Pelosi Remarks at New York State Gun Violence Prevention Bill Signing Ceremony with Governor Andrew Cuomo

Speaker Pelosi.  Good morning, good morning everyone.  Thank you for your kind welcome.  Governor Cuomo, thank you for your invitation to be here today, for your kind words of introduction.  Let us salute Governor Andrew Cuomo for his tremendous leadership on this and so many other issues.  Thank you, Governor Cuomo.

[Applause]

I join Governor Cuomo in saluting the parents who are with us.  To Mark and Linda, thank you both for channeling your grief into action to save other lives.  I've seen Mark around the country over the years.  He has been a relentless champion.

And Linda, to hear you say that today is a day that you could celebrate, that makes a difference.  That warms our hearts.  It's an eloquent message, unsurpassed.  Thank you, Linda, for your family's leadership.

[Applause]

And I join the Governor not only in saluting them, but saluting Senator Kavanagh, Assemblywoman Simon, all of the state legislators who are here.  Thank you for your courage in passing the legislation.

[Applause]

I say to my colleagues in the Congress frequently, ‘The survival of our children is much more important than your political survival.'

[Applause]

The Governor indicated the courage that it takes to pass this legislation, so, once again, let us again salute Senator Kavanagh, Assemblywoman Simon and all the state legislators who played such an important role in sending this legislation.

[Applause]

And Governor, thank you for being the leader and inspiration and a relentless, persistent advocate for this legislation.  I was pleased and honored to join you when you signed the landmark legislation last May that prevented domestic abusers from obtaining firearms.  The SAFE Act –

[Applause]

Moms Demand Action was an important part of it, but all of the outside mobilization.  Internally, I'm sure all of the legislators in this state as well as our colleagues in the Congress recognize our inside maneuvering is essential, and we're responsible to the best possible job to get the best possible, strongest result.

Without the outside mobilization, this cannot – we cannot be effective.  So, let us thank all of the outside groups for what they did to make this possible.

[Applause]

Governor [Cuomo] mentioned some of the statistics involved, and George Bernard Shaw said that ‘the sign of a truly intelligent person is that they acknowledge statistics.'  The statistics tell the story, but the personal stories, the personal stories really change the minds.  And the stories of the parents and the families and the schoolchildren who were there, March for Our Lives, all of that is changing because this gun violence issue is a national health epidemic in our country.

[Applause]

And Mr. President, if you want to talk about emergencies, this is an emergency.

[Applause]

I thank you Governor and I thank you, New York State, for being such a leader on this issue.  I don't know if Nydia Velázquez is here with us, there was a lot of traffic getting over here, but she and all of the New York Members have been so great on this issue – um, mostly all.

[Laughter]

But we in Congress want to follow your lead in keeping guns out of the hands of people who are a risk to themselves and others, there's extreme risk protection orders that empower the full force of communities to act – otherwise known as Red Flag.

Let me say, when we talk about Red Flag, people with certain challenges, 99 percent of people with any diagnosis are safe, law-abiding people in our country.

[Applause]

And we don't want to stigmatize, as we do this.  We just want to identify, prioritize, to save lives.  And to save lives of the person themselves.  Danger to themselves, or others.

Let me also say, that when we bring up our legislation this week, we will pass the bill on the Floor of the House to prevent gun violence.

[Applause]

It's pretty exciting.  And we will do so again, because of what you have done here, to build the momentum – outside mobilization to make the case.

So now, around 90 percent of the public supports gun violence prevention by way of background checks, and that includes many gun owners and many members of the National Rifle Association.  They're gun owners.  They've taken background checks.  They think other people should too.

So, that's how you get to 90 percent, by not only advocating, but explaining.  This is what the bill does.  So that they cannot mischaracterize, as the Governor said they do, some of the leadership of the gun lobbies do.

So, we go forward with the full support of the American people and we will again pass the bill.  And what it will do is encourage the enactment of extreme risk protection order laws, as you're doing here.  Prevent domestic violence abusers and stalkers from obtaining firearms, once again you're in the lead.  Provide funds to the CDC for gun violence prevention research.  Very, very important.

They can do it, but they have to provide the funds and insist that this Administration do it.  And so we have the capacity, the capacity to save lives.  When we had the election in the fall, a lot of it was about health, the health of the American people, and this is a health issue.  The mobilization of young people and families affected by gun violence and other groups were essential in electing people who have the courage to take the challenging vote to save lives.

So, I thank all of you in New York for being in the lead.  I thank, again, the Governor for his commitment, his dedication, his relentlessness on this issue.  And I want the families to know that this does not end here.  We have more to do but this is not about taking guns away from people but it is making sure the law is effective in doing a background check in a timely way.  We are going to extend the time – we have two bills this week.  One about background checks and the next day, extending the period of time.  Now, if you don't have a ‘no' in 72 hours it is a ‘yes.'  So, we are extending the time on that.

Again, all of this, by listening, hearing what will really save lives because, sadly, the tragic events of mass shootings command a great deal of attention, rightfully so, but every single day and every single night in our country people are killed by guns senselessly and unnecessarily, and we have to make sure that we reduce violence in our country.

So, again, I thank all of you.  I am very proud of our – well, the whole Congress of the United States – but our Members who will have the courage to vote correctly when we come together this week.  Tonight, we will take the bill to the Rules Committee.  Tomorrow, the rule will be on the Floor in order to vote on the rule.  On Wednesday, we will pass the bill, gun violence prevention by background check.  Thursday, we will have the bill to extend the time.

But starting the week here in New York, making this gun violence prevention week, not officially, but legislatively – it sends a very, very, very strong message – so, thank you.

[Applause]

Okay, you can applaud for that!

[Applause]

While we are together here, I just want to say what else we are doing this week.  I don't want to take attention away from gun violence prevention, but it is about the Constitution, the Governor spoke about that.

Tonight, we will also vote at the Rules Committee to put forth a resolution to overturn the President's declaration.

[Applause]

Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas, the Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, from Texas – a border state – was taking the lead on this.  And that bill will go to the Rules Committee tonight and the Floor of the House tomorrow, to be voted on.

And this is not about politics.  This is not about partisanship.  It's about patriotism.  It's about the Constitution of the United States of America.

[Applause]

It's about our beautiful Constitution, beginning with the Preamble ‘We the People' of the United States.  And, as soon as that Preamble ends, the very next words are Article I – the legislative branch.

[Applause]

Co-equal to every other branch – the executive branch, the judicial branch.  Spelling out in the text, the powers of the Congress of the United States, the power of the purse being one of them.

So, this is not, this is not about partisanship.  This is about saying, we must honor our oath of office.  To let the executive branch get away with this assault on the Constitution, we would be delinquent in our duties to the oath of office that we take.  And –

[Applause]

And defile the core, the heart of the Constitution, which is separation of powers – co-equal branches of government as a check and balance on each other.

So, this is going to be quite a week when we talk about what our Constitution really says.  What it says about the separation of power.  What it says about the rights of people to have gun ownership, but the rights also, of us, to have some say in the protection of the American people by advancing gun violence prevention.

So, all of you are super-patriots who are doing this because you are upholding the Constitution of the United States.  As you protect and defend that Constitution, you protect and defend the American people.

Thank you all very much for doing this and thank you, Governor Cuomo.