Gun Violence Awareness Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, this is Gun Violence Awareness Month. I rise to commemorate the life of Ms. Briuna Harps, a young woman with a bright future in Fort Worth, who lost her life in a senseless act of gun violence last month.

Nineteen-year-old Briuna had just finished her first year of pre-med classes when she was visiting her sister at an apartment complex in Fort Worth and was struck by a bullet in the crossfire between two gangs, two idiotic gangs, in an idiotic gang war. Sadly, Briuna's death and deaths like it are too commonplace in America. Each day, nearly 100 people in our Nation are killed by someone using a gun.

Recently, the city of Fort Worth launched a local initiative to protect our neighborhoods and curb gun violence. The Senate can help us in this area by taking action to pass commonsense gun safety legislation that the House passed over 100 days ago. Taking action is the best way that we can honor the life of Briuna and the other lives just like hers who were lost to gun violence.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the community and give special thanks to Pastor Milton Pace, Tiffany Pace Whitaker, and Montreal Dukes for hosting a recent dialogue on curbing violence in our Fort Worth community.

But we need the Senate to do their part. We need them to act. Pass the legislation that we passed in the House now.

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