Bonnie Watson Coleman: “Last week, after many of us had returned to our homes across the country, while our constituents were enjoying the…”

“Last week, after many of us had returned to our homes across the country, while our constituents were enjoying the beginning of their weekend, Paris fell victim to one of the most violent terrorist attacks in recent memory. Nohemi Gonzalez, an American student studying architecture abroad, was among those killed. A day earlier, in Beirut, dozens of innocent lives were cut short in a coordinated attack on that city. Earlier this year, an attack at Garissa University in Kenya left 147 dead. And just yesterday, a suicide bomber killed 34 people in Yola, Nigeria. That attack was followed by two more today, driving the number of lives lost there to 49. Before we go any further, Mr. Speaker, I would ask for a moment of silence to remember the lives of those who have been lost. Mr. Speaker, the world is facing an incredible wave of violence with the single purpose of stoking fear. It is the kind of fear that keeps us from solving problems and that paralyzes us into inaction. It is the kind of fear that we are hearing in the calls to block refugees from seeking shelter here in the United States, violating all of our values because of an immediate emotional reaction. The individuals who committed these atrocious acts of violence are counting on us to fall into that kind of fear, and that is why it is so important not to. We must stand with our allies in Paris. We must stand with the innocent in Beirut and Garissa and Nigeria.…”