Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Senate Passage Of The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, The Most Significant Gun Safety Legislation In 30 Years

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding Senate passage of historic, bipartisan gun safety legislation. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks.

 Tonight, the United States Senate is doing something many believed was impossible even a few weeks ago: we are passing the first significant gun safety bill in nearly 30 years.

 The gun safety bill we are passing tonight can be described with three adjectives: bipartisan, commonsense, lifesaving. 

 As the author of the Brady Bill from 1994—the last [major] legislative effort to fight gun violence in Congress—I’m pleased that this moment has finally come, and that we’re finally taking meaningful action to keep our communities safe. I hope it paves the way for future action on guns in Congress & at all levels of government.

 As I said, this is not a cure-all for all the ways gun violence affects our nation, but it is a long-overdue step in the right direction. Passing this gun safety bill is truly significant and it is going to save lives. It was so, so significant that we let the process work instead of just having one vote which would divide us and not accomplish anything. And I hope that portends doing it again, on guns and on other issues as well.

 I want to thank my colleagues for their incredible work. This was a great moment here on a very, very difficult issue. I want to thank Senators Murphy and Sinema; Senators Cornyn and Tillis, who showed amazing courage, and all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for working together to break this logjam. The American people have waited long enough. Let’s finally take action to pass this lifesaving gun safety bill. 

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