On the recordFebruary 28, 2019
I thank the gentlewoman so much for yielding the time. Madam Speaker, let me just take this 1 minute to welcome to this Capitol Ms. Jennifer, Ms. Malana, and Ms. Eliana Pinckney, the widow and two surviving daughters of Reverend Clementa Pinckney. They hid under his desk in the basement of Emanuel AME Church while a demented gentleman who wanted to start a race war, was welcomed into their Bible study--at the end of that hour, Reverend Clementa asked all of the worshippers to bow their heads and close their eyes as he prayed for what had occurred that evening. While their heads were bowed and their eyes closed, Dylann Roof opened his, after having been welcomed into their midst, and he slaughtered Reverend Pinckney and his eight worshippers. Why? Because he was allowed to get this gun when he was not eligible to get one. They found out on the fifth day that he was ineligible but, by that point, it was too late. As a result, those poor souls lost their lives. Let's give the FBI, let's give the authorities, enough time to do their jobs. We will save lives and we will be better off for it.
