[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 76 (Thursday, May 10, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E624-E625]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SHARING STUDENTS' `MARCH FOR OUR LIVES' REMARKS

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                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 10, 2018

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, on May 9, I came to the Floor and spoke about 
the March For Our Lives on March 24 and the nine extraordinarily poised 
students in Morristown, New Jersey, who spoke at the rally there, which 
I attended. Because they were too long to insert into the Record 
together, I am submitting them individually. I hope my colleagues will 
read them and internalize the sense of fear in which our nation's 
students are living every day--and our responsibility as Members of 
Congress to do something to address this crisis of gun violence.

                     `March for Our Lives' Remarks

                           (By Bella Bhimani)

       Hi, everyone. Before I begin, I would first like to thank 
     everyone for coming today to support such an important cause. 
     The overwhelming support we've received has made all the 
     difference. And to everyone who donated, whether it be your 
     time, money or even knitting hats, I cannot thank you enough. 
     I would also like to thank both the mayor and the Morristown 
     Police Department for all the help they have provided and 
     doing everything possible to make this march happen. We also 
     have four sponsors, Blue Wave NJ, Moms Demand Action, NJ-ll 
     for Change, and League of Women Voters. These organizations 
     are all truly amazing and have done so much for us. Lastly I 
     would just like to say how grateful I am for the incredible 
     group of students that we have. These students have worked so 
     hard and without them none of this would have been possible.
       One of the questions I've been asked a lot is ``what makes 
     this shooting so different?'' I can't speak for everyone 
     else, but I know at least for me, when the last major school 
     shooting happened, (Sandy Hook) I had only just turned 
     eleven. It's not that I didn't care, because I was obviously 
     upset, but I knew that as a fifth grader I didn't have the 
     power to do anything. Because we live in a world where we are 
     taught growing up that ``the

[[Page E625]]

     adults will handle it''. We expect that the president and all 
     of our legislators will do their job and when there is a 
     problem they will actually do something about it. However as 
     we have grown up we've realized that that is not the case. If 
     we want change to happen we have to make it happen ourselves. 
     One of my favorite Gandhi quotes is `Be the change you wish 
     to see in the world.' And that is why I am up here today. We 
     are the ones affected and we are the only ones willing to fix 
     this.
       But before I go any further I want to address the 
     preconceived notion that we are trying to take away all guns. 
     This is not the case. All we want is to make the world safer, 
     which is something I think everyone can agree. We believe 
     this can be accomplished through stricter gun regulations. We 
     are asking for stricter background checks, raising the age 
     limit of purchase and, while not everyone may agree, I am 
     certainly in favor of a ban on assault rifles, which are 
     truly weapons of war.
       Going off of that another question that I am frequently 
     asked is, what am I actually trying to accomplish with this 
     march. With that comes the constant criticism that this march 
     isn't going to suddenly make change happen. And to some 
     extent they're not wrong. This is not something that will 
     happen overnight and is a fight that is going to take time. 
     Every fight has to start somewhere and this is only the 
     beginning. So to answer the question what I want is to keep 
     this conversation going. To get Congress to begin discussing 
     passing stricter gun laws and to show the world that we won't 
     stop.
       That being said, I would like everyone to take a second to 
     turn to the people around you and introduce yourselves. Get 
     to know each other, because we are ultimately all one 
     community, and we are here for the same reason: to put an end 
     to gun violence. And this change is only going to happen if 
     we are united.

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