Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) On Tuesday tore up his Senate colleagues who refuse to take significant action against armed violence following a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school.
“Fourteen kids killed in a Texas elementary school right now. What are we doing? What are we doing?… We have another Sandy Hook on our hands. What are we doing?” Murphy said in his opening statement, mentioning the recent shooting at a Tops Friendly Markets location in Buffalo, New York, and the Newtown massacre in his home state in 2012, when he was a member of the House.
“A few days after a shooter walked into a grocery store and shot dead African-American customers, we have another Sandy Hook in our hands,” Murphy said.
“What are we doing? There have been more mass shootings [than] days of the year. Our children live in fear every time they step foot in the classroom because they think they will be next. What are we doing? ”He asked.
Murphy, noting that the mass shootings that take place regularly “only happen in this country,” tore up his fellow senators for failing to approve gun reforms.
“Why do you spend all this time running for the United States Senate, why do you go through all the hassle of getting this job of putting yourself in a position of authority if your answer is that as this massacre increases, as our children run, do we do nothing for their lives? ” he told the Senate.
“What are we doing? Why are you here if not to solve a problem as existential as this.… This is not inevitable. The children did not have bad luck. It only happens in this country.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced Tuesday that 14 children and a teacher were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
Local authorities identified the suspect as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, and Abbott said Ramos was shot dead by authorities who responded to the incident.
Raffensperger defends Trump’s main challenge in Georgia McBath defeats fellow Bourdeaux in Georgia House primaries
Murphy then asked his GOP colleagues to help work on legislation to address this issue, adding that Sandy Hook alumni have not yet fully recovered from the trauma they experienced after the massacre.
“Pray, get on your knees, literally, and ask my peers to find a way forward here. Work with us to find a way to pass laws that make it less likely,” Murphy said. “I understand that my fellow Republicans will not agree with everything I can support, but there is one common denominator we can find.”
“But by doing something, we should at least stop sending this silent message of support to those brainwashed killers, who see the highest levels of government doing nothing,” Murphy concluded. “Shoot after shooting. What are we doing? Why are we here? What are we doing? “