Payne, Jr. Remarks at ‘No Bill, No Break’ Sit-In

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“When people have issues and come into my office with their family, with their children, I put my children in that position and think, what would I do in that situation? It has served me well.

“Why does something have to personally happen to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for them to understand anything? My colleagues here, we take the time to think about issues. We take the time to deliberate. We put ourselves in our constituents’ position. But until it’s personal on that side of the aisle it doesn’t matter to them. I’m sick and tired of it.

“What do I tell my son who says, ‘You know, Dad, why do you even go to Washington? It doesn’t seem like Congress can get anything done.’

“Why do I have people in my district where the only safe place for them to sleep is in their bathtub because of gun violence, because of what they suffer from every single day?

“One third of the gun deaths in New Jersey last year happened in my district, the 10th Congressional District of the State of New Jersey. One third.

“When Senator Booker and I were on the municipal level of government, my pager would go off in the middle of the night. And it was always the police informing us that someone else was shot. My pager would go off, my Blackberry would go off, it would buzz and hum, and I would get a pit in my stomach, because I knew that meant there was another shooting in my community. This has to stop!

"And the kowtowing to the NRA has to stop. NRA stands for—and always has, since I’ve been here in the House of Representatives—No Republican Action.”

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