Val Demings: “I want to thank my colleague from Florida (Mr. Soto) for that very beautiful and inspiring poem that really captures not…”

“I want to thank my colleague from Florida (Mr. Soto) for that very beautiful and inspiring poem that really captures not only the tragedy that occurred in Orlando at the Pulse Nightclub that night, but the heroic acts, how our community came together, and really provides the hope that our community needs in moving forward. Mr. Speaker, no one can tell the story better than the family members who lost their loved ones that night, the survivors who were within the club that night. At this time, we would like to share some of the letters from family members and survivors. The first letter that I would like to share comes from a mother who, if you were watching at all during the early hours of this tragic incident, this particular mother was going around asking anyone who she could about her son, trying to find him, trying to get word of him. I would like to share a mother's story from Christine Leinonen. ``My son was one of the 49 people killed at Pulse Nightclub on June 12 of 2016. Those were 49 humans who collectively could have lived another 2,500 years. That is longer than we have had civilization. They were moms, dads, siblings, kids, straight, gay, Latino, Asian, Caucasian. They were your constituents. They deserved better than to die in a flurry of bullets. ``My son Chris was a happy, quirky, goofy young man and had been from baby on. He was every mother's dream to hit the kid lottery. He was an only child, and I never married. I couldn't have loved him more.…”