Val Demings: “As a police chief, I was expected to get things done, to do everything within my power to keep people safe. Offering…”

“As a police chief, I was expected to get things done, to do everything within my power to keep people safe. Offering thoughts and prayers is fine. My grandchildren do that. But if that was all I did as a police chief after mass shootings, no one would have let me get away with that. Well, there is an expectation for Congress, too, to do more. Madam Speaker, what is painfully wrong with this tragic moment in our history are the people who want the power of the position but not really the responsibility. Congress failed that little girl who could only be identified by her green tennis shoes. Congress failed the loved ones in Buffalo, at the Pulse nightclub, and in Newtown. After the Parkland shooting in Florida, Republican legislators helped pass red flag laws and other meaningful legislation to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Will we do something? Haven't we had enough, or is it just too scary to do the right thing?”