National Pulse Memorial

Floor Speech

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Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, I take this opportunity to commend Congressman Soto, Congresswoman Demings, and the gentlewoman from Florida (Congresswoman Murphy), who is in the Chair, on this incredibly important legislation.

I traveled to attend a memorial service in the aftermath of the tragedy at Orlando's Pulse gay nightclub to mourn with the stunned community how the confluence of bigotry and weapons of war conspired to steal 49 innocent lives.

I remember the feeling of numbness and agony. It was so hard to grasp that in 2016, visitors to Pulse that night suffered a violence that far too often plagues LGBTQ-plus communities and communities of color, but this time on a mass scale. They were targeted for who they were.

Out for the evening, they assumed it was safe to be themselves, to live their truths, and yet their precious lives were snuffed out.

But in this darkest of moments, Floridians opened their arms to embrace and heal one another. They vocally denounced bigotry, whether it was aimed at our LGBTQ-plus or Hispanic communities, or too often both. They would not stay silent.

Even public figures who were not always clear LGBTQ-plus allies stood up and made a commitment to equality.

It was an encouraging moment of solidarity amidst such tragedy. Most Floridians responded by drawing closer than ever before.

Two years later, my community endured similar heartache and anger when 17 students and educators were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Days after that horrific school shooting, I was in Orlando and visited Pulse, where spontaneous messages of love and sadness were left behind.

As I added my message to the thousands hanging on banners there, I saw Pulse was not simply a site of tragedy and pain. It was a hallowed place to remember and honor all the individuals who were lost. But it was also now a public space affirming that equality, justice, and love are worth rallying to and fighting for.

Making Pulse a national memorial would, most importantly, properly honor those we lost way too soon.

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