WASHINGTON—Following the mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) delivered remarks on the Senate floor on Thursday to honor the victims lost to gun violence this year. Murphy read the names of victims of gun violence into the Congressional Record and shared their stories in an effort to recognize the lives lost. Murphy was joined on the floor by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.).

“Every single day, there's over 100 people dying right now. I don't think America has ever seen this rate of gun violence with the exception of wartime in our history. And, while we won't have time to tell you the story of all these people as Michael did about those who were lost in Boulder, at least we can make sure that forever their name and a link to their story is in the Congressional Record,” Murphy said.

Murphy continued: “How is it that we pay attention during the mass shootings, but just sleep through the days in which all of these people are stolen from us through an epidemic that is preventable? This doesn't happen anywhere else in the high-income world. No other nation permits this level of gun violence. Don't tell me it's the price of admission to America. Don't tell me it's not preventable. Don't tell me it's inevitable. It only happens here. It only happens here. And it's really hard to comprehend the impact that this has on people.”

“Tonight's a night to just recognize the scope of this epidemic. How many people are being lost, how many lives are being impacted in mass shootings and in individual acts of violence—in homicides, suicides, and domestic violence incidents. And maybe, maybe by pounding into people's brains that the human toll of this tragedy in mass shootings and in other forms, we can inch this body a little bit closer to doing the right thing,” Murphy concluded.

Murphy is one of the strongest voices in Washington advocating for strengthening our nation’s gun laws. Earlier this year, Murphy reintroduced the Background Check Expansion Act, legislation to expand federal background checks to all gun sales. 

 Click here to view video of Murphy’s remarks

A full transcript of Murphy’s remarks can be found below:

“Thank you, Mr. President. I thank my friend, Senator Bennet for those remarks for honoring the memories of those that we have lost and commanding us to action. I remember getting a phone call from Michael Bennet. That Friday morning, as Senator Blumenthal and I were sitting in a firehouse in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, learning what had happened just around the corner, at a schoolhouse. 

“I remember getting advice from Michael Bennet, about what you do if you're an elected official in the midst of this tragedy because he had already been through it once before. Colorado had already been through it more than once before.

“And I think about this macabre club that an increasing number of members of the Senate and House belong to in which we have this memory bank of what to do when a mass shooting happens in your district or your state—a set of capacities that no member of the House or Senate, no Governor ever had to think about or ever consider possessing decades ago. And now we call each other when these things happen to impart advice as to how to be helpful to communities that are grieving. 

“I'm thankful to have friends like Senator Bennet, who can be with others at moments like this. But I hate the fact that he knows all too well what communities go through when something happens, like happened earlier this week in Boulder.

“Mr. President, we thought about what to do to try to move this country and our colleagues to action after another spate of mass shootings. This is a really old chart that I’ve brought down to the floor for years. These numbers are out of date, unfortunately, because, well, in 2019, we were losing 100 people a day to gun violence. That's not the number from 2020 or 2021. We've seen a dramatic increase in gun violence. And well, in 2020, we didn't see the mass shootings that we've been accustomed to in years prior. We have now seen them once again pop up on our TV screens in 2021. But the lack of mass shootings masked the reality which was a dramatic increase in the number of people who were felled by guns over the course of last year.  

“And so we thought about what we could do to try to make more real for our colleagues the scope of this epidemic, and we thought of maybe something simple, make people understand that these aren't really numbers. Right? The numbers are just a way to explain in aggregate who these people are because each one of them is an individual. Each one of them led a life. Each one of them had people who loved them. Each one of them loved people. 

“So many of them, you can just see by these snapshots were young. They had full lives ahead of them—businesses to start, families to begin. None of that happened for them because they were shot, often at the beginning or the peak of their early life. 

“And so tonight, I'm hopeful that I'll be joined by a number of my colleagues to do something simple. Just to read into the record, the permanent Congressional Record, the names of those that have died just in 2021.  

“Every single day, there's over 100 people dying right now. I don't think America has ever seen this rate of gun violence with the exception of wartime in our history. And, while we won't have time to tell you the story of all these people as Michael did about those who were lost in Boulder, at least we can make sure that forever their name and a link to their story is in the Congressional Record.

“Senator Bennett already talked about Lynn Murray, Suzanne Fountain, Teri Leiker, Kevin Mahoney, Tralona Bartkowiak, Rikki Olds, Neven Stanisic, Denny Strong, Jody Waters, Eric Talley. Those are the victims from Colorado and I'm sorry if I didn't get the pronunciations perfectly. 

“But we also lost over the course of the first three months of this year Patrice Lynette Jones in Indiana. Kelvin Darnell from Illinois. Kevon Dickerson from Kentucky. Leah Brooke Hines from Ohio. Linda MacMurray in Tennessee. Michael Utley in Missouri. Jahyde Gardiner in Pennsylvania. Robert Randall Turner III from Maryland. Maddox Jones in Georgia. Joseph Jackson in Florida.  

