[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 69 (Friday, April 27, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E571]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          COMMENDING STUDENTS ADVOCATING AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. LOIS FRANKEL

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 27, 2018

  Ms. FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend Adin 
Segal, Tal Shauder, Eli Eiston, Isana Singh, and Zach Bodin, five 
students from Palm Beach County who have come together to say enough is 
enough with the gun violence in our country. While Congress refuses to 
enact common sense gun safety legislation, a new generation is taking 
action.
  These students enrolled in the Peres Leadership Program, named after 
former Israeli President Shimon Peres' vision of leadership. For Peres, 
leadership was a noble cause defined not by personal ambition, but by 
moral values and a call to do the right thing. These students are all 
too familiar with our collective failure to protect them from gun 
violence. They reject calls for arming teachers and placing armed 
guards in schools. They do not accept the idea that the answer to gun 
violence is more guns. They see their schools as sanctuaries of 
learning in which guns have no place.
  To support and honor the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High 
School, the students created the National Association of Students 
Against Gun Violence, establishing chapters in their schools to connect 
and unite students as they fight against gun violence. Their 
organization seeks to register every student to vote on their 18th 
birthday, facilitate town hall forums, and advocate for accountable 
leadership that supports reasonable solutions to gun violence.
  Since its founding only four weeks ago, their group has grown to 
nearly 1,000 members in 70 chapters in high schools across Florida, 
with more on the way in high schools and colleges around the country.
  I commend their activism, leadership, and dedication to their 
communities and I look forward to working with them to advance common 
sense gun legislation, like expanding background checks and banning the 
sale of assault rifles, high capacity magazines and bump stock devices. 
This is the least we can do.