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Chris Murphy gun control filibuster

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Chris Murphy, 2013

On June 15, 2016, in the wake of a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, launched a filibuster in the United States Senate promising to hold the floor "for as long as I can" or until Congress acts on gun control legislation.

Murphy eventually secured a commitment from Senate leadership to hold a vote on two measures that he supports—one to expand background checks and another to block suspected terrorists from purchasing weapons—and ended his filibuster after 14 hours and 50 minutes, it was the ninth-longest filibuster in the U.S. Senate since 1900.

Background and goals

Murphy represents Connecticut in the Senate, where 20 schoolchildren and six educators were killed in December 2012 in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Murphy stated on the Senate floor during the filibuster, "For those of us that represent Connecticut, the failure of this body to do anything, anything at all in the face of that continued slaughter isn't just painful to us, it's unconscionable."

Murphy is seeking a vote on legislation that would expand background checks required for weapons purchases, and on a measure sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein of California that would allow the U.S. to ban sales of guns and explosives to people listed on government watch lists of suspected terrorists. The Feinstein Amendment came to the Senate floor one day after 14 people were killed by Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik in the San Bernardino shooting in December 2015, but failed on a party-line vote, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed.

On the day that Murphy began his filibuster, Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said that he was in talks with Feinstein about possible compromise legislation on blocking gun sales to terrorism suspects. Separately, Everytown for Gun Safety, a pro-gun control group supported by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said that it was in compromise talks with Senator Pat Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, who made a brief statement on the Senate floor in favor of some sort of bipartisan agreement.

Filibuster

Murphy began his filibuster at 11:21 a.m. EDT during a debate over an unrelated spending bill, and stated that his goal was to force the Senate and the United States House of Representatives to expand background checks of would-be gun purchasers, and to make it impossible for individuals listed on the FBI's various lists of suspected terrorism participants and no-fly lists to purchase guns. As a Murphy spokesman put it, the Senator would "hold the floor to push for a vote on amendments to close the terror gap and expand background checks."

After Murphy began, he was joined over the course over the nearly fifteen-hour-long filibuster by 38 of his 45 fellow Senate Democrats. Some, including Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Cory Booker of New Jersey, stood with Murphy for hours. Other Democratic senators appearing on the floor included Bill Nelson of Florida, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, as well as Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts. Under Senate rules, Murphy was permitted to yield for the purposes of taking questions while not yielding the floor; as in recent past filibusters, this allowed supporters of the filibuster to make speeches of their own which were nominally questions, temporarily relieving Murphy from having to constantly speak.

Two Republicans appeared on the floor to engage with Murphy with questions: first Ben Sasse of Nebraska and then Toomey of Pennsylvania.

In his remarks on the floor, Murphy stated, "I really do worry that there is a quiet, unintentional message of endorsement that's sent when we do nothing or when all we do is talk. I think when there is not a collective condemnation with policy change from what is supposedly the world's greatest deliberative body that there are very quiet cues that are picked up by people who are contemplating the unthinkable in their mind."

Ending

Murphy formally yielded the floor, ending the filibuster, at 2:11 a.m. EDT the following day, after fourteen hours and fifty minutes.

Murphy ended the filibuster after securing a commitment from Senate leadership to hold votes on two Democratic proposals: the Feinstein proposal to ban persons on terrorist watch lists from obtaining guns, and the Murphy-Booker-Schumer proposal to expand background checks to gun shows and Internet sales. Republicans plan to raise two of their own proposals.

See also

References

  1. ^ Walsh, Dierdra (June 15, 2016). "Democratic senator launches filibuster over guns". CNN. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  2. Cassandra Vinograd (June 16, 2016). "The Longest Filibusters: Where Does Chris Murphy Stack Up?". NBC News. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  3. ^ "Dem Senator Frustrated by Inaction on Guns Begins Filibuster". The New York Times. Associated Press. June 15, 2016. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  4. Peterson, Kristina (June 15, 2016). "Sen. Chris Murphy Presses Gun Issues in Senate Filibuster". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  5. Phillips, Amber (June 15, 2016). "Why it makes perfect sense that Chris Murphy is leading a gun-control filibuster". Washington Post. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  6. ^ Molly E. Reynolds, Three lessons from Chris Murphy's gun control filibuster, Brookings Institution (June 16, 2016).
  7. ^ Democrats end filibuster, announce GOP to hold gun votes, Politico (June 16, 2016).
  8. ^ Blair, Russell (June 15, 2016). "Murphy, Blumenthal Lead Senate Filibuster In Push For Gun Control Debate". Hartford Courant. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  9. "Democratic senator wages nearly 15-hour filibuster in wake of mass shootings". Associated Press. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  10. ^ Lapowsky, Issie (June 15, 2016). "Senate Democrats Are Filibustering for Gun Control". Wired. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  11. Jalonick, Mary Clare (June 15, 2016). "Elizabeth Warren joins filibuster over gun control". Boston Globe. Associated Press. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  12. Carney, Jordaine (June 15, 2016). "Dems take over floor to protest Senate inaction on gun control". The Hill. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  13. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/sen-chris-murphy-starts-talking-filibuster-over-gun-control-224369

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