Pelosi Remarks at Governor Cuomo’s Bill Signing of Legislation to Remove Guns from Domestic Abusers  

Leader Pelosi.  Aren't we proud of Governor Cuomo?  Thank you Governor Cuomo for the honor of participating today in this very important, life-saving event, signing this important legislation.  I am honored to be here with you once again.  I've been here when you have signed legislation to save lives and promote families.  I'm so happy you began your remarks by talking about family.  As a fan of your father and your mother, I know they took great pride in you and Maria and the whole family.

I have my daughter, Alexandra, here with me.  She is a filmmaker.  She's making a film of us right now.  I have to give my New York credentials.  Four out of my five children were born in Manhattan.  We have our connections and I'm honored to make that connection.  I am always a back-seat driver, ‘Don't go uptown, don't go across town' and the rest.

[Applause]

I'm honored to be here with Members from the official family, from the Congress of the United States as well.  [Congressman] Jerry Nadler is here.  Jerry will be the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee which is the committee of jurisdiction for gun safety legislation.

[Applause]

Carolyn Maloney is here, she will be Chairwoman of Joint Economic Committee for fairness in our economy.  Thank you, Carolyn Maloney.

[Applause]

Nydia Velázquez is here, she will be the Chairman on the House Small Business Committee.  She has been fighting for Puerto Rico, fighting for Dreamers, fighting all the way.

Congressman Adriano Espaillat is here.  The first Dominican Republican, Dominican-American to serve in the Congress.

Now if you saw them on the Floor of the House, you would see them wearing a pin that says, ‘F.'  And you're like, ‘What?'  ‘F' meaning an ‘F' from the National Rifle Association.

I am honored to be here with my former colleague Kathy Hochul.  Thank you.

Joe Torre who has shown that the way to solve domestic violence and related issues.  The solution is you have to engage men.  Thank you.

[Applause]

Madam President, that has a nice ring to it.  Thank you for your hospitality here at John Jay College School of the Law.  Thank you.

The Governor opened the door to so many subjects, I am tempted to speak for eight hours in four inch heels, but that would only prolong the signing of this important legislation.  When we hear from Amy about the important work that she does.  When we hear from Her Justice, Black Lives Matter, Moms Demand Action, so many important organizations here with common values about respecting people and respecting our responsibility to keep them safe.

Aaliyah, wasn't she wonderful?

[Applause]

She is here with her mom, Stacey.  Aaliyah celebrated her birthday the day before the March for Our Lives.  Many of you participated.  We were there making signs and posters and it happened to be your birthday and so that's how you celebrated your birthday making signs for the march.  And now, you are making a difference going around the country telling your story.  You and your colleagues from Parkland, they are going to make the difference.  This is the tipping point.

[Applause]

This is the tipping point.

The Governor said 19 years ago, Columbine.  This goes on and on.  These little children in Newtown.  And now these teenagers registering voters, understanding.  And I don't want them to be partisan.  I want this to be bipartisan across the board.  But we have to get it done.

And I've said to my Republican colleagues in the Congress: not one of your political survivals is more important than the survivals of our children.  We must pass this legislation.

[Applause]

We must pass this legislation.

I just want to put this in the context of the Governor's leadership in terms of safety issues and respect for women.  I had the privilege, self-serving as it may be – put up the self-serving sign – to be here in May of 2015 when he had an event like this saying, ‘Enough is enough.'  Early on, in the lead.

In 2015, we were here for the sexual assault bill signing ceremony at NYU School of Law.  ‘Enough is enough' legislation, Governor.  And then, in 2016, in March, strong family, strong New York, paid family leave proposal.  And of course we are here today.

In the meantime, what's important in New York and, we in California feel competitive, yes, because we both have size, affected by SALT, we have diversity.  When we talk about the legislation being signed today, what is important about the beautiful diversity in New York is when women call in, they will be responded to in a very culturally, linguistically appropriate way.  It saves their lives because New York is so beautifully diverse.

So when the Governor expanded what he is doing to other states, what he is doing in this coalition, called ‘Coalition to Combat Gun Violence', he is expanding now to seven states, 35 million people in that coalition to stop gun violence.

[Applause]

So it is important to note, the Governor said that he was courageous with the SAFE Act.  Ninety-seven percent of Americans support strengthening background checks, including 97 percent of gun owners.  They know.  They care.  Not the NRA, but the gun owners.

So, we have commonsense, bipartisan legislation.  We are just asking for a vote.  That is the Thompson-King background check bill.  It has 208 cosponsors.  Just give us a vote, Mr. Speaker.  And it closes that Charleston loophole that says if it's not a no in 72 hours, it's a yes.  That's ridiculous.

We want federal legislation for gun violence restraining orders. It is called ‘red flag,' some people don't like that title.  But the fact is, there should be restraining orders against people who have demonstrated violence and they should certainly not have guns.

As I turn this back over to the Governor.  I am not going into many of the issues he raised.  Again, I associate myself with his remarks.  I just want to say this because he gave some pretty impressive statistics, but did you know that a woman is fatally shot in America every 16 hours by a former or present domestic partner?  Every 16 hours.  Fatally shot.

That's why we are all so grateful to the Governor, to the state legislature for bringing us to this place today.  The signing of this bill will not only save lives but serve as a model for the rest of the country and, soon, God-willing, pretty soon, for passage at the Congressional level.

Let's get on and sign this bill, Governor!