Speaker Pelosi Remarks at San Francisco Gun Violence Prevention Day of Action Press Conference

San Francisco – Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Mayor London Breed and local gun violence prevention leaders for a Gun Violence Prevention Day of Action Press Conference to discuss the gun violence epidemic and the recently enacted Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. Thank you very much, Rudy. And thank you all – to United Playaz – for all that you have done. In all of Rudy's comments, he was talking about one place or another. And I remember our very first, very big anti-gun violence rally in front of San Francisco General. Remember, Rudy, when we were all there in front of San Francisco General? With the – with the physicians who were bringing healing, hopefully, to those who were there.

So we're like a family to each other. We've been together over and over. How many times, Mayor, have you taken the lead in churches, on an annual basis for some occasions, Mother's Day, on other occasions, whatever it is. The Mayor has been there. She speaks from personal experience of what growing up in the neigh – the hood – her neighborhood was about. So thank you, because it's not only that you have taken the lead politically, officially in every way, but you're always there sharing stories of the loved ones.

And Mattie, of course. What can we say about Mattie Scott? What did she say herself? She said, ‘Let's stop the killing and start the healing.' Mattie Scott. I don't think it was the last time but the second-to-last time I saw her, she was right there shaking hands with the President of the United States at the signing of the bill. The signing of the bill. Nobody should have more right to be there than Mattie. It was quite a remarkable thing, and the President understood that.

[Applause]

The President understood that, and she's led us in so many ways. And I'm also glad to be here with Laura Cutilletta. Laura, thank you. Thank you for sharing your story with us.

And again, the Mayor and others from City Hall, officials, our law enforcement. Thank you. Thank you, Chief and thank you, DA. Thank you all. So here we are.

I say to my colleagues – we just passed the Assault Weapons Ban in the House of Representatives. People thought we wouldn't do it, we didn't have the courage to bring it up, nobody – people would run and hide. But they didn't. They voted for the bill.

And I was saying to Mattie, if we just win – not to talk politics, but civics – if we just win two more Senators who share our view in this next election, two weeks – two months from today, we'll be able to pull back – hi, darling. We'll be able to pull back that filibuster and pass the background check legislation and, again, the Assault Weapons Ban and make the world safer. Safer.

I say to the colleagues in Congress, ‘Your political survival –' I say to the Republicans, because we have the Democratic votes. ‘Your political survival is nothing compared to the survival of our children,' as we try to protect them from gun violence. So thanks, Moms Against – where are you, darling? Moms Demand Action and Brady: Against Gun Violence and all the other organizations that have worked to do this.

We can do just so much maneuvering in the Congress. The outside mobilization – you are the ones who are making this happen. The outside mobilization. The volunteers. As I say, the Volunteers in Politics, the Volunteers in Politics are our VIPs. And thank you for that outside – but we – how do we say it? Every meeting. We're not stopping until the job is done.

And what a model United Playaz is to the country. That's why Rudy is on my case, because we have $4 million in our House bill for the building. And we are fully intending to bring that check the next meeting, as soon as we can get the bill done.

[Applause]

But that is what we call a personal request of the Speaker. So I think we won't have too much problem with that.

But again, let's look at each other and say, ‘How many times have we seen each other at these meetings?' And that how beautiful it is to see an ever widening circle of friends. But this is about our children, their safety. You know the record – more children die of anything else combined in the country than gun violence. How could it be? One hundred people a day die of gun violence – five of them little children, little children.

So thank you. Thank you for what you do. Thank you for being a model to the nation, from our own communities. ‘Takes the hood to save the hood,' right? Is what that was about back there?

And then, when all of this goes on, we cry about it and the rest. We say: ‘We don't agonize, we organize.' We're going to get the job done. Thank you all. And let's say thank you to Rudy for being such a –

[Applause]

Thank you, Rudy. Thank you, Rudy.

I said it earlier, our Mayor has been a model to the country, to the world. Today, she welcomed the Queen of the Netherlands and did so so beautifully, representing our City, our values, finding our common ground. But it would be hard to think of any event on gun violence prevention that the Mayor has not taken the lead on, been at, or sent – her representatives if she happens to be not in town, and that would be very, very rare.

