past national conventions. saturday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span. house democrats joined community leaders and victims of gun violence for a late evening vigil thursday to show support for more comprehensive gun laws. this gathering outside the u.s. capitol is just under two hours. [ cheering ]

[ chanting ] >> no bill! >> no break! >> no bill! >> no break! >> what do we want? >> internships.

>> what do we want? >> now. >> people over here. >> now! >> what do we want? >> yeah. >> no bill -- >> no break! [ cheering ] >> thank you very much for being here this evening. we have been observing a critical mass of people who are being off-loaded here over to my left, your right. and we'll give them just a few more moments. to get here. but before we start this

evening's program, i think it is fitting and proper as i bring forward for an invocation and hopefully an observance for the people of france who once again are experiencing the wrath of commented beings who are inflicting their notions upon unsuspecting people in such a way that it brings great sorrow. to all of us. so before i ask pastor howard john wesley to return the invocation, let us all please just pause for a moment of silence for the people of nice,

france who are experiencing a lot of trauma as we begin this program. thank you very much. now i would like to call to the podium for an invocation pastor howard john wesley. >> let us pray. >> creator and omnipotent god, god of love and life of justice and peace of grace and mercy, we gather under the sovereignty and protection of thy hand, believing thou has called us to this place to shine our lights in the midst of these dark times. times when we have seen too many acts of gun violence in our land to remain comfortable or quiet.

times when our calling to live as the light of the world is crystal clear. we gather in this place with the laws and legislature of liberty and life are written and crafted to protect your people by those whom you've called to their elected office. and we besiege thee o god to show us a more excellent way. as we petition your thrown so, do we address our government with the grievance of gun violence and the demand that there must be a change that necessary gun reform laws be brought to this congress floor and be passed. we seek your solace and presence with all those who mourn as a result of gun violence in orlando, baton rouge, dallas, minneapolis, charleston, chicago, and virtually every other city in these united states. we ask that thy wisdom would guide us on the path forward,

that thy spirit would lead us as we raise our voices against the violence and death that pervades our land, and that would unite us as a people regardless of color or creed, religion or race, sexuality or salary, politics or preference, with peaceful respect given to all faiths gathered here honoring the different names by which you were called. i pray to you in the name of my savior and my christ, amen. >> thank you, pastor wesley. and now to lead us in the pledge of allegiance to our flag, which all of us can see over in the distance, i call upon the vice chair of the democratic caucus, joseph crowley of new york. >> i pledge of allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation

under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> thank you, mr. crowley. and now, ladies and gentlemen, i would like to introduce to some, present to most of you, the leader of the house democratic caucus, the former and it is my prayer, future leader, speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi of california. >> good evening, everyone. thank you for being here. to light the way to disarm hate. it is an honor to be here with each and every one of you. to be comforted by the words of the invocation, to be led by mr. clyburn, sharing grief of his state with the nation.

leading us in this beautiful ceremony this evening, inspired by our colleague, a national icon, a global hero, john lewis. we are here outside on a day when we're supposed to be in the session of congress, and in session tomorrow. but the majority in congress has decided they had more important things to do than to save lives. they decided that they would not pass, give us a vote, on preventing gun violence. instead, they would go home. we have a message to them. we will never stop until we have a successful vote to say no fly no buy, and to say, and to amend -- to enhance our gun

violence prevention laws. in a number of ways. two in particular, no fly no buy, and background checks. i say to you that we are here really, my colleagues and i, and it's an honor to be with all of them. they have had events in washington, in the capital, across the country, in their districts. they're all committed to the pledge, we will not stop until we succeed in passing the legislation. so i thank my colleagues for their leadership. you'll be hearing from more of them. so often we hear the quote about reverend martin luther king saying he dreamed of a nation where his children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. if we apply that test to the american people, they come up very strong. because we are a nation of people based on values,

compassion, and courage. but that same measure does not apply to the leadership in the congress of the united states when it comes to respecting the dignity and worth and lives of every person in our country. there is no compassion. their judgments are not value based, and they do not have courage. they think their political survival is more important than the survival of little children or people gathered in church or young people gathered on a saturday night. or people in a movie theater across the country. again, we must -- we must all of us be judged by that. beautiful mr. lewis always tells us and reminds us that we all have a spark of divinity in us. all the people we care about are made in the image and likeness of god. and i say to my colleagues in the congress, the leadership, you, too, have a spark of

