house this week. members are expected to finish work on the other measure tomorrow or friday. live coverage of the u.s. house is here on c-span. the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by the guest chaplain, father philip salois, american legion national chaplain, north smithfield, rhode island. the chaplain: let us pray. almighty god, we gather here in these hallowed halls to give you praise and thanks on this day, as our elected men and women begin their day s work to discuss and vote on legislation that will improve the lives of american citizens. dear lord, we beseech you to pour fouth your grace and blessings upon all who gather to do the work that the people of america elected them to do. we pray for peace and harmony when we disagree. we pray for the strength and will to work out our differences and to come up with the best solutions that will benefit society as a whole. watch over and protect the men and women in uniform and safeguard them
the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. nadler: mr. chairman, i am pleased that today we are considering h.r. 8. the bipartisan background checks act of 2019. we have promised the american people that congress would take steps to reduce gun violence and this bill is a critical first step toward doing so. during the past four weeks, as the judiciary committee and now the full house have discussed the issue of gun violence, i have cited grim statistics. nearly 40,000 americans lost their lives because of guns in 2017. in fact, every day in america on average 34 people are murdered with a firearm and more than 183 people are injured in an attack. gun violence of this magnitude is a distinctly american problem. a country to country comparison is shocking. for example, in 2011 the united kingdom had 146 deaths due to gun violence. denmark, 71. portugal, 142. and japan, just 30. the united states that year, about 35,000. a recent study the in the american journal of medicine
is a distinctly american problem. a country to country comparison is shocking. for example, in 2011 the united kingdom had 146 deaths due to gun violence. denmark, 71. portugal, 142. and japan, just 30. the united states that year, about 35,000. a recent study the in the american journal of medicine found that compared to 22 other high-income countries, gun-related murder rate in the united states is 25 times higher. even when you adjust for population differences, americans are disproportionately killed by gun violence. almost 25 years to the day after the brady act was first implemented, expanding current background check requirement to cover virtually all gun transfers is one of the steps we must take to address this crisis. under current law, only licensed firearms dealers are required to conduct a background check before transferring a gun to another person. this means that gun shows, online sales and other private sales can completely evade this vital tool for ensurin
past national conventions. saturday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span. house democrats joined community leaders and victims of gun violence for a late evening vigil thursday to show support for more comprehensive gun laws. this gathering outside the u.s. capitol is just under two hours. [ cheering ] [ chanting ] no bill! no break! no bill! no break! what do we want? internships. what do we want? now. people over here. now! what do we want? yeah. no bill no break! [ cheering ] thank you very much for being here this evening. we have been observing a critical mass of people who are being off-loaded here over to my left, your right. and we ll give them just a few more moments. to get here. but before we start this evening s program, i think it is fitting and proper as i bring forward for an invocation and hopefully an observance for the people of france who once again are experiencing the wrath of commented beings who are inflicting their notions
half-staff nationwide through friday night in honor of those who were killed in washington on monday. a lone gunman walking through a packed naval yard building opening fire and in the end killing some 12 people. in the moments of chaos that followed, the gunman identified as 34-year-old aaron alexis injured eight others before being shot and killed by the police. the motive is still unknown, and the recovery for those injured is now just beginning. just a short while ago, senior defense officials including defense secretary chuck hagel laying this wreath at the u.s. navy memorial honoring the shooting victims. the wreath is next to the statue of the lone sailor who represents all of those who have ever served, are serving now or have yet to serve in the united states navy. hagel calling the shooting a tragic day for the department of defense, the nation s capital and the nation. we have teams who are covering every angle of this story, though we begin with randall pinkston