Media

Mr. Speaker, every year people all over the country acknowledge National Recovery Month. National Recovery Month recognizes the many thousands of individuals who have successfully recovered from substance use and abuse. There are millions of people at 12 step classes, Alcoholics Anonymous, and other recovery programs meeting every hour of the day and every day of the week. It reminds me of what Henry David Thoreau said, ‘‘I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man [person] to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor’’.

Statement of Congressman Danny K. Davis on Recent Events in Minnesota, Louisiana and Texas

Over the past few days America has confronted in a most visible way an horrific spasm of gun violence intertwined with race and law enforcement. The shooting of Philando Castile in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights and Alton B. Sterling, in Baton Rouge followed by the shooting of 5 Dallas police officers have once again forced us to face head on the underlying causes and enablers of such violence.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 1217, the bipartisan expanded background checks legislation, to honor the memory of Laquan McDonald, a victim of gun violence who never received a moment of silence on the House floor.

Mr. Speaker, I would much rather be discussing a bill that would get automatic and semiautomatic weapons out of our lives. Nevertheless, I strongly oppose H.R. 1270. This bill gives advantage to the most secure in our country at the expense of the vulnerable. If you really look at it, it is kind of Robin Hood health care in reverse.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Texas for yielding.

Child welfare advocates have used the adjectives ``landmark,'' ``historic,'' and ``trailblazing'' to describe this bill. I wholeheartedly agree with them. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of this legislation that begins a fundamental shift in Federal child welfare policy to preserving families rather than separating them.

Along with tens of millions of Americans in every corner of our nation, I offer my profound sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the forty-nine beautiful young people of Orlando whose lives were stolen Sunday morning.

We may never know what kind of hatred, what kind of sickness moves an individual so vehemently, with such unchecked racism and homophobia to commit mass murder allegedly in the name of one or more terrorist causes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today, along with other Members of this body and tens of millions of Americans in every corner of our Nation, to express my profound sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the 49 beautiful young people of Orlando whose lives were stolen Sunday morning. We may never know the kind of hatred, what kind of sickness moves an individual so vehemently with such unchecked racism and homophobia to commit mass murder allegedly in the name of one or more terrorist causes.