Carolyn McCarthy

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I thank all of my colleagues for their support. This is very hard for me tonight. It is hard for me because I have heard so many different things. I have been here just about 3 years and I am used to all the different spins. I do not understand them all the time, but that is what I do. What we were supposed to be doing tonight was trying to serve the American people. What we are doing tonight is saying and listening to the victims across this country. That is all we are trying to do. That is the only reason I came to Congress. Someday I would like to hopefully not have to meet a victim and say I know, because it is really hard. We have heard the arguments on both sides, and I wish we had more time to really say the truth about everything. My amendment closes the loophole. That is all I am trying to do. I am trying to stop the criminals from being able to get guns. That is all I am trying to do. This is not a game to me. This is not a game to the American people. All of my colleagues have to vote their conscience, and I know that. But I have to tell my colleagues, mothers, fathers, who have lost their children, wives that have lost their loved ones, this is important to them. We have an opportunity here in Washington to stop playing games. That is what I came to Washington for. I am sorry that this is very hard for me. I am Irish, and I am not supposed to cry in front of anyone. But I made a promise a long time ago. I made a promise to my son and to my husband. If there was anything that I could do to prevent one family from going through what I have gone through and every other victim that I know have gone through, then I have done my job. Let me go home. Let me go home. I love working with all of you people. I think all of my colleagues are great. But sometimes we lose sight of why we are all here. I am trying to remind my colleagues of that. Three business days, an inconvenience to some people. It is not infringing on constitutional rights. It is not taking away anyone's right to own a gun. I do not think that is difficult for us to do. If we do not do it, shame on us, because I have to tell my colleagues, the American people will remember.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters). (Ms. WATERS asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur). (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney). (Mrs. MALONEY of New York asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Mrs. Mink). (Mrs. MINK of Hawaii asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick). (Ms. KILPATRICK asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi). (Ms. PELOSI asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks).

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Chicago, Illinois (Mr. Blagojevich.)

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott). (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella). (Mrs. MORELLA asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Boston, Massachusetts (Mr. Tierney).

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak), a very courageous police officer.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle).

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter). (Ms. SLAUGHTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell). (Mr. CAMPBELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson).

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the debate time on the McCarthy-Roukema amendment be extended 10 minutes, 5 minutes on each side.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hooley). (Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, contrary to what the American people want, Congress is preparing to vote on an amendment that will make it easier for criminals to get guns at gun shows. Some Members may believe they can vote for the NRA-Dingell amendment and try to fool their constituents into thinking they care about criminals' access to guns. That would be a mistake. The McCarthy-Roukema-Blagojevich amendment simply asks the same regulations that we are asking our gun stores to do our gun shows to do. That is it. Same rules for everyone. Pretty simple in my eyes. Over the last 6 months, 17,000 people who were stopped by the current background check systems would have attained guns. Seventeen thousand people. Take a look at this. These are the people who should have been stopped. These are the people that could have been stopped. If the Dingell bill goes through, there is going to be a lot more of them out there. That is what we are supposed to do. I ask my colleagues to vote for the McCarthy amendment, and I ask my colleagues to vote for the Conyers substitute amendment.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, being that I could not be yielded time by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson), let me just say that in 72 hours, over the weekend, the criminals are the ones that will walk away with the guns. We know that. We have the statistics for that. If we go back to the 24 hours, I am saying between January and today if it was under 24 hours we would have 17,000 criminals getting guns.

Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I am sitting here and I am listening to this debate. I know what is in my amendment. My amendment is closing a loophole. That loophole is not taking away anyone's right to buy a gun except a criminal. My amendment also puts in there that there will be no national gun registry. Has anyone read this amendment? We talk about adding new laws. We are not adding new laws. We are using the existence of the Brady bill that is already there. Seventy-five percent of the people that go to gun shows can get their guns in a short amount of time. Some might actually have to wait 2 hours. It is the criminals that have to wait. It is the criminals that we want to wait. It is the criminals, that is what we are supposed to be doing. Where is our debate going? We are supposed to be saving people's lives, our police officers, our children. That is our job, and that is what the American people want.