Bill Lee: “First, let me take a moment to offer my condolences and prayers to the families and victims of the horrific gun violence…”

“First, let me take a moment to offer my condolences and prayers to the families and victims of the horrific gun violence against the LGBT community in Orlando. These despicable acts have shattered the lives of so many people. Our response must be not only in words, but also in deeds and in action. My congressional district has and will continue its outpouring of sympathy and support for the people of Orlando, and we stand ready to assist in whatever way is needed. Let me now take a moment to thank Chairman Royce and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. I also thank Congressman Engel for yielding and for his tremendous leadership on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I had the honor to serve on the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee for several years when Mr. Engel was chair. We talked early on about the importance of the Caribbean as a region and how we must make it a priority in our foreign policy. So today I want to thank both sides: our ranking member, Chairman Royce, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and especially Mr. Engel, for not just their words, but also their tremendous leadership, as demonstrated by this important bill. It has taken a while to get to this point, but thank goodness we are doing this in a bipartisan way. So I just want to thank them very much for that. As a lead cosponsor, of course, I stand in strong support of H.R. 4939.…”