divinity. act upon it. act upon it in respect for the dignity and worth of every person in our country. so tonight, we're going to hear a little bit from members of congress, a whole lot more from people whose families have suffered through this. we make a pledge to them, as we not only listen to what they have to say, we hear what they have to say. and we will act upon it. they have acted upon their grief to turn their grief into action so that other people will not suffer. we join them tonight, not just to listen, but to hear, to listen, and learn as we listen so that we can make sure that we use their voices to make change in the congress of the united states. so that congress will have the courage, to compassion, and the values to pass the legislation

that will save lives. and with that, i am pleased to thank all of you for coming and yield and thank our distinguished assistant leader for calling us all here together. he is a champion on this issue, a champion on saying to these people, why aren't you funding zika so we can protect lives of people subjected to that? why aren't you doing money for opioids so we can address that concern in a meaningful way? why aren't you thinking of the children of flint, michigan, who also need our attention? what do you have to do that is more important than that? that you had to go home. a person who is keeping us here until the job is done, our distinguished assistant leader, mr. clyburn of south carolina, he's proud to say. mr. clyburn. >> thank you very much, leader pelosi. and now, we are going to hear

from members of congress and the people that they have invited here to speak out on behalf of disarming hate and hopefully lighting the way to commonsense gun reform legislation. so we're going to thank all the members who have come out here this evening. only a few of them who will be presenting speakers. i want to begin by inviting to the mic now representative katherine clark, who will present on behalf of the people of charleston, south carolina. >> thank you, congressman clyburn, our leader nancy pelosi, and congressman john lewis, who has led us in this effort.

my name is katherine clark. i represent the fifth congressional district of massachusetts. on june 17th, 2015, nine prayerful souls gathered for bible study at emanuel ame church in charleston, south carolina. the lives of reverend clementa pinckney, cynthia herd, sharonda coleman singleton, ethen lance, suzy jackson, depayne middleton doctor, the reverend daniel simmons, and myra thompson were snuffed out by a hateful murderer who was allowed to purchase a gun because of a loophole in our background check laws. i support commonsense gun

violence solutions, including closing the charleston loophole, because we can no longer remain silent. speak out on behalf of the emanuel nine. and disarming hate. i am honored to introduce towanza sanders' mother felicia. oh. >> hi. on the evening of june 17th, 2015, i survived the most horrific experience of my entire life. i did so by hiding under a table, pretending to be dead while protecting my grandchild from gunshots.

a hateful domestic terrorist who should not have had a gun was able to get it because of loophole in our background check laws. i am pleading with congress to close the so-called loopholes. charleston loophole. this loophole led to the murder of my son, my aunt, and a cousin. three of the nine faithful worshipers who lost their lives while participating and the furtherance of their religious journey. my son's life was snuffed out as he confronted the killer with a simple question and a statement. why are you doing this? why are you doing this? we mean you no harm. we mean you no harm.

but it did not matter to the shooter because we were all targeted, because of racial hatred. and the color of our skin. the perpetrator of this heinous act should not have been in possession of a gun. i am here today to ask members of congress to help disarm hate and to pass some commonsense gun laws. thank you. [ applause ] >> before we present our next congress person, i would like for all of you to meet and greet the widow of reverend clementa pinckney, jennifer and her two daughters.

thank you all so much for leaving the ame conference in philadelphia and coming down here today. mrs. pinckney? [ applause ] >> clementa pinckney, where are you? because of what happened on that evening, a father, a husband, a loved one is not by our side. clementa was a family man, and he loved the lord. and because of his love, he invited someone into the church that didn't look like him.

because he loved the lord. something has got to be done. you never think about crimes such as what happened to our family and all of our families until it happens to you. never on that day when we left our home that day did i think that my husband would not be returning back with us. for he had promised melana, she asked her father, when we leave church, can you take me to mcdonald's? we never made it to mcdonald's. too many lives are lost. it's got to stop. think about the love that

clementa had, a peaceful person. and because he shared that love and because he was a people person, when this horrific crime happened, charleston could only embrace each other. did we fight? no. because clementa wouldn't have wanted that. because that wasn't what clementa was about. we've got to do something. something has got to be done. no one else should lose a loved one. no one else should lose a husband. no one else should lose a father. just think, the person that's standing next to you, think about your loved ones at home. think about your children. think about your spouses. think about your parents. what if you get a phone call right now and someone tells you that someone just killed them.