We're very blessed in so many ways with her mayorship, in terms of whether it's COVID, whether it's this, whatever it happens to be. Because it's always about the people. It's about justice. It's about fairness, about respect. And she and I share a thought – when Rudy was talking about our brothers who are just really returning now from some other experiences, I was thinking of the Gospel of Matthew. In the Gospel of Matthew, he says: ‘When I was hungry, you fed me.' Christ says, God says: ‘When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was homeless, you sheltered me. When I was naked, you clothed me. When I was in prison, you visited me.' A very important value for us to have. We share that value. We all share our respect for our great Mayor – Mayor London Breed. Thank you.

***

Speaker Pelosi. And may your mother rest in peace knowing that you are at peace, or striving to be there. It must be very hard.

Well, you see this, it says – let's see what it says here. It says ‘Gun Violence Prevention Day of Action.' It is a Day of Action around the country. And what better place for us to observe it, here in San Francisco, than with Rudy and United Playaz and with our people whom presented today. And with each and every one of you, so we can say thank you to you.

Let's recognize one really important word that we saw demonstrated here. Courage. Courage. The courage of Mattie. Oh my gosh, the courage of Elizabeth Torres – Liz Torres. Oh my gosh and Clare, your courage. Your courage is really hard for us to imagine how we would cope with such a thing and then use that grief for action to help save other lives and comfort other people. Let us salute their courage that makes such a difference.

[Applause]

And Laura, thank you for talking about the Giffords – and all that has been happening with activism and all of this. When this bill – the bill that we passed and became law that Mattie was there shaking hands with the President a minute after he signed the bill.

When it was – when we were passing it, we thought, ‘Is this really enough? Is this really – should we settle for this?' You know what I'm saying to you? Because there was so much more we wanted. We wanted background checks, we want an assault weapons ban. We wanted some more things. And I said to Lucy McBath – I said, ‘Lucy, I give you my vote and my leadership of this Caucus. If you say it's okay, we will have the Democratic votes for it.' And she said we absolutely must make this progress.

So for all of us who wanted more, and we always want more, with Lucy McBath, who lost her son Jordan, and she has dedicated her life to helping alleviate the pain of others. If she said it was good enough for her, for now, for now, nonetheless, it will, it will make a difference. She said it will save lives. And she spoke very beautifully to our Caucus in that regard.

And so then we're here with our Mayor, a leader, a model to the nation on how to channel the energy, to guide the legislation to make the difference. Thank you, Mayor, on this Day of Action. And again to see Camilo – how beautiful with his Giants cap there and his friend who portrayed that – and to hear you, Clare, talk about him and your mother, multi-generationally, in all of this.

So this is a day of courage for the moms. We spend a lot of time, don't we, with the survivors. No words are adequate that we can say to comfort them. Only action to get the job done to prevent further violence is a comfort. But we take their guidance. We listen to you. We listen to you and that – your wisdom, your strength, your courage makes a difference.

So I have no doubt that we will get the job done. Our President is committed to it. You know how much time he spends with survivors. And he has lost children, not from gun violence, but he's in that club. So the survivors welcome him in a different way than they might welcome the rest of us. So he is determined that we will do more.

And of course, elections have ramifications. So all we want is – we're not saying somebody should vote Democratic or Republican, we just – and everybody to vote For The Children, to stop gun violence, for legislation that will do just that. So I'm here to say thank you to all of you for making our San Francisco Day of Action to Prevent Gun Violence so successful, and a drumbeat across our region, and a drumbeat across our nation, to the – Save The Children – For The Children.

So thank you all for not agonizing, but organizing. Thank you all so much.

[Applause]

And Rudy. Where is he? Rudy? Let's bring him back up. Rudy, what a guy. I don't know how he was as a little boy, how he ran around.

[Laughter]

I can't figure that out.

[Laughter]

But whatever it is –

Rudy Corpuz Jr. Once upon a time.

Speaker Pelosi. Whatever it is, is God's blessing to us. Thank you. Thank you, Rudy. I yield back.