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Pelosi Statement on One-Year Anniversary of the Shooting in Newtown

December 13, 2013
Contact: Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616
Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the one-year anniversary of the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, which falls tomorrow:
"One year ago, terror struck the heart of Newtown, Connecticut, and horror struck the hearts of the American people. This unspeakable tragedy took the lives of 20 small children and six courageous educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School – an act of brutality and violence that turned a bright December morning into a dark nightmare for an entire community and all who mourned along their side. The deeds of a lone gunman remain seared into the consciousness of our nation still today.
"It's hard to believe that an entire year has passed since that horrific day – yet it's even harder to believe that, despite so many promises of action, too many in Congress have advocated only inaction in the fight to prevent gun violence. In the wake this solemn anniversary, that must change. Indeed, our most lasting memorial to the victims of Newtown would be to enact a comprehensive agenda to prevent gun violence, starting with the bipartisan, King-Thompson legislation to expand background checks.
"Our nation has taken extraordinary inspiration from the families of Newtown. They honored those they lost by turning their grief into action, their pain into perseverance, their anguish into advocacy. They have banded together to make our country safer. They have taught us that the answer to the Sandy Hook shooting is not hatred, but love; not division, but unity; not random acts of vengeance, but persistent acts of kindness.
"May we all take heed of their example: to remember Newtown and to cherish the memories of all victims of gun violence."
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