someone just shot them. what if that person right beside you was walking away and someone shot them? you never realize the hurt and the pain that the families go through until you have experienced yourself. no one should have to experience what we have experienced. work has got to be done. thank you. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> now, to present our next speaker, from the great city of california, congresswoman judy chu. >> thank you, congress member clyburn. i'm judy chu, from california. on a peaceful sunday morning,

the men, women, and children of the sikh temple in oak creek, wisconsin, were getting ready for their weekly worship. then, a white supremacist armed with semiautomatic weapons burst in, shooting whomever he could. he left six people dead and four wounded. here to talk about the effects of this horrendous act of gun violence on an entire community is dr. bular of the sikh american defense and education fund. a surgeon who, as he says, has operated on too many victims of gun violence. >> thank you, representative chu for inviting me to speak here today. i want to start by thanking representative john lewis, representative jim clyburn, the

congressional black caucus, and the house democratic caucus for organizing this incredible event. my name is gurpal bular, and i'm a proud member of the sikh american community. almost four years ago, on august 5th, 2012, the sikh community in oak creek, wisconsin, was viciously attacked by a white supremacist with a gun. six people who were in the temple that day were shot. and four others wounded. in this sikh house of worship. as an active member of my local sikh, as we call the house of worship, as a surgeon, and as a grandfather of four children, this event hit home for me. but i was proud in the way the oak creek sikh community responded with the spirit of eternal optimism. in the face of thousands of

innocent lives taken by guns every year, we must go with the same spirit. sikh americans like the first man killed in a hate crime after 9/11, are killed across our country with guns because of their identities. it is time to take action now and use the spirit to drive this change. the gun control platform proposed by these members of congress embodies this spirit. it is practical, and it will make a difference. that is why as a sikh american and as a grandfather, i am proud to stand here in support of these commonsense reforms. especially in the form of expanded background checks and the hate crime prevention act and the no fly no buy act. i stand with you and the sikh community stands with you, enough is enough. thank you.

[ applause ] >> thank you. thank you very, very much. now, to present our next speaker, the delegate from the district of columbia, representative eleanor holmes norton. >> thank you. i am pleased to represent the people who live in the nation's capital. in march of 2010, five assailants, armed with an illegally purchased ak-47 and two caliber weapons opened fire on a crowd of innocent d.c. teenagers. killing four and wounding six others, in the south capitol street massacre.

i support closing the charleston loophole, the district of columbia loophole, the united states loophole. and requiring universal background checks. because we can no longer remain silent to speak on behalf of those in the district of columbia we have lost, i am pleased to introduce nardine jeffries, the mother of 16-year-old rachelle jones, tragically lost to gun violence in the south capitol street massacre. >> good evening.

this was a beautiful, vibrant, college-und 16-year-old. this is what an ak-47 does to human flesh. my only child was gunned down worse than an animal in a first-world country. this happens every single day, all over the united states of america. this is not the america i grew up in. this is not the america we should be proud of. if we disarmed hate during the slave trade, if we disarmed hate during emmett till, dr. martin luther king, we wouldn't be where we are here now. we have to do better than this. too many are being slaughtered. i don't know what's wrong with mitch mcconnell. and i don't know what's wrong with paul ryan.

but i'm going to tell you, green paper does not value human lives. it does not. we need to have universal background checks on all gun sales. no matter where the guns are purchased. and we need them now. too many children, too many young people, too many human beings, period, are being slaughtered. and i don't accept this. this is an unbalanced society. i should be in a grave. my child should be burying me. i shouldn't have to bury my only child because someone used a weapon that my father used to protect this country. this is not acceptable. too many of our young people are being killed, and i am standing here with so many other parents, so many other loved ones, and i'm going to keep on fighting, and we're going to keep on coming. if you're not going to do your

jobs, speaker ryan, then guess what? it's not a single issue vote. we're going to get you gone. simple as that. you don't want to do your job, then go home and stay where you are in -- i can't even say -- wisconsin. so i'm just -- i'm very emotional because this shouldn't be our life. and it doesn't feel good to know that i have to go home to an empty home. my child should be graduating college. but instead, she's dead. and that's only because the nra controls the republicans. and we're going to disarm all of them because this is not going to continue to happen in our city, in our country. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you very, very much.

and now to present our next speaker, the chair of the congressional black caucus from the state of north carolina, g.k. butterfield. >> thank you very much, congressman clyburn. reverend william j. barber ii is senior pastor of green leaf christian church in goldsburg, north carolina. he's state president of the north carolina conference of the naacp, the second largest conference in the united states, and serves on the national board for that organization, but today, he's here in his capacity as a pastor. dr. brasher is nationally known or the his advocacy on the battlefield for racial justice. over the years, he has organized thousands of people, black, white, and brown, for historic marches, protesting discrimination and bigotry. we are honored this evening to have the reverend dr. william j. barber ii, and i present him to you at this time.

