Gun Safety in America

Floor Speech

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Mr. WHITESIDES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share the story of someone from my district who I know personally. Her name is Mia Tretta.

In 2019, as a 15-year-old freshman at Saugus High School, Mia was shot in the stomach during a horrific attack that took the life of her best friend. She survived, endured surgeries, and fought to reclaim her life, eventually earning her way into Brown University.

This past weekend, the nightmare returned. While studying for finals in her dorm, Mia was forced to shelter in place as a shooter roamed the Brown campus. She told reporters no one should ever have to go through one shooting, let alone two.

We are failing our children. It is a national disgrace that a student in America can survive a high school shooting, only to face another one before graduating college. We cannot accept this as normal.

Mr. Speaker, we need commonsense gun safety legislation now, reforms supported by the vast majority of Americans, to end this epidemic.

Mia and her generation deserve to study in peace, not fear.

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