Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell walked to the podium around 12:25 AM ET this morning and delivered what has to be the most important speech of the Democratic sit-in thus far. Rep. Dingell has previously described the horror of living with her father, who threatened her entire family at gunpoint, in a 2012 op-ed in the Washington Post:
I will never forget that night. The shouting. The fear. The raw terror that we would all die, my brother and sisters along with my parents. My calling for help but the police not coming; my parents were important people in town. My mother running out of the house. I locked my brother and sisters in a bedroom and pushed a bed against the door. My father broke in, took the door off the hinges and pulled the phone from the wall. He took the knobs off all the doors, so we could not get out and no one could get in.
She recalled the incident in her speech last night, a speech that might be one of the most poignant you will ever hear in Congress. Her full remarks can be seen below, along with a full transcript for those who are unable to see the video. This is absolutely must-see video:
Thanks to Electablog for pulling together a transcript of Rep. Dingell's remarks:
I’ve been on the floor for 12 hours and I can’t believe what we’ve… I’ve never actually thought I would sit on the floor of the House of Representatives. And it’s been a tough day in some ways. But it’s also…
You know, when Orlando happened, I cannot … last night, I have to say to you, I sat with Amy Klobuchar, who I am working on a domestic abuse gun bill with, and said, “It’ll never change.”
The number of horrific shootings, we’re all gonna say, “Isn’t this terrible.” We’ll offer our prayers and we’ll go back to normal, whatever the “normal” is we’ve come to accept, and wait until the next shooting.
And yet today we showed that that’s not what’s gonna to happen.
We also always let the big things… And as so many of my colleagues have talked about, we don’t focus on what’s happening every day. We don’t focus on the daily shootings or how our young people are beginning to accept that that’s just what happens. And we don’t focus on what’s happening and who has access.
I feel this House is torn in a way that I feel torn. I’m married to a man… You all know how much I love John Dingell. He’s the most important thing in my life. And yet for 35 years, there’s been a source of tension between the two of us. He is a responsible gun owner. He believes in the Constitution. I respect that.
I don’t want to take his gun away or anybody else’s gun. But I lived in a house with a man that should not have had access to a gun. I know what it’s like to see a gun pointed at you and wonder if you were going to live. And I know what it’s like to hide in a closet and pray to God, “Do not let anything happen to me.” And we have never… We don’t talk about it. We don’t want to say that it happens in all kinds of households. And we still live in a society where we will let a convicted felon who was stalking somebody of domestic abuse, still own a gun.
I have a million thoughts as I sit in front of you here today. I have constituents who get labeled, who are on a “do not fly” list and may not be right. I do not want a terrorist to have access to a gun. How can we protect someone’s civil liberties if you won’t come to the table and have the discussion about how you keep us safe?!
The point of this discussion is that we’ve got to stop going to our corners. We’ve gotta stop spouting talking points. But we’ve got to come and figure out how we’re going to make this nation safer. How we’re not going to accept the violence that we’re seeing every day. How we’re not going to let people have access to guns that shouldn’t have access to guns. And we’re not going to do it until we start to change the dialogue, until we come to the table and we have the discussion.
So we’re here on this floor tonight to say, “Enough. Is. Enough.”
I’ve been talking about what I grew up with for many years. It took Newtown. I went and I wrote an op-ed. People knew I didn’t like guns. I probably said, as a child, some really stupid things (although many of you would probably agree with me on what I said.) But I know now we can’t stay silent any longer. We have to do something. I’ve never seen us more united than we are today.
I love my husband with my whole heart and soul. He doesn’t know I’m standing here right now. And I love my Republican friends. I have many. I love you all. Can’t you come to the table? Can’t we have a discussion? Can’t we say enough is enough? Can’t we have a vote?
Rep. Dingell has been working to keep guns out of the hands of serial domestic abusers. From MLive.com:
Dingell has introduced legislation, the Zero Tolerance for Domestic Abusers Act, that she says would close loopholes that allow abusers and stalkers to access guns.
The legislation has remained in committee for months, but Dingell is hoping to see Congress take action on it at some point.
While federal law prohibits someone from owning a gun if they are convicted of abusing a spouse, or abusing someone with whom they live or with whom they have a child, it does not include people who have abused a dating partner.
Dingell said her legislation would close a loophole in federal law and ensure people who have abused dating partners are prohibited from buying or owning guns, and make sure that convicted stalkers cannot legally purchase a gun.
Dingell said her legislation would close that loophole and ensure people who have abused dating partners are prohibited from buying or owning guns.
She said it also would make sure that convicted stalkers cannot legally purchase a gun. She said stalking is sadly an accurate predictor of future violence.