In Remembrance of the Victims of the El Paso Shooting

Floor Speech

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Ms. ESCOBAR. Madam Speaker, I invite all Members to join me in the well who wish to stand in support with members of the Texas and Congressional Hispanic Caucus delegations.

Madam Speaker, on Saturday, August 3, at a local El Paso Walmart, parents were shopping for school supplies, elderly couples were paying for their groceries, and kids and parents were fundraising for their soccer team. But that day, everything changed.

A killer drove over 600 miles to my community. He massacred 22 people and injured another 26. He confessed to driving over 10 hours so that he could target Mexicans and immigrants. It was a horrific act of domestic terrorism fueled by America's gun violence epidemic and the hate epidemic.

The killer's screed was filled with bigoted, anti-immigrant language that has been used by people in power and those with the most powerful bully pulpits.

El Paso, as usual, rose to the challenge before us. We grieved together; we went to the hospital together; we prayed together; we buried loved ones together.

My community has a long journey ahead, and I thank the first responders, healthcare providers, spiritual leaders, and all the community members who have shown tremendous courage during our darkest moment.

I thank my colleagues and people from all over the country and the world who reached out to us, sent their condolences, visited with us.

El Paso will continue to set the example for the Nation because we will continue to treat all people in our midst with kindness, generosity, and goodwill. We will always be El Paso Strong, and our resilience will guide the way.

I ask for your continued support, but more importantly, I ask that this awful event be the turning point that our country so desperately needs and that Americans so desperately want.

We must end the hate and gun violence epidemics because, for many of us, these issues have become a matter of life and death.

I ask that all Members and guests in the gallery rise for a moment of silence, please.

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