mr. speaker , i thank my colleague from maryland for doing such a wonderful job on handling this issue . 
let me first say something . 
the legislation in front of us , as far as i am concerned , is frivolous . 
when we think about the millions and millions of lawsuits that have been filed over the last 10 years , only 57 have actually involved the gun industry , 57 , and for that we are taking time up here in congress . 
we hear constantly that this is a good bipartisan bill , that over 200 of our members , republicans and democrats , basically support this legislation . 
may i remind many of my colleagues that the nra has put extraordinary pressure on members , and certainly even in the states . 
with that being said , there are people out there that need to protect our victims , and they should be protecting our victims . 
my family went through a terrible tragedy years ago , and it was because of gun violence . 
now , they are saying that the gun industry has nothing to do with the person that buys the gun . 
well , i say they do have a purpose . 
we know that the gun industry , when they ship the guns to gun dealers , and then a gun is used in the commission of a crime , through the tracing it goes back to the gun dealer to say that this store bought the gun from here . 
they keep statistics on this . 
in new york state , over 60 percent of the guns used in crime are traced back to the manufacturers . 
with that being said , the majority of our gun stores are legitimate owners . 
but again , 1 percent is causing over 60 percent of the harm in this nation . 
with this bill that is going to be passed today , and it will be passed today and will be signed by the president , is not doing any favor for the citizens of the united states . 
our courts are working , and they should continue to work . 
but again , it comes down to where the victims should be allowed to have their day in court . 
what we are doing to the gun industry is allowing them to have a blanket , a blanket . 
my colleagues say that we can have our day in court . 
the hoops that they will have to go through will make it near impossible . 
the states that have the right , through their attorneys general , to sue the gun manufacturers should have their day in court . 
we are not looking to put anyone out of business . 
we are not looking to take the right of someone to own a gun , but the gun industry and these bad dealers are costing this country over $ 100 billion in health care every single year , and here we are going to give them blanket immunity . 
i do not understand this . 
this is not common sense . 
this is not protecting the american people . 
and when the american people and my gun owners hear exactly what should be done , they agree with us . 
it is up to the american people to have their voices heard . 
i urge my colleagues to defeat this legislation . 
it is not good for the american people , it is not good for the health care system . 
