when we force a vote on this bill republicans in congress will for the first time have the opportunity to write the administration's wrong and show the american people whose side they are on. the average consumer, or once again side with a big corporate interest. are they on the side of big internet service providers and corporations or are they on the side of consumers, entrepreneurs , startups and small business owners? there will be a net neutrality day of action on the hill that i hope will focus the senate's attention. we have 60 legislative days to pass the cra and i urge every one of my republican colleagues to join us and help save the internet. i yield the floor. >> i ask consent that the quorum call. >> without objection. heart thath a heavy

i bring a report to the senate from marjorie stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida. lauderdale.fort the teachers and the staff of the school return to work today, which is less than two weeks after a former student walked onto the campus with an ar-15, ofned fire, all three floors a classroom building. i've spent time this past couple of weeks in parkland visiting where some of the families -- visiting with some of the families. those of us who are parents can only imagine the grief and anger they are feeling. just like the grief and the theseafter every one of

massacres. i've also spent time meeting with some of the courageous students who have turned this tragedy into a call for action. themhave suggested to .here hope gives me hope their determination gives me all the more determination. these students have told us over and over that they don't plan to stop until congress and state legislators around the country start enacting commonsense gun reforms. they said they're not going to stop and neither of my. because what happened at that high school should not happen

anywhere in this country. it should not have happened at columbine, it should not have happened in newtown. it should not have happened in orlando. it should not have happened at the fort lauderdale air. or parkland. it should not have been period -- it should not happen period. it is up to us to mature never happens again. -- to make sure it never happens again. i grew up on a ranch. i've hunted all my life. i still hunt with my son. or the gun that was used at the pulse nightclub, those guns are not for hunting, they for killing.

,espite these horrific events these devastating tragedies are occurring throughout our country over and over and congress refuses to act. enact it that we can't the most common sense measures to protect the people we represent? we need a comprehensive background check on the purchase of a weapon. checkon sense background that would not only include if there was a criminal record or if someone had in adjudicative, mentally incompetent but all of the other myriad things. was the shooter on the terrorist watch list, add the shooter been

on the terrorist watch list, that would have caught omar mateen, because he had been on the terrorist watch list. he was the shooter in orlando. things the other surrounding mental health. if that can be available in a background check. common sense background check we need to get assault rifles off the street. protecting our fellow citizens .hould be a top priority and if making it more difficult for someone to walk into a store and purchase a weapon of war will do that, why can't we get that done?

why? tell you why. there are folks that are plusconcerned about an a rating from the nra than they about providing those common sense solutions to the problem. i want to read something that appeared in a national magazine reprinted in the paper that is published in broward county, where the shooting occurred. in theom a radiologist trauma center at the broward health, which is a hospital chain organization in the area of broward county.

her name is dr. heather share. she was working the day of the school shooting. she went to work in the trauma center on some of the victims. she's treated countless gunshot wounds in trauma centers throughout her career. but this was the second time that she had treated someone rifle likeassault the ar-15. here is what the doctor had to say. leavene handgun injuries entry and exit wounds and linear tracks through a victim's body that are roughly the size of a bullet. handgun iset from a not directly hit something ,rucial like the heart or aorta

chances are we can save the victim. the bullets however fired by an ar-15 a different. "h she continues. " with an ar-15 the shooter does not have to be particularly accurate. the victim does not have to be unlucky. if a victim takes a direct hit to the liver from an ar-15, the damage is far graver than that of a handgun bullet injury. handgun injuries to the liver are generally survivable unless the bullet hits the main blood supply to the liver. to the middle of the liver would cause so much bleeding and tissue damage that

the patient would likely never make it to the trauma center to receive care. as a doctor i feel i have a duty to inform the public of what i have learned as i have observed these wounds and care for these patients. it's clear to me that an ar-15 or other high velocity weapons, especially when fitted with a high-capacity magazine, have no gun cabinet.vilian " she says bening and ar-15 should not be a partisan issue. ar-15 should not be a partisan issue. the senseless shootings are not going to stop until we change ourselves as a culture.

i believe with the students -- who have been so strong in their statements, so ,etermined to make a change that time might just be now. it did not happen after sandy hook elementary. nothing happened. it did not happen after the myriad of others. it did not happen just two years ago after the orlando nightclub shooting. not again after the fort lauderdale airport shooting. his is different now? it certainly is time for us to come together and enact to keepnse gun measures our communities safe. so it's the time for us to come

together, not as republicans or democrats, but to come together and to try tos say that this time it is going to be different. -- you hear so many different things. you hear about mental health, and that is a part of it. you hear about school protection. that is certainly part of it. miscues, nott the only in the fbi. that is a part of it. but the missed cues in the florida department of children thatamilies a year prior , alloted that this shooter of those things ought to be a part of the solution. you get right down to it, not as republicans or democrats, as

human beings, we are to come together and say if you want to solve the problem, the problem is common sense background -- common sense background checks in get assault rifles off the streets. let's do this. let's use this tragedy as a catalyst to enact real change in our society. changes that are going to have a real impact. what happened at marjorie stoneman douglas has all a significant moment in this country's history. not because it was one of the largest mass shootings. last.cause it was the

i yield the floor. >> the senator from

our hearts and prayers go out to you and all of the families and those who survived. mr. president, i would say to my friend from georgia, hallelujah that you have expressed that heartfelt concern. that your constituents in the state of georgia have been emotionally touched by this whole incident. this terrible incident that we have gone through again in this country. i'm grateful to the comments of the senator from georgia. >> today marks are nearly two