[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 161 (Wednesday, October 1, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S6897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



           Eighth Anniversary of the Las Vegas Mass Shooting

  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President, I rise today to mark the eighth 
anniversary of the worst mass shooting in modern American history.
  Today, as I give this speech, far too many Americans across the 
country are reeling from the pain of shootings in their own 
communities. This country is seeing a horrifying increase in mass 
violence that doesn't just destroy the lives of the victims; it tears 
apart families; it leaves loved ones with an unfillable hole in their 
hearts; and it brings communities to the breaking point. I have seen it 
firsthand.
  Eight years ago today, a man gunned down 58 people at the Route 91 
Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, NV. More than 800 people were 
wounded in that chaos, and 2 people later succumbed to their injuries. 
That day and those that followed were some of the toughest for all of 
us. For me, personally, my niece was attending that festival, and I 
remember the overwhelming relief that I felt to learn that she was safe 
and OK.
  I also remember spending time at the reunification center with the 
families of the missing festival attendees, praying with those 
families, crying with those families, watching them as they were hoping 
and praying that their loved ones would return to them. Some were lucky 
but many were not.
  Our city--our entire State of Nevada--felt lost, but I will tell you, 
out of this horror came something miraculous. In the aftermath of 1 
October, Nevadans came together to support each other. People came out 
in droves to give blood. There were lines around the block. They 
donated money, food, clothing, and they lent a helping hand to those 
who had lost so much.
  I will tell you that businesses, community organizations, and law 
enforcement did what they could to ease the burdens of the families who 
had been impacted, and I worked across the aisle with my colleague the 
Republican Senator, at the time, Dean Heller, to get financial relief 
for the victims. Our city united in the face of this tragedy, and we 
came out of it Vegas Strong. I am forever touched by those incredible 
efforts to shine a light in the darkness.

  But even all that good cannot erase the scars left behind by this 
massacre. Its victims were innocent people who went to a music festival 
to enjoy themselves. It didn't matter what they did for work or what 
they believed or whom they loved. They were actually gunned down 
indiscriminately. In the 8 years since that tragedy that shook my State 
to its core, we have, sadly, seen more violence erupting across the 
country. We have seen it in places of worship, in schools, and in 
grocery stores.
  As Americans, as Members of Congress, we have to continue speaking 
out against it. Violence is never the answer. We cannot survive in a 
country where this is the norm. We have to do better in our rhetoric 
and our actions. For me, that means coming together to work on 
commonsense solutions, like finally banning bump stocks, passing 
comprehensive background checks to make sure that criminals can't 
exploit loopholes to buy deadly weapons, and delivering more support 
for, yes, mental health in this country.
  It also means always remembering the victims of the Route 91 Harvest 
Festival massacre. Grieving the lives that they never got to live and 
the families they never got to come home to or to create serves as a 
stark reminder of the horrors violence like this can cause. We owe it 
to them and to their loved ones to keep working together to end it.
  In the aftermath of this tragedy, Las Vegas has rebuilt. We have 
risen from the ashes stronger than ever. We will never forget the 
trauma inflicted on us that day. That pain must fuel us to work 
together toward a better future for our children, for our families, and 
for our country.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.