the orlando nightclub. all of those instances, there were clear examples of neglect or negligence or gaps in our system on background checks that we need to fix. the background check system has ported hundreds of thousands of people over the last number of years who should not have been able to purchase firearms and that's good. because we have had that success, when you have something that happens like the south carolina church shooting or in texas or here in florida, it means we have to do better. that's what we should be trying to do. there is no one magic solution to this issue. there is no magic wand we can way. or stateer of congress legislatures but that does not mean we should not try and that's what i intend to do. host: we >> on capitol hill the house expected back for vose in about five minutes or so. the first vote we expect dealing

with gun background checks. and then votes on legislation to fight online sex trafficking. and banks and how much money they hold in reserve. expect final votes on those measures later today during the second round of votes. while we wait for the house to return, here's more from today's "washington journal." ington jou" continues. kildeeongressman dan joins us. talk about president trump's recent infrastructure proposal come i want to talk about the gun debate taking place in capitol hill. do you get a sense that something is different about this debate that it will end differently than past debates question mark it [video clip] feels like that may be happening it's the cumulative effect of these tragedies have built upon each other. give the high school students in florida the credit they deserve. they have helped frame this

issue come and not in political terms, in a way that i think forces us to answer the questions they are posing. it's not coming from a political place. it's literally coming from kids who survived this terrible experience. i will say this -- i hope that things have changed. as i was coming into congress when newtown took place and folks saw it, if anything would change the gun debate in america, it's this terrible tragedy that took these really young lives. and then we saw the same thing with paulson and the terrible event in las vegas, the mother emmanuel church shooting. everyone of them shocks the conscience and should shock the federal government into actually doing something. i hope this is that moment were the cumulative effect of these terrible tragedies gets us to do something. of thehat do you make president yesterday at that

meeting with governors at the white house telling them not to worry about the nra, indicating it's ok to fight them. in places they disagree? make his response? guest: when the president said something i agree with, afterward knowledge that. that's to fight the nra, for sure. the real question is whether it's a case of just saying you can fight the nra for rhetorical value or to try to reframe the politics of the question and actually take them on. we will see whether or not he is willing. is, theon this president's position on all of this is interesting and it could have some impact. but the president is not right law. congress writes law. what i fear is that the president is trying to reframe the argument, essentially trying therovide some cover for leadership, republican leadership in the house and the

senate, whichever peter usually and consistently blocked any meaningful piece of gun legislation from coming to the four -- floor of the house or senate. host: what's possible now? have to deal with closing the background check loophole. fix nix is important but it closing the with 40% of gun sales that are not subject to any background check whatsoever and that's a significant problem. with three other members of congress, i introduced a bump stock bill. we took a few weeks after the las vegas shooting. we didn't write it right away. we put together a really thoughtful piece of legislation. , denarott from michigan titus, a democrat from las vegas, nevada, brian fitzpatrick from pennsylvania, the four of us sat down at my office sent

but together really thoughtful legislation that was not an thateach and simply said if a device turns a semiautomatic weapon into a machine gun, treat that device the way we treat a machine gun. we were ready to go. all the groups we thought were on board until we introduce the ,ill and then one organization the national rifle association said no. and any momentum we had was stopped not because they said no but because the speaker or somebody essentially said if the nra says no, they have a veto on any piece of legislation. rulee have the hastert which is an insane republican rule that says unless a majority of the majority supports something, it cannot go to the floor we also have the nra rule that the republican caucus concedes the right to the nra to pre-veto any legislation. that is insane. host: you also have discharge

petitions that could force legislation to the floor. is that an avenue for some of this legislation? if there are courageous republicans willing to sign a discharge petition, we could vote on this in the next few days. punished whene they signed discharge petitions by their leadership. we saw this happen when a handful of republican signed a discharge petition to help us move forward reauthorization of the import export bank. they are punished. host: do democrats get punished question mark guest: i have only been in the minority. to be fair, there is an overemphasis on loyalty to party and to party leadership. we elect our party leadership. we should probably go in the other direction. the peopleected by we represent from our home districts. if we are not willing, as numbers of congress, stand on

the floor of the house and do what's right, what we know in our heart and head is the right thing to do because of the nra or because of leadership, i suggest members of congress should find a different line of work where they are not required to make hard choices. call in.wers can these of the phone lines. we are talking with congressman. >> we leave washington jourble here. the house back for work on votes. the first vote of the day starting short-term. question of thhouse and offe the resolutiopreviously notid. the speaker pro tempore: the clrk will reporthe resolution. the clerk: whereas gun violence eects eve community in our nation. ereas 30 peop are killed everday by seone using a gu whereas more than 2,2 peoe have been killed this year by someone using gun. wheas there have been at leas34 mass shootings this ar. while mass s