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.
###
See more
March 12, 2024