WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez tonight read aloud names of individuals who have been murdered in mass shootings, beginning with victims of the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. The Senator joined dozens of Democratic colleagues in speaking on the Senate floor about the impact of gun violence and in calling on Majority Leader McConnell to allow common sense gun legislation to be brought to a vote.

“My time is almost up, and I’ve not yet reached the names of those who perished after Newtown nearly seven years ago,” Sen. Menendez said. “It’s heartbreaking to know that some of the people on this list might be alive today if only we had the courage to pass the Keep Americans Safe Act, or universal background checks, or a new assault weapons ban.”

“And it’s just as heartbreaking to know that more names -- of more sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues will end up on this list in the days ahead should this Senate fail to act,” he added.

The Senator’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

I rise today to once again call for this body to act on commonsense gun safety legislation.

Time and time again we’ve witnessed unfathomable carnage at the hands of assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines. It’s a horror movie we’ve seen over and over.

As parents bury children, as infants lose parents, as America grieves the senseless loss of life, the NRA just tightens its grip on the President and the Majority Leader.

I’m heartened by the grassroots momentum that’s grown across our nation in recent years. Likewise I’m encouraged by the many polls indicating that Americans overwhelmingly want action.

Americans are tired of having their voices drowned out by the NRA. They’re tired of a Congress that fears NRA attack ads more than the next mass shooting. And they’re tired of being told time and time again that this is a mental health problem, or a violent video game problem, when we know it is a gun problem.

It’s time for real action in the Senate. Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed universal background checks for every gun sale – the kind of measure that would have stopped the shooter in Midland, Texas from bypassing a criminal background check.

And just last week, the House Judiciary Committee passed the Keep Americans Safe Act, my legislation to limit the sale of ammunition to no more than ten rounds. We know that a magazine that holds 30 or 60 or even 100 rounds of ammunition – like the Dayton shooter did – is not for hunting, or self-defense, or protecting your home.

High capacity magazines are designed for one thing, and that’s high capacity killing.

It’s true no single law will prevent all gun deaths. But it’s also true we can prevent SOME gun deaths – and reducing magazine size is a proven way to do so.

What will it take for the Majority Leader to take action?

I’m not the only one asking this question. Indeed, on September 3rd, the Washington Post published an editorial calling on the Majority Leader to act. They asked: “Would any volume of bloodshed convince the Kentucky Republican that Congress faces a moral imperative to act?”

Alongside their call for action, the Post also published a staggering list of names – names of Americans who’ve lost their lives in mass shootings, many involving high-capacity ammunition.

I’d like read as many of these names as I can in my allotted time today.

Cassie Bernall

Steven Curnow

Corey DePooter

Kelly Fleming

Matthew Kechter

Daniel Mauser

Daniel Rohrbough

William “Dave” Sanders

Rachel Scott

Isaiah Shoels

John Tomlin

Lauren Townsend

Kyle Velasquez

Jennifer Bragg Capobianco

Janice Hagerty

Louis “Sandy” Javelle

Rose Manfredi

Paul Marceau

Cheryl Troy

Craig Wood

Derrick Brun

Dewayne Lewis

Chase Lussier

Daryl Lussier

Neva Rogers

Chanelle Rosebear

Michelle Sigana

Thurlene Stillday

Alicia White

Naomi Ebersol

Marian Stoltzfus Fisher

Lena Zook Miller

Mary Liz Miller

Anna Mae Stoltzfus

Ross Abdallah Alameddine

Christopher James Bishop

Brian Bluhm

Ryan Clark

Austin Cloyd

Jocelyne Couture-Nowak

Daniel Perez Cueva

Kevin Granata.

Matthew G. Gwaltney

Caitlin Hammaren

Jeremy Herbstritt

Rachael Elizabeth Hill

Emily Hilscher

Jarrett Lane

Matthew J. La Porte

Henry Lee

Liviu Librescu

G.V. Loganathan

Partahi Lumbantoruan

Lauren McCain

Daniel O’Neil

Juan Ramon Ortiz

Minal Panchal

Erin Peterson

Michael Pohle

Julia Pryde

Mary Read

Reema Samaha

Waleed Shaalan

Leslie Sherman

Maxine Turner

Nicole R. White

Beverly Flynn

Janet Jorgensen

Gary Joy

John McDonald

Gary Scharf

Angie Schuster

Dianne Trent

Maggie Webb

Parveen Ali

Almir Alves

Marc Henry Bernard

Maria Sonia Bernard

Hong Xiu Mao

Jiang Ling

Layla Khalil

Roberta King

Lan Ho

Li Guo

Dolores Yigal

Maria Zobniw

Michael Grant Cahill

Libardo Eduardo Caraveo

Justin Michael DeCrow

John Gaffaney

Frederick Greene

Jason Dean Hunt

Amy S. Krueger

Aaron Thomas Nemelka

Michael S. Pearson

Russell Seager

Francheska Velez

Juanita L. Warman

Kham See Xiong

Christina Taylor Green

Dorothy Morris

John M. Roll

Phyllis Schneck

Dorwan Stoddard

Gabriel Zimmerman

Demetrius Hewlin

Russell King, Jr.

Daniel Parmertor

Tshering Rinzing Bhutia

Doris Chibuko

Sonam Choedon

Grace Eunhea Kim

Katleen Ping

Judith O. Seymour

Lydia Sim

Jonathan Blunk

A.J. Boik

Jesse Childress

Gordon Cowden

Jessica Ghawi

John Thomas Larimer

Matthew McQuinn

Micayla Medek

Veronica Moser-Sullivan

Alex Matthew Sullivan

Alexander Teves

Rebecca Ann Wingo

Satwant Singh Kaleka

Suveg Singh Khattra

Paramjit Kaur

Prakash Singh

Ranjit Singh

Sita Singh

Charlotte Bacon

Daniel Barden

Rachel D’Avino

Olivia Engel

Josephine Gay

Dylan Hockley

Dawn Hochsprung.

Madeleine F. Hsu

Catherine V. Hubbard

Chase Kowalski

Jesse Lewis

Ana G. Marquez-Greene

James Mattioli

Grace McDonnell

Anne Marie Murphy

Emilie Parker

Jack Pinto

Noah Pozner

Caroline Previdi

Jessica Rekos

Avielle Richman

Lauren Russeau

Mary Sherlach

Victoria Soto

Benjamin Wheeler

Allison Wyatt

Mr. President, my time is almost up, and I’ve not yet reached the names of those who perished after Newtown nearly seven years ago.

So I will close with one last point. It’s heartbreaking to know that some of the people on this list might be alive today if only we had the courage to pass the Keep Americans Safe Act, or universal background checks, or a new assault weapons ban.

And it’s just as heartbreaking to know that more names -- of more sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues will end up on this list in the days ahead should this Senate fail to act.

That’s the truth, M. President. Every day without action is another day closer to America’s next mass shooting. The time to save lives is now.

With that, I ask for unanimous consent to enter the Washington Post’s entire list of mass shooting victims into the record.

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