Val Demings: “Congressman Soto, I want to thank you so much for several things that you've talked about. First of all, your…”

“Congressman Soto, I want to thank you so much for several things that you've talked about. First of all, your recognition of our first responders, our brave police officers and firefighters and the absolutely amazing job that they do, not just in Orlando, but across the Nation, to keep, as you put it, our homeland safe. When you think about it, our first responders get called to every tragedy. I heard someone once say that--I believe it was Chief David Brown, former Chief David Brown in Dallas, Texas who said that every time society fails or something goes wrong, law enforcement's called in to deal with it, to fix it. So thank you for your recognition of them. We lost four law enforcement officers in the line of duty last year. And we have one, as you heard me mention earlier, Officer Valencia, who is in the hospital fighting for his life. I also thank you for the beginning comments when you talked about the bravery of some of the survivors at the Pulse nightclub, those who did what they could to shield others from harm, to help others get to places of safety. But also, I think the elephant in the room are the giant loopholes that you spoke about. When we share the stories of the Pulse victims, it is impossible to separate those stories from the discussion of gun violence in this country. The two are certainly intertwined, and we cannot discuss one without discussing the other.…”