Val Demings: “First of all, I echo the comments I have heard from other colleagues to thank my colleague from Illinois, Representative…”

“First of all, I echo the comments I have heard from other colleagues to thank my colleague from Illinois, Representative Kelly, for her unwavering commitment to this issue. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak for those who have died in the United States as a result of senseless gun violence. I want to reflect this evening on where we have been, where we are now, and where we must go from here. When I took office 1 year ago, I was so excited to give my first speech on the House floor. But I never dreamed my first speech would be a tribute to a former friend and colleague. My first floor speech was to honor Sergeant Debra Clayton, a law enforcement officer who was shot and killed while trying to apprehend a murder suspect, a person who should have never had a gun in his possession in the first place. Since then, two more law enforcement officers from central Florida, Officer Matthew Scott Baxter and Sergeant Richard Samuel Howard, have been shot and killed, both officers of the Kissimmee Police Department. I was sworn into Congress just 6 months after the mass shooting in Orlando at the Pulse nightclub where 49 people who were involved in what my bishop likes to call a late-night fellowship--not doing anything wrong, not in the wrong place--were killed by a lone gunman. At that time, it was the worst mass shooting in modern American history. But in the short time since then, the number 49 has been surpassed as 59 people were killed in Las Vegas just a few months ago.…”