Entering dao into here, the next couple of years, to culminate will be the most exhilarating and exciting into the entire history of this museum. And i could not be more exciting about this and i think that the board and the staff and the Community Shares that great excitement. At the forefront of all of this work and we could not have asked for a better leader at this time is chunk shwabb the chair and i would like to pass it now to john. Good afternoon, good morning, everybody. What an incredible pleasure for me to be see this modern art building over here, we are going to surround that with a little bit of a veil and that will be a permanent structure right there. So we always want to take the new ideas in. Dont we . And it is really a thrill to be here for this Ground Breaking, and it was a twinkle in our eyes a few years ago and i think to have this moment come and now we got to build something that is for sure. We cant leave this hall here or we would be embarrassed to say the le
Problem and they can stay here for long. Why is there an exception to great for see you all here, i am the director and it is a profound pleasure to welcome you all to this Ground Breaking this morning. We are thrilled that you could join us, this is a defining moment in our history and it is great to have you with us. And i have to say before i begin, that the first person to arrive this morning, for the Ground Breaking was one of our trustees, brooks walker. And books arrival reminded me that 20 years ago, almost exactly, this was in another Ground Breaking on exactly this site. And we are here 20 years later and we are expanding upon that remarkable step that the museum took in 1995. We moved here to third street from the vaness location and from the city hall location. And we were immediately pioneers in this neighborhood. Obviously the south of market neighborhood was not what it is today. And very quickly pioneers became anchors. And that is quickly became a Gathering Place for a
Judiciary Community Committee hearing on gun violence and an initial statement will be given by former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who was shot two years ago in arizona. Her husband, mark kelly will testify and wayne lapierre, executive Vice President and ceo of the nra. [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] we have more than 200 people here today and hundreds more watching on our Committee Web cast. I expect everybody in this room to be respectful of the senators and the witnesses speaking about this very serious subject. I do not want applause for or against any position. The Capitol Police have been notified to remove any audience interference in an effort to have orderly conduct for that. That is a warning i give the many hearings. We will hear a lot of perspective on gun violence. I will give opening statements. But we have a former member
We have more than 200 people here today and hundreds more watching on our Committee Web cast. I expect everybody in this room to be respectful of the senators and the witnesses speaking about this very serious subject. I do not want applause for or against any position. The Capitol Police have been notified to remove any audience interference in an effort to have orderly conduct for that. That is a warning i give the many hearings. We will hear a lot of perspective on gun violence. I will give opening statements. But we have a former member of congress here, Gaby Giffords who will give a brief message and believed and captain kelly, thank you for your help in bringing your wife here. Ms. Giffords ok. Thank you for inviting me here today. This is an important conversation for our children, for our communities, for democrats and republicans. Speaking is difficult but i need to Say Something important. Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying too many children. We must do so
Student, and she marched in the inaugural parade last week. I can point to one gun store, one store in illinois that account for more than 20 of the crimes in chicago. Straw purchasers buy the gun there and they end up in the hands of criminals in the city of chicago. We have to put an end to this im going to ask a question to the panelists. Mr. Lapierre, i ran into some of your members in illinois and they tell me, you cannot get the Second Amendment. It is not just about hunting. It is not just about sports. It is not just about shooting targets. It is not just about defending ourselves from criminals, as ms. Trotter testified. We need the ability to protect ourselves from our governments. From our government, from the police, if they knock on our doors and we need to fight back. Do you agree with that point of view . If you look at what our Founding Fathers put that there, they had lived under the tyranny of king george and wanted to make sure these three people in this new country