“On Monday, same day as the shooting in Boulder, Alessia Mesquita, 28 years old, was shot and killed in New Haven, Connecticut with her one year old daughter sitting in the backseat of her car. She and her boyfriend were arguing in the car when he shot her to death. According to her mother, Alessia had been trying to leave her boyfriend. Alessia is described as a devoted mother who loved her children with all of her heart. Many of her friends really relied on her for advice and guidance. They said she'd give the shirt off her back to help a friend. Her mom said, ‘My heart has been shattered. And I don't think I'm ever going to be right again.’ She was the second of eight children. She had two children of her own, and her mother will now raise her two grandchildren. 

“Nobody heard about Alessia Mesquita being shot with her daughter in the backseat in New Haven, Connecticut on Monday. Her life isn't any less valuable than any of those that were killed in mass shootings. But this country's attention to the pandemic of gun violence, the epidemic of gun violence—it seems to only surface when there is a mass shooting. 

“Benjamin Bagley was shot last week in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was 22 years old. He was remembered by friends and family as somebody who always kept a smile on the faces of people who loved him. He was a doting father. He was a loving son and brother, always made people smile. ‘He was taken from us far before his light was fully able to shine its brightest,’ his friends wrote. He was one of six siblings, two brothers and four sisters. He had two children and one on the way. He was born and raised in Bridgeport. He was involved in his church. 

“His mom, Michelle Brown, said ‘I had to kiss my son lying in a hospital bed, dead. I don't wish this on nobody, not even my worst enemy.’ This wasn't the first time Benjamin had been shot. He had been previously wounded in a shooting in 2016. But he had recovered.

“Kevin Jiang was 26 years old. But a month and a half ago in early February, he was killed by gun violence. He had moved to New Haven just two years ago to pursue a master's degree at the Yale School of the Environment. He was a West Coast native, had gotten engaged one week before his death. He had earned a degree. He was an army veteran. He was a present Army National Guard member. 

“He was shot outside his fiancé’s apartment. His fiancé said, ‘Kevin was a gift from God. He was a true and righteous man after God's own heart. Life is so precious In short, my only hope is he's with his heavenly father now, in perfect peace.’ ‘An extraordinary young man,’ said Yale University's president.

“I mean, Mr. President, I've got a stack of names, 20-25 per page. We don't have enough time tonight to just read into the record the number of the victims of gun violence in 2021. Alone. Alone.

“Adam Todd Saeed in South Carolina. Andrew Wesley from Ohio.  Antonio Rowban Thompson from South Carolina. Artrell Conner, Louisiana. Beau Michael Wasmer, West Virginia. Brittany Wagoner-Moore in Ohio. Byron Donnell Ross in Texas. Carolyn Ann Stevenson, North Carolina. Christian Parra, New Jersey. Christopher Bess, Illinois. David Caballero, California. David Prince, Illinois. Dean Wagstaff, Washington. Devin Dawkins, Missouri. Dolores Reyes, California. Eric Thompson, Tennessee. Glorida Dean Eddington Lewis, Ohio. Harold Edward Dennison, West Virginia. Javontae Hendrix, Illinois. Jeffrey Gillespie, Mississippi. Justin Bartley Williams, Texas. Keldrick Love, Louisiana. Kiron Golden, Alabama. Lesean Long, Illinois. Malcolm Fitts, Illinois. Marcel Tramon Pimpton, Texas. Mario Vines, Oklahoma. Melissa Marie Naese, Florida. Nestor Gregorio, Texas. Pedro Arturo Delgado Tagle, Texas. Rene Hernandez, Texas. Robert ‘Trey’ Scott III, Indiana. Ryan Abraham Whiteis-Saks, Minnesota. Satnam Singh, Utah. Shamso Gedi-Abdi, Minnesota. Teresa Ratliff, Ohio. Thomas ‘TJ’ Carr, Ohio. Timothy Alfred Nelson, Texas. Timothy Dugar, Ohio. Tony Nichols, Missouri. Tre’Veon D. Buckner, Victor Zuniga, Xavier Crosby, Adam David Lawrence Arrambide, Bobby King, Brandon Chunko, Carol Tinsley, Cecilia Apolo, Christian Joseph Jones, Christopher Benton McLeod, Corey McHaffie, Curtis Lee Upshaw, DeAndre Carter, Dominicko Howell, Donnell Hoskin, Grayson Babbs, Jamie Bull.  

“It's two pages. I got 20 more here. My colleagues will hopefully join me on the floor tonight to read some of these names into the record. This is as astonishing as it is heartbreaking. This country allows for this to happen, allows for these individuals to effectively be nameless—to be anonymous.

“Tonight, we're only reading into the record the names of individuals who died in this year. And this year isn't even 90 days old.

“How is it that we pay attention during the mass shootings, but just sleep through the days in which all of these people are stolen from us through an epidemic that is preventable? This doesn't happen anywhere else in the high-income world. No other nation permits this level of gun violence. Don't tell me it's the price of admission to America. Don't tell me it's not preventable. Don't tell me it's inevitable. It only happens here. It only happens here. And it's really hard to comprehend the impact that this has on people.

