[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 79 (Tuesday, May 15, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E650]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SHARING STUDENTS' `MARCH FOR OUR LIVES' REMARKS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 15, 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 Caitlyn Dempsey

       ``Hi. My name is Caitlyn Dempsey, I am a senior at 
     Randolph, NJ. A few weeks ago, in a dark room as my class 
     cowered in the comer, we were taught how to avoid getting 
     sprayed with bullets if a shooter were to break a window. We 
     were given tips on throwing projectiles at the perpetrator. I 
     was in calculus. I should've been learning derivatives and 
     integrals.
       Kids debate if they should jump out a window and risk death 
     or broken bones or stay in the classroom if they were 
     accosted by a shooter.
       Teachers have to decide if they should throw themselves in 
     front of students.
       Teachers consider what it would mean for them if they had 
     to be trained to use firearms.
       This is what it's like to be educated in America.
       We are being prepared for war.
       Because at the base of it, that is what our society is 
     doing. Our children, from kindergarten to high school are 
     battle ready.
       And we should angry about that. This is our future. Our 
     lives are on the line. These teachers, the people we look up 
     to and trust, their lives are on the line.
       I challenge you to consider how afraid we are. This is not 
     a joke, a ploy, a means to get something done. This is a 
     real, tangible fear that we feel every single day. We talk 
     about it at lunch. In class. On the bus.
       This is what it's like to be educated in America. And 
     there's something wrong with that.
       As a result, this talented, passionate group of young 
     adults and I have become a force to be reckoned with. 
     However, the assertion that this is a recent movement is 
     incorrect. We have been begging for this since Sandy Hook. 
     Since Columbine. We're done begging. We demand that our 
     legislators take action to create more comprehensive gun 
     legislation. We assert that it is time for our elected 
     officials to be held accountable for their constituents.
       A good friend of mine recently reminded me that we have 
     been learning that actions speak louder than words since 
     Kindergarten. So we walked out. So we've written our 
     congressmen. So we planned this March.
       Now that is what it should be like to be educated in 
     America. Kids standing up for what they believe in, creating 
     a better future for themselves and the next generation.
       I urge students who feel like they have been wronged to 
     stand up, and speak out. Your voice has been silenced but 
     enough is enough.
       Thank you so much.''

                          ____________________