[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 25 (Thursday, February 6, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H851-H852]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING SURVIVORS OF GUN VIOLENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Adams) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the survivors of gun 
violence.
  Last month, I had the opportunity to meet with Jules Oringel of 
Charlotte when she led the Pledge of Allegiance at my State of the 
District address. She is a local high school senior, and her story is a 
story that no young woman should ever have to tell.
  She was at home in her room, on her phone, like any teenager, and 
then she gets a message from one of her best friends. She says there is 
an active shooter in her school and she doesn't know what is going on. 
She tells everyone in the group chat she loves us.
  The best friend is at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 
Parkland, Florida. Eventually, Jules learns that one of the people she 
had attended camp with lost her life in the shooting.
  Jules says, for the next few weeks, she was riddled with anxiety at 
school, at other public spaces; she couldn't sleep, and she did not 
know how her friends would heal.
  That is something no young woman should ever go through.
  That is not okay with me.
  In the aftermath, Jules stepped up to start the nonprofit Return Home 
Supplies, because every student and every teacher deserves to return 
home.
  It is hard for me to believe that we have reached a point in our 
country where people have legitimate concerns about making it home at 
the end of the day. As a 40-year educator, I cannot imagine how 
students balance those concerns with every other challenge that they 
face.
  And that is not okay with me.
  Last year, the city of Charlotte saw the worst violence that we have 
seen in decades. Tragically, we concluded 2019 with 107 murders, the 
highest in decades. Our community lost a disproportionate number of 
African American men whose lives matter, too. The towns of the 12th 
Congressional District lost people to gun violence as well.
  And that is not okay with me.
  107 murders, total--the vast majority involving guns. Charlotte 
families lost siblings and parents and loved ones and community 
members, congregants, students, and children to gun violence. Our 
community has been torn apart.
  That is not okay with me.
  Our very own UNC Charlotte, our 49ers, lost two souls who called our 
community home. Four other students were gravely injured, and our 
community was shaken to its core. And many of us are still in 
disbelief.
  A school shooting happened in Charlotte. In a hallowed place that is 
supposed to prepare our youth for their future, two futures ended.
  It was the first mass shooting that we have had at a school in 
Charlotte, and it should also be the last.
  That is not okay with me.
  Many Holy Books tell us that whoever destroys a single life is 
considered by Scripture to have destroyed the whole world, and whoever 
saves a single life is considered by Scripture to have saved the whole 
world. Each time we lose someone, we lose an entire world, an entire 
universe of hopes, dreams, and aspirations; we lose a thread that binds 
together families and communities.
  Well, as a Charlotte community, as a nation, we must do something to 
stop the gun violence that tears at the fabric of our communities.
  In this Congress, the first three bills the House sent to the Senate 
took weapons of war off the street and would make our communities 
safer. Now that the Senate has concluded its impeachment trial, they 
have no excuse to continue to hold these bills up other than they just 
don't care.
  And that is not okay with me.
  My colleagues and I have led the efforts to introduce key pieces of 
legislation that would close the loophole in our background checks, 
extend the background check process, prohibit those convicted of hate 
crimes from purchasing firearms, and reinstate the Federal ban on 
assault weapons.
  I would like to take a moment to applaud the Charlotte City Council 
for

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taking the lead with their Safe Communities Committee and our 
educational institutions for their security upgrades and initiatives.
  Despite this Congress, more work lies ahead. And that is personal to 
me, because the violence must stop.
  Let me end by sharing one more message from the Queen City. Our 
city's comedians at Charlotte Squawks took a break from being funny to 
add a somber note to the comedy show.
  To the tune of ``This Land is Your Land'' by Woody Guthrie:

     This land is Parkland,
     It's Columbine and
     It's Thousands Oaks at
     A student line dance.
     From Santa Fe High School
     To Virginia Beach murders,
     This stuff is not okay with me.
     As I keep watching
     This endless violence,
     With thoughts and prayers for
     A moment of silence,
     The politicians
     Are doing nothing,
     This stuff is not okay with me.

  I agree. This is not okay with me. We need sensible gun laws, and we 
need them right now.

                          ____________________