Biden praises Sen. Kyrsten Sinema while celebrating bipartisan gun law

President Joe Biden praised Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Monday at a White House celebration for the bipartisan gun bill she helped write and he signed into law.

Sinema, D-Ariz., was among four senators Biden recognized specifically in his speech. She negotiated it with Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

"I also want to thank the bipartisan group of senators who worked so hard to get this done," Biden said. "I hope I didn't get you in trouble by mentioning your names. Thank you. Courage."

Biden has been fighting for strengthened gun legislation for the better part of the last three decades. In 1993, as a senator from Delaware, he helped pass the Brady Bill, creating a mandate for federal background checks on many American gun purchases. The next year, he was instrumental in pushing a 10-year ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines through Congress.

Republicans let that act expire in 2004.

It's a politically fraught time to make yourself the figurehead of gun safety talks in Washington. Cornyn, who has long been the GOP's representative in gun compromise talks with Democrats, was mercilessly booed in June by Republicans at the annual Texas GOP convention. Some Democrats have complained that the bill didn't go far enough.

“What we're doing here today is real, it's vivid, it's relevant," Biden said. "The action we take today is a step designed to make our nation the kind of nation we should be. It's about the most fundamental of things, the lives of our children, of our loved ones. We face literally a moral choice in this country."

Biden also called for a federal ban on assault weapons, acknowledging that the bipartisan bill, while massive in scope, does not hit on many of the central goals his administration charted out when he ran for the Oval Office in 2020.

Sinema, who has built a national reputation as one of the most moderate lawmakers in the Senate, has emphasized the bipartisan nature of the bill.

“Today, thanks to bipartisan support in the Senate, our Bipartisan Safer Communities Act moves one step closer to becoming law, keeping our schools safe, and reducing violence in our communities," Sinema said June 24, when the Senate passed the legislation. "I’m grateful for the partnership of Senators Murphy, Cornyn, and Tillis — together we crafted a commonsense solution to community violence that protects Americans’ constitutional rights and saves lives. Passage of our bill with support from both sides of the aisle demonstrates what we can achieve when we work together to solve problems."

Gregory Svirnovskiy is a Pulliam Fellow at the Arizona Republic. You can follow him on Twitter @gsvirnovskiy or reach him by email at gregory.svirnovskiy@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Biden praises Sen. Kyrsten Sinema while celebrating bipartisan gun law