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Ms. FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Chair, once again, Americans are heartbroken by a gun violence tragedy, mourning the students killed in Santa Barbara.
Since that mass shooting on Friday, more than 120 others have lost their lives at the hands of a gun, including an 18-month-old who was shot in front of his mother this morning in West Palm Beach.
This mother will never see her child go to school, graduate from college, or walk down the aisle--she will never hear him say, ``I love you Mom.''
As a former Mayor of an urban city, I've seen firsthand how gun violence disrupts entire communities and devastates families.
Too many lives have been taken. Too many families have lost their daughters and sons, their sisters and brothers. And too many people have endured unimaginable pain and grief caused by senseless acts of gun violence.
And, it is unbelievable to me about in the wake of more heartbreaking killings with firearms that the reaction of some in this Congress is to weaken gun laws. That's why I support the Esty amendment to keep strong laws against gun trafficking on the books.
Not only should we pass this amendment, we must do much more to improve our national background check system and strengthen mental health intervention and research.
From California to Florida, American families are counting on us to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and keep our children safe.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment.
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