DeLauro Comment on President Obama’s Plan to Reduce Gun Violence

"Strong First Step, But Now Congress Needs To TakeAction"

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) releasedthe following statement today on President Obama's plan to reduce gunviolence. This afternoon DeLauro will co-chair a hearing, "Gun ViolencePrevention: A Call to Action," where she and other members of Congress willhear from a panel that has real-life experience with gun violence. She is alsoa member of the House of Representatives Task Force on Gun Violence Prevention.

"The plan President Obama announced today is a strong firststep, but now Congress needs to take action. Several critical ideas thePresident outlined, such as closing background check loopholes and banningmilitary-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines need legislativeaction to be reality. We should waste no time moving forward on theseproposals.

"And the Presidential Memorandum signed today directing theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention to research the causes andprevention of gun violence is great news for our researchers. For 15years Congress has intimidated them into turning a blind eye to the research thatcould help us understand why gun violence happens and stop it from devastatingthe lives of too many families. As the senior Democrat on thesubcommittee that funds the CDC, I will do everything in my power to make surethese arbitrary restrictions are history.

"Finally, I am especially pleased that he included makingadditional mental health resources available a major part of his proposal,particularly to train mental health professional to serve students and youngadults. Eighty percent of adults and 67 percent of children who needmental health services do not receive treatment. This must end and I lookforward to making these proposals a reality.

"President Obama outlined an expansive plan, and that isexactly as it should be, as there is not a single solution to stopping gunviolence. Between the slaughter of the innocents that occurred at Sandy HookElementary School just over one month ago and yesterday at noon, 917 Americanswere killed by guns. Those 917 families, along with the ones at VirginiaTech, Newtown and Aurora, need us to act now."