USA Freedom Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, on January 29, 2013, Hadiya Pendleton was gunned down while standing in a park on the South Side of Chicago. Hadiya was a talented, beautiful, caring young woman with a bright future ahead of her. She was 15 years old, a sophomore honor student at King College Prep. Her family described her as a spectacular source of joy and pride for them.
One week before her death, Hadiya was here in Washington with her school band, performing for President Obama's second inauguration. She was thrilled by that opportunity. But a few days later, she was gone, murdered by men who mistook her and friends for members of a rival gang.
What a senseless tragedy to lose children to gun violence. It happens every day in America. Overall, on average, 88 Americans are killed by gun violence every day.
Today, June 2, 2015, would have been Hadiya Pendleton's 18th birthday. Today also marks the first annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day. It is an idea that was inspired by Hadiya's family and friends in Chicago. They decided they would ask us to wear something orange today. It is a color that hunters use when they are in the woods to make sure that no one shoots them.
All across the Nation, Americans are wearing orange in tribute to Hadiya Pendleton, in tribute to the tens of thousands of other Americans killed by gun violence every year, and in support of a simple goal: Keep our kids safe. I am proud to join them in wearing orange today. I want to commend Hadiya's parents--my friends--Nate and Cleo, her brother Nate, Jr., and her friends who have turned their pain into purpose.
They are working to reduce the scourge of gun violence and to spare other families and loved ones what they have gone through. I hope lawmakers here in Washington and throughout the Nation will pay attention and commit themselves to do something about these terrible shootings and deaths. We need to do all that we can to keep guns out of the hands of those who would misuse them and, especially, keep our children safe.
I yield the floor.
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