra saying they didnt commit these crimes. This is 20 minutes. Our nation is at war. Five days ago we saw a horrific terror attack in orlando, florida. From september 11th, to the boston marathon, from ford hood to chattanooga, from San Bernardino to this attack in orlando, radical islamic terrorism declared jihad on america. As the facts unfolded, it now indicates the orlando terrorist has pledged his allegiance to isis in the process of murdering 49 and wounding more than 50 at a nightclub. Our hearts go out to those who were murdered, to the families of those who were victims and who are grieving, we stand in solidarity and lift them up in prayer at this horrific act of terrorism. But it is also a time for action. We need a commander in chief who will speak the truth, who will address the enemy we face, who will unleash the full furry of the military on defeating isis and islamic terrorist. In the wake of the attack, many of us predicted what would unfold. It was sadly the same political tale we have seen over and over again. Many of us predicted that democrats, as a matter of ridged partisan ideology, would refuse to say the words radical terrorism. They would suggest this was another isolated incident. One lone criminal not connected to any global ideology or any global jihad. And even worse, they would try to use it as an excuse to go after the Second Amendment rights of the american citizens. This week played out too predictable. Yesterday, we saw a show on the senate floor. Democrats incensed not at isis or islamic terrorist but innoceni i think the American People find it ridiculous that in response to a terrorist attack the democrats say we have to restrict the Second Amendment rights of lawabiding citizens. This is not a gun control issue. This is a terrorism issue. And it is nothing less than political gains manship for them to try to shift to their favorite hobby horse of taking away the amendment rights from lawabiding citizens. I have spent years defending the Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms, the constitution and the bill of rights, and i am committed to defending the Constitutional Rights of every america. You dont defeat terrorism by taking away our guns. You defeat terrorism by using our guns. This body shouldnt be in a circus trying to restrict the Second Amendment. Instead we should be focusing on the problem at hand. Why did we see yesterdays series of speeches . Because Senate Democrats have an election coming up in november. They dont want to talk about the real issue. Lets talk about isis. Lets talk about radical islamic terrorism. Lets talk about the failures of the last sever n years of this administration to keep this country safe seven. In response to my criticism and that of many others, president obama gave a press conference where he said echoing the words of had been, what difference was it make if we call it islamic terrorist. Mr. President , it makes a world of difference. The failure to address the enemy impacts every action taken to fight that enemy. I want to talk in particular about three areas where this administration and the democrats refusal to confront radical islam has made us less safe and what he need to do about it. Lets talk about prevention. We have seen the poem Obama Administration have information they need to stop a terrorist attack but because this administration wont say jihad or radical islamic terrorism they look the other way and the attacks go forward. In my home state of texas, fort hood, nidal hussein, the Obama Administration knew that nidal hassan had been in communication with an islamic cleric anwar alwaki. It was known before and they did nothing and on that faithful day he murdered 14 innocent souls yelling jihadist phrase as he pulled the trigger. And just to underscore the blindness of this administration, even after the terror attack, the administration insisted on characterizing that terror attack as quote workplace violence. That is nothing short of delusion. It is a delusion that cost 14 lives. If we know of a u. S. Service member who is communicating with radical islamic cleric and asking about waging jihad against his fellow soldiers mp should be showing up within minutes. If we didnt have an administration that put its head in the sand like an ostrige this wouldnt have happened. Likewise, the boston bombing. Russia informed the brothers were connected with radical terrorism. The fbi went to interview them. And yet once again they dropped the ball. They stopped monitoring them so they didnt know when the elder brother posted on youtube a public call to jihad. Mind you this was not requiring complicated surveillance. This was youtube. Anyone with a computer who could type in google could see this. And yet because the administration will not acknowledge we are fighting radical islamic terrorism they were not watching and monitoring the