Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I join with my colleagues today to give the country a sense of the scope of this epidemic. We have tried every means to move our colleagues to action, but in remembering the names of people who have been lost, it is a reminder that there is a human face behind every single one of these numbers, and behind that victim there is a trail of trauma--family members, friends, classmates--that is difficult to unwind.

On December 14, 2012, armed with a tactical semiautomatic weapon with clips of 30 bullets, a gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, and killed 20 children, 6 adults, and himself.

Among them were Rachel D'Avino, 29, a teacher's aide; Dawn Hochsprung, 47, the principal; Anne Marie Murphy, 52, a teacher's aide; Lauren Rousseau, 30 years old, a teacher; Mary Sherlach, 56 years old, a school psychologist; Victoria Soto, a 27-year-old teacher.

The students were Charlotte Bacon, 6 years old; Daniel Barden, 7 years old; Olivia Engel, 6 years old; Josephine Gay, 7 years old, Dylan Hockley, 6 years old; Madeleine Hsu, 6 years old; Catherine Hubbard, 6 years old; Chase Kowalski, 7 years old; Jesse Lewis, 6 years old; Ana Marquez-Greene, 6 years old; James Mattioli, 6 years old; Grace McDonnell, 7 years old; Emilie Parker, 6 years old; Jack Pinto, 6 years old; Noah Pozner, 6 years old; Caroline Previdi, 6 years old; Jessica Rekos, 6 years old; Avielle Richman, 6 years old; Benjamin Wheeler, 6 years old; Allison Wyatt, 6 years old.

I have a 6-year-old, and yesterday he and 24 of his classmates were locked in a tiny bathroom for several minutes for an active shooter drill. When he came home last night, he said: Daddy, I didn't like it.

Since Sandy Hook in Connecticut, there have been hundreds more: Lisa Infante, 52, of Shelton; Antoine Heath, 29, of New Haven; Jonathan Aranda, 19, of New Haven; Miguel Arguelles, 22, of Bridgeport; Cameron Chapman, 25, of Waterbury; Sherrie Blount, 31, of Danbury; Ebony Swaby, 22, of Waterbury; Daniel Joseph Caron, Sr., 63, of Bristol; Michael Watkins, 26, of Bridgeport; Keon Huff, Jr., 15, of Hartford; Joshua Rivera, 28, of New Haven; Deon Rodney, 31, of Bridgeport; Khali Davis, 22, of Bridgeport; Norris Jackson, 36, of Bridgeport; Eduardo Anes, 37, of Hartford; Alfanso Anderson, 49, of Bridgeport; Guy Moore, 26, of Waterbury.

That is just the tip of the iceberg as to what has happened since Sandy Hook, just in my State of Connecticut--representing only 1 percent of the population.

A 6-year-old shouldn't be locked into a bathroom, smushed together with 24 of his classmates, preparing for the day when a shooter potentially walks into his public elementary school. We have a duty to act.

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