Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I rise today to remember the victims of the terrorist attack in Orlando, FL. Forty-nine people were killed and even more were wounded when a self-proclaimed ISIS sympathizer attacked Pulse nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning. I can't imagine the trauma experienced by those who were present in the club or the suffering of the families now mourning a beloved son or daughter.

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, with the families of the deceased, and with all those currently sitting at the hospital beds of the injured. My thoughts and prayers are also with the people of Orlando, whose sense of security has been shattered by this deadly attack.

Every deadly ideology of the last century has been characterized by a fundamental disregard for the sacredness of human life. The form of radical Islam espoused by ISIS and its adherents is no different. Like every radical ideology before it, it regards individual human beings as expendable commodities in its pursuit of a Utopia. More than that, it sees certain individuals as not only expendable but dangerous, and it seeks to exterminate them accordingly. The blood-soaked villages of ISIS-controlled Iraq and Syria bear terrible witness to the slaughter of Christians, Yazidis, moderate Muslims, and anyone else ISIS felt was standing in its way.

As a nation, we have to stand against the threat of terrorism. We have to ensure that our military is equipped to destroy terrorist organizations abroad and that our law enforcement personnel are equipped to confront terrorist threats here at home. We need to control our borders and modernize our immigration system so that we know who is coming and who is going from our Nation. We need to invest in our intelligence agencies and hold them accountable as they work to keep our homeland safe. We have to support our allies who are taking the fight to the terrorists. And most of all, we have to show the utter bankruptcy of an ideology that regards human beings as expendable.

America has a proud history of standing up for the dignity and freedom of the human person against tyrants of all stripes. We stood against the deadly ideologies of the 20th century, and we will stand against the deadly ideologies of the 21st century.

On Sunday morning we saw the darkest side of humanity, but, as so often happens, when we see the worst in human beings, we also see the best--the DJ who helped a patron escape from the club; the man who stuffed his bandana into a bullet hole on a stranger's back to stop the bleeding; the man who pulled a wounded stranger to safety behind a car and then kept him conscious on the way to the hospital; the long lines of Orlando residents who came forward to donate blood; and, of course, the police officers who walked into that club and who wake up every day ready to lay down their lives for the rest of us. Against that spirit, terrorism will never prevail.

Our whole Nation grieves with the citizens of Orlando. May God bless and comfort the families of all those who died, and may He heal all those whose hearts are broken.

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