Moment of Silence for Victims of the Half Moon Bay Shootings

Floor Speech

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Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I seek recognition to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in my congressional district in the community of Half Moon Bay on Monday of this week.

Mr. Speaker, seven lives, seven precious lives, farmworkers in a community that is as all-American as can be, about 11,000 people. It is a bucolic community on the magnificent California coastline. It is known for its pumpkin festival. It is known for its Mavericks competition in terms of surfers, but also, for over a century, it has been known for its flora culture and its agriculture.

It was on Monday that one individual went to a nursery--actually, where he worked. He knew exactly who he was pursuing. It was intentional. It was targeted. It was execution, and children witnessed this. Children witnessed it.

He left that site, drove about a mile and a half to Highway 1, which is the scenic highway with the magnificent Pacific Ocean on one side and the community on the other, to another nursery and murdered three others.

The first 3 weeks of this New Year: 39 mass shootings in the United States of America. We always come to the floor: Thoughts and prayers, thoughts and prayers.

My thoughts are, I don't think we are safe anywhere anymore-- churches, schools, community centers, now at nurseries where agricultural workers work, dance rooms, restaurants.

I believe sincerely, number one, in prayer. My prayer today is that there will be a collective examination of conscience in the Congress because we have a responsibility in this. We all do, regardless of party.

This is a matter of conscience. It is a moral issue. When the number one cause of death of children in our Nation is from gun violence, we have to stop and examine our conscience.

We say home of the brave, land of the free. My prayer today is that we will be the home of the safe.

These are whose lives were taken on Monday: Zhishen Liu, 73 years old; Aixiang Zhang, 74 years old; Qizhong Cheng, 66 years old; Jingzhi Lu, 64 years old; Marciano Martinez Jimenez, 50 years old; Yetao Bing, 43 years old; Jose Romero Perez, 38 years old.

God rest them.

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