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[Page H4225]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION POLICY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Gallego) for 5 minutes.
Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Virginia
(Mrs. Luria).
Honoring Virginia Beach Shooting Victims
Mrs. LURIA. Mr. Speaker, I continue today in grieving for Virginia
Beach and for those that we lost.
Those who knew the victims are making statements that we need to
hear.
Bert Snelling's neighbor told a Virginian-Pilot reporter, ``It's the
world we live in now, and it's a shame.''
A friend of Missy Langer's told The Washington Post, ``This kind of
stuff has got to stop.'' And another friend said, ``She didn't deserve
to die like that.''
None of them did.
This is a moment where doing nothing is no longer an option. To prove
that point, all we have to do is look at the first responder who ran
into the building and took a bullet to protect his fellow citizens. To
him, it was never an option to not act.
If there is a lesson that we take out of this tragedy, all we have to
do is look at him.
We must run into the building together.
We must act.
Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Speaker, while the Trump administration is setting
fire to our legal immigration system, separating families, and all but
closing down our border, I am proud that today, here in the House of
Representatives, Democrats are standing up and taking action to provide
legal status and an earned path to citizenship for young people and
families that already call this country home.
Dreamers and TPS holders are our neighbors, coworkers, and our
friends. They are productive and contributing members of our society,
raising families, serving in our military, and uplifting our
communities.
Even though they collectively represent some of the strongest parts
of this country, the Trump administration has forced them to live in
constant uncertainty and fear that they or their loved ones will be
deported.
But even so, they have had the courage to step out of the shadows and
tell their stories and fight for the lives they have built for
themselves and their families and for the futures they aspire to.
They have spoken up many times, putting themselves at risk to do so
in hopes that they would drive us to act to uphold our American values
and allow them to become, on paper, what they already are in their
hearts: Americans.
The hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who came forward to register
with the government as part of the DACA program trusted the government
to live up to its end of the bargain.
Although the Trump administration has tried to break that promise,
today we are taking action to make sure we keep our word.
We will not allow these aspiring Americans to become the next victim
of Trump's brutal deportation force. This wasn't an easy process, and
the fight isn't over. It takes immense courage to stand up to power at
any time, but even more so, when your life--as you know it--is at great
risk.
I have the utmost admiration and respect for Dreamers who have taken
a stand and fought for the right to continue to live and work in the
country they call home. I know they will continue to fight until this
bill that we pass becomes law.
In the meantime, I--and my fellow Democrats--will continue to be
right by their side.
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