“Where Congress is failing, President Biden is leading. Today’s announcement is a decisive move to address an epidemic that has been raging in our country far too long with little or no legislative progress on Capitol Hill.
“The President’s latest effort builds on his executive order issued last March, which is aimed at strengthening gun background checks nationally. Amnesty International USA and our coalition partners have been advocating for this leadership. We specifically called for the creation of such an office in 2018. President Biden’s appointment of Vice President Harris is the response we’ve been needing.
“Vice President Harris will have help from leaders and experts who have worked on gun violence prevention efforts in racialized communities for many years, with some knowing the issue first-hand being gun violence survivors themselves. And the Vice President and her team will have help from Amnesty International and its 10 million supporters worldwide.
“We hope that the creation of this office, under the leadership of the Vice President, signals to Congress and all that we will not stop pushing for real and substantive change that can end the harm and violence. This isn’t just about guns. It is about our rights—our human rights as people living in the U.S. We all have the right to go to school, to worship, to go to the movies, to attend a concert, to go to the grocery store, to hang out on our front stoop or in a park without the fear of gun violence.
“The President has backed his words with action today. It is a moral imperative that Congress responds in kind with action of their own and pass important legislation, like the Assault Weapons Ban and the Break the Cycle of Violence Act.”
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