‘Our hearts are broken; our spirit is not. We are NOT defeated’ Bam: ‘Who are we here to represent?’
MARK BARDEN, whose 7-year-old son, Daniel, was killed in the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, delivered the following statement at the White House on Wednesday on behalf of the families belonging to the group Sandy Hook Promise:
My name is Mark Barden. Just four months ago, my wife, Jackie, e and I lost our son, and our children, James and Natalie, lost their younger brother Daniel, a first-grader at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Our sweet 7-year-old Daniel was one of 20 children and six adults lost on Dec. 14. I have to say, today it feels like it just happened yesterday.
In our deepest grief, we were supported by the love of our families and comforted by the love and prayers we received from millions of Americans from every corner of the country.
What happened in Newtown can happen anywhere. In an instant, any dad in America could be in my shoes. No one should have to feel our pain or the pain felt by the tens of thousands every year who lose loved ones to senseless gun violence.
That’s why we’re here. Two weeks ago, 12 of us from Newtown came to meet with U.S. senators and have a conversation about how to bring common-sense solutions to the issue of gun violence.
We came with a sense of hope, optimistic that a real conversation could begin that would ultimately save the lives of so many Americans.
We met with dozens of Democrats and Republicans, and shared with them pictures of our children, spouses and parents, who lost their lives on Dec. 14.
Expanded background checks wouldn’t have saved our loved ones but still we came to support a bipartisan proposal from two senators with A ratings from the NRA — a commonsense proposal supported by 90% of Americans. It is a proposal that will save lives without interfering with the rights of responsible, law-abiding gun owners.
We return home for now, disappointed but not defeated. We return home with a determination that change will happen, maybe not today but soon.
We will keep moving forward. We take strength from the children and loved ones that we lost, and we carry a great faith in the American people.
On behalf of Sandy Hook Promise, I would like to thank President Obama and Vice President Biden for their leadership and for standing strong and continuing to
fight for a safer America.
I would like to thank Sens. ens. [Pat] Toomey, [Joe] Manchin, [Chuck] Schumer and [Mark] Kirk for coming together to seek eek common ground on lifesaving legislation.
And I would like to thank Connecticut’s Senators [Richard] Blumenthal and [Chris] Murphy, who have stood with us from the first hours after the tragedy.
We leave Washington hoping that others, both here and across the country, will join us in making the ‘Sandy Hook Promise.’ .’ A pledge that we had great hope ope more U.S. senators would take literally.
Let me close by repeating the words with which the Sandy Hook Promise begins:
Our hearts are broken; Our spirit is not. We are NOT defeated. We are here and we will ALWAYS be here because we have no other choice.
We are not going away, and every day as more people are killed in this country because of gun violence, our determination
grows.
Now is still the time.
Thank you. It is my pleasure to introduce the President of the United States.
President Obama addressed the nation after gun legislation died in the U.S. Senate. Here is an excerpt of his remarks:
‘ A few months ago, in response to too many tragedies . . . this country took up the cause of protecting more of our people from gun violence.
Families that know unspeakable grief summoned the courage to petition their elected leaders — not just to honor the memory of their children, but to protect the lives of all our children. And a few minutes ago, a minority in the United States Senate decided it wasn’t worth it. They blocked common-sense gun reforms even while these families looked on from the Senate gallery. . .
The gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill. They claimed that it would create some sort of “Big Brother” gun registry, even though the bill did the opposite. . . . This legislation, in fact, outlawed any registry. Plain and simple, right there in the text. But that didn’t matter.It came down to politics — the worry that a vocal minority of gun owners would come after them in future elections. [Senators who voted no] worried that the gun lobby would spend a lot of money and paint them as anti-Second Amendment. . . .
I’ve heard some say that blocking this step would be a victory. And my question is, a victory for who? A victory for what? All that happened today was the preservation of the loophole that lets dangerous criminals buy guns without a background check. That didn’t make our kids safer. Victory for not doing something that 90% of Americans, 80% of Republicans, the vast majority of your constituents wanted to get done? It begs the question, who are we here to represent?
I’ve heard folks say that having the families of victims lobby for this legislation was somehow misplaced. ‘A prop,’ somebody called them. ‘Emotional blackmail,’ some outlet said. Are they serious? Do we really think that thousands of families whose lives have been shattered by gun violence don’t have a right to weigh in on this issue? Do we think their emotions, their loss is not relevant to this debate?
So all in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington.
But this effort is not over. I want to make it clear to the American people we can still bring about meaningful changes that reduce gun violence, so long as the American people don’t give up on it. ... Those who care deeply about preventing more and more gun violence will have to be as passionate, and as organized, and as vocal as those who blocked these commonsense steps to help keep our kids safe. . . .
I’m assuming that the emotions that we’ve all felt since Newtown, the emotions that we’ve all felt since Tucson and Aurora and Chicago — the pain we share with these families and families all across the country who’ve lost a loved one to gun violence — I’m assuming that’s not a temporary thing. I’m assuming our expressions of grief and our commitment to do something ’ different to prevent these things from happening are not empty words.
I believe we’re going to be able to get this done. Sooner or later, we are going to get this right. The memories of these children demand it. And so do the American people.