[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 18 (Friday, January 27, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H471]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR VICTIMS OF THE HALF MOON BAY SHOOTINGS

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I seek recognition to pay tribute to those 
who lost their lives in my congressional district in the community of 
Half Moon Bay on Monday of this week.
  Mr. Speaker, seven lives, seven precious lives, farmworkers in a 
community that is as all-American as can be, about 11,000 people. It is 
a bucolic community on the magnificent California coastline. It is 
known for its pumpkin festival. It is known for its Mavericks 
competition in terms of surfers, but also, for over a century, it has 
been known for its flora culture and its agriculture.
  It was on Monday that one individual went to a nursery--actually, 
where he worked. He knew exactly who he was pursuing. It was 
intentional. It was targeted. It was execution, and children witnessed 
this. Children witnessed it.
  He left that site, drove about a mile and a half to Highway 1, which 
is the scenic highway with the magnificent Pacific Ocean on one side 
and the community on the other, to another nursery and murdered three 
others.
  The first 3 weeks of this New Year: 39 mass shootings in the United 
States of America. We always come to the floor: Thoughts and prayers, 
thoughts and prayers.
  My thoughts are, I don't think we are safe anywhere anymore--
churches, schools, community centers, now at nurseries where 
agricultural workers work, dance rooms, restaurants.
  I believe sincerely, number one, in prayer. My prayer today is that 
there will be a collective examination of conscience in the Congress 
because we have a responsibility in this. We all do, regardless of 
party.
  This is a matter of conscience. It is a moral issue. When the number 
one cause of death of children in our Nation is from gun violence, we 
have to stop and examine our conscience.
  We say home of the brave, land of the free. My prayer today is that 
we will be the home of the safe.
  These are whose lives were taken on Monday: Zhishen Liu, 73 years 
old; Aixiang Zhang, 74 years old; Qizhong Cheng, 66 years old; Jingzhi 
Lu, 64 years old; Marciano Martinez Jimenez, 50 years old; Yetao Bing, 
43 years old; Jose Romero Perez, 38 years old.
  God rest them.

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