Vice President Joe Biden delivered an emotional speech to law enforcement officials about the need for gun control Tuesday at the White House, the latest front in the Obama administration’s all-out push to build support for the effort.
As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) scheduled a preliminary vote on gun control legislation for Thursday, the vice president stood before cameras and told stories about Americans he’s spoken with who are desperate to see congressional action. It was an attempt to tap into the emotional core of the gun control debate, and it came after the White House flew families of victims of the Newtown, Conn., massacre to Washington to lobby for tougher laws.
“One remarkable woman who has a background in psychology and psychiatry said, how do they explain not doing anything? My little girl, my baby was hiding in a bathroom and she got shot through the heart. She was hiding in a bathroom and she got shot through the heart,” Biden said. “And I, having lost a child, lost a spouse, and I mean — it was just such a profound way of asserting — don’t they understand? We’re talking about filibustering. What are they doing?”
Biden, describing what a father told him about the need to address gun violence, said, “What has to happen to break through to the consciousness for the people on the hill?” He said, “The public is so far beyond where the Congress is. So far ahead of the way they are talking.”
Enough Republicans have dropped their initial filibuster threats, clearing a path for Democratic leaders to open debate on the bill. But it’s far from clear they’ll have the 60 votes required to end debate and seek a final vote on the legislation, which GOP senators have expressed all sorts of gripes with. At least fourteen Republicans have promised to use every procedural tool at their disposal to block any new gun restrictions from becoming law.
And that’s exactly where the White House is applying the most pressure.
“Now it’s time, for every man and woman of the Senate to stand up and say, yea or nay, I’m for or against,” Biden said. Referring to the GOP’s filibuster threats, he said, “What an embarrassing thing to say. Imagine what they are saying, gentlemen and ladies, in other capitals around the world. Close your eyes and imagine.”
