[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 14, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H1552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    GUN VIOLENCE SURVIVORS HELP CHANGE THE DIRECTION OF OUR COUNTRY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Deutch) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DEUTCH. Mr. Speaker, today marks 1 month since the shooting at 
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida; 1 month 
since we lost 14 students and 3 teachers in yet another senseless act 
of gun violence; 1 month since the survivors inside those hallways have 
seen their lives changed forever.
  The survivors and the grieving families are not just grieving their 
loss. They are helping to change the direction of this Congress and the 
direction of this country.
  Mr. Speaker, I am leaving from here to go join the thousands of 
students who have descended upon the Capitol today, whose leadership 
will help guide the direction of this country, and who understand that 
1 month after the horrific shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High 
School--1 month in--and this Congress has failed to act.
  There are thousands out there today. There will be hundreds of 
thousands and millions more in the weeks ahead.
  The community that I represent, Mr. Speaker, will not be defined in 
the future by the tragedy that happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas 
High School. It will be defined by the leadership of the student 
survivors who are inspiring a nation and helping to take us to a place 
where children can feel safe going to school in the morning and parents 
can know that when they take their kids to school in the morning, they 
will be able to pick them up safely at the end of the day.
  That is the result of this tragedy. That is what this is going to 
mean for our country. We are going to follow the lead of these student 
leaders. They are an inspiration to us. They are an inspiration to all 
of us, and I am off to join them now.

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