[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H3489]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                        GUN VIOLENCE PROTECTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Veasey) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, in February 1994, Caliph Barrett III, 
Elliott Martin, and Brian McCullough lost their lives to senseless gun 
violence in Fort Worth, Texas, in the Lake Como community. The people 
back then said that that was the saddest day in Como history.
  A crazed individual with a gun who should have never had one caused 
other acts of violence throughout the city during this time.
  Now, almost 30 years later, people are saying that what happened on 
the evening of July 3, 2023, is perhaps the saddest day in Como 
history. Over the Fourth of July holiday in Fort Worth, two separate 
acts of gun violence, the one in Como that I just mentioned and one in 
Polytechnic Heights, two of the most loved-filled and caring 
communities in Fort Worth, had to deal with these tragedies.
  In Como, Cynthia Santos, Paul Willis, and Gabriella Navarrete were 
the names of the three young people who were murdered when people got 
together at Como Fest the day before the big Fourth of July celebration 
to barbecue, celebrate independence, celebrate freedom, and just have a 
good time, but, instead, they lost their lives to senseless gun 
violence.
  I join with the Como and Polytechnic communities in mourning those 
who were lost and injured over the Fourth of July weekend.
  These shootings especially hurt because Como is the community that I 
grew up in. That is where my mom and all of her siblings went when the 
schools were segregated, Como High School, the Como Lions. That is the 
neighborhood that a lot of my family still lives in.
  We need to get together, Mr. Speaker. We need to do something.
  I don't know much about the two gunmen who were arrested the other 
day for what happened on July 3 in Como, but I bet you, Mr. Speaker, 
they are just as bad as the person who was responsible for so many of 
those murders during that 1994 era. I guarantee that people like that 
should never ever get their hands on any firearm.
  It is our duty as Members of the United States House of 
Representatives, both Republicans and Democrats, to protect us from 
people who are deranged criminals, people who are dealing with mental 
illness issues that most of us should be blessed we don't have, and 
people who are extremely violent and terroristic in nature.
  It should be easy to pass bills like background checks and raising 
the age limits for AR-15s to make sure that people like the ones I just 
described don't ever get their hands on a firearm in their lives. That 
should be easy.
  It doesn't have anything to do with people who are law-abiding 
citizens. I am talking about people who are sick and people who have 
caused destruction and misery in communities, in families, and in 
people's lives.
  We have to do better as Democrats and Republicans.
  I have introduced a resolution condemning these tragedies, but we 
need action now. We can't wait any longer. I don't want 5, 10, 15, 20, 
or 30 years later for people to say that this is the saddest day in 
Como history again because we sat on our hands, didn't do anything, and 
pretended that people's Second Amendment rights were being abridged 
when all we are trying to do is stop really awful, terrible, and bad 
people like I just talked about from ever owning a firearm.

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