“I was in an elementary school in Baltimore, Maryland about two years ago. I had gone there to see an after school program that I had heard was very successful.

“School had started about an hour late that day because of a weather delay, and so when I was inside the school at about 10:00[am], kids were still just arriving. I went upstairs to join the young lady who ran this program, and we were about a half an hour into our conversation when buzzers started going off and the lights flickered and the intercom system lit up with somebody from the central office repeating over and over again: code green, code green, code green, code green. 

“I didn't know what code green was. The person I was meeting with who was just running this after school program didn't know what code green was. Luckily, the front office called up and told us that code green means there's been an active shooting somewhere in and around the school and that everybody needs to turn the lights off, lock the doors, shut the blinds and so that's what we did. It was 10:30 in the morning.

“After about 20 minutes, code green ended, lights turn back on, and we continued our discussion. I was shaken. This is a school I'd never set foot in. I’d only been there for about 20 minutes and there was an active shooting within a handful of blocks. 

“And so I wanted to know what happened. I stayed in touch with personnel at the school. I read the Baltimore papers over the course of the next few days to find out what had happened. And here's what I found out.

“A young man by the name of Corey Dodd who lived just down the street from the school had told his wife—I believe her name is Marissa, if I remember correctly—that he dropped their twins off at Matthew Henson Elementary School that morning. They had two other kids; she was busy with them. He said, ‘I'll drop the kids off this morning.’ And so he drove the kids to Matthew Henson Elementary School, the twin girls, brought them into the building. I could have been in that lobby with him that morning as I was coming in, and he was leaving.

“He got into his car, drove a few blocks home. And in between his car and the door, he was shot dead. 10:00 in the morning. His little girl, the youngest, always waited for him at the door when he was arriving. Well, he never showed up to that door because he died that day. And these two little twin girls in that school at the same time that I was who might have been giggling as they took a break from instruction and the lights went off, and they got to chat with their friends, didn't know that they were never going to see their father again.

“Think about how the lives of those children change when your dad vanishes from the earth just like that. 

“Think about how the lives of all the children in that school change when they have to contemplate the fact that their dads might not be home when they arrive next week or the week after if it could happen to Mr. Dodd.

“Think about how the entire neighborhood goes through trauma after trauma when that happens so routinely in a place like Baltimore. You can't understand the scope of this epidemic by just reading off these names.

“Adam Todd Saeed died. Jason Wilson died. Jath Burns died. Johnjairo Brito died. Johnnie Clark died. Jonathan Joseph died. Jose Medero died. Joseph Carney died. Justin Locklear died. Justin Marshall died of gun violence. So did Kristen Slack, and Latarous Harris, Lieutenant Justin Bedwell. 

“They all died of gunshot wounds just in 2021, but they simply represent the surface. You scratch just a bit, and you will find their kids and their moms and their dads and their neighbors who are going through trauma right now because of their death. 

“Research tells us that often there are 20 people who experience a definable trauma when someone close to them dies. And so, even the names that we read into the record tonight don't accurately represent the scope of this trauma. Those kids’ lives will never ever be the same in Sandtown, the neighborhood in Baltimore in which this elementary school sits. Neither will be the lives of those kids who go to that school.

“And maybe what was so inexplicable to me was that I had to work really hard to find out anything about that young man. It was barely a story the next day that he had died bringing his daughters to school and then returning home.

“Had there have been six more people shot? Maybe it would have made the papers, maybe America would have paid attention. 

“But think of it this way: What if that same story played out? Not in Baltimore, Maryland with an African American father and African American girls. What if that story played out in Westport, Connecticut with a white father and two twin blonde-haired white girls?

“Do we care less because Corey was African American? You better believe it. You better believe that headline news would have been running stories about an affluent white suburban father dropping his kids off in an affluent white suburban school and being shot before he entered his suburban home. 

“We don't care about individual loss of life like we care about the victims of mass shooting. That's a tragedy. We also don't care about the loss of Black life. We don’t care about the people of color who die in the same way that we care when white people die in this country. That's just the truth.

“So tonight, my colleagues and I are going to come to the floor, and I hope some will join me. I thank Senator Blumenthal for being here to start us off—to read into the [Congressional] Record the names of individuals who have been lost to gun violence in 2021 as a way to make sure we recognize who they are and the lives that they led, but also as a last-gasp effort to try to convince our colleagues to do something. 

“Tonight isn't really going to be the night to go deep into policy. Senator Bennet talked about what we know we need to do. We can have that debate at another time. Tonight's a night to just recognize the scope of this epidemic. How many people are being lost, how many lives are being impacted in mass shootings and in individual acts of violence—in homicides, suicides, and domestic violence incidents. And maybe, maybe by pounding into people's brains that the human toll of this tragedy in mass shootings and in other forms, we can inch this body a little bit closer to doing the right thing. I yield the floor.” 

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