>> america today is in deep need of pastoral and prophetic care. the son of our brother sterling killed by police in baton rouge said his father was a sacrifice, so the whole world could see what was going on. the lawyer for our brother castile in st. paul said this time, it was a black man in every area doing the right thing, trying to do the right thing. and the moral question before is us how many more sacrifices, how many more times before killing of black mothers' sons and fathers and daughters is as important as others, and forces the changes necessary? how many more tragic sacrifices, how much more death needs to be seen lying on the concrete? dying in front of a camera, dying in front of us before those in america who don't want to deal with the deadly data

driven reality of racism stop fighting the truth and deal with it. we must deal with it now, and we must use every nonviolent action to declare it's time now to address how racial antagonism stuck to our imagination and who we see as enemies, but for some, black deaths seem to mean more than black lives. also, we must end the proliferation of guns. our love of weapons constructs a false sense of independence and freedom. the unholy power the nra has on congress and state legislatures and electoral politics is insane. it's easier to get a gun than a voting card. that's immoral, and that's insane. when there is more concern about protecting assault weapons than

assuring affordable health care, that's immoral and insane. when there's more interest in the free sale of guns than insuring free public education, that's immoral and insane. when there's more interest to get guns in the hands of people that puts lead in people's bodies rather than get the lead out of the water that's killing people, that's insane. the great moral question is, how much more blood must be shed before lives mean more than loyalty to the nra and the gun lobby? the other day, the nra said it was the oldest civil rights organization. tell the truth. the nra is neither civil nor right. how much more blood, mr. speaker? how much more blood, senate leader mcconnell?

20 first graders laying dead in newtown, between 6 and 7, is that not enough blood? nine souls in mother emanuel. they deserve more than a flag to come down. they need gun laws to come up. how much more blood? 49 souls in orlando. blood in temples. 11 times the president has had to be pastor in chief as opposed to president in chief. and now, five officers of the law who were actually performing their jobs well and right. how much more blood will it take for leaders in this congress to say no to the nra and stop the proliferation of guns and strengthen our gun laws and strengthen background checks and declare no fly no buy? how much more blood? i come by as a lowly preacher to tell you the blood is crying

from the ground. the blood is crying from the schoolhouse, the blood is crying from the church, the blood is crying. how much more blood will be necessary to scare us to life? god help us if this congress hasn't seen enough blood. >> the chair of the house democratic caucus, chairman becerra of california. >> how about that reverend barber? it's been a pretty warm day, but i think you'll agree with me. we could take the heat. and we are ready. we're ready to build this movement, but there's some who couldn't take the heat. they decided to cut out of town for seven weeks without finishing the work of this congress.

i think this movement is ready to tell them when they come back in seven weeks, it's going to be a lot hotter here in washington, d.c. so brothers and sisters, we got work to do. we got to turn up the light, get a little hotter, and make it so that every single person who could not be here today because they were gunned down, our brothers and sisters, someone like shannon johnson, my constituent, who died in the san bernardino mass killing, and all the people of america who cannot be here, we're here to stand up for them and speak out. it is time to turn up the heat. and so let me introduce to you someone who represents some 600,000 americans who work every day on our behalf in our federal offices, doing the work of this

federal government, taking on the courage to be there for us whatever the conditions. someone who is fighting for us every day. let me introduce to you the president of the american federation of government employees, j. david cox sr. >> thank you. congressman. good evening brothers and sisters. i'm grateful to join together this evening with friends committed to doing everything in our power to end the bloodshed from gun violence in this country. i like millions of other americans am shocked and disgusted by the violence we have experienced. all of our hearts are broken when we think of the lives cut short and about the bereaved parents, children, wives, and husbands. our hearts cry out for all lives that are lost. one of our members, a border

patrol agent in texas, was killed right in front of his family by two men who should have never had a gun in their hands. another member, a correctional officer, was shot in his own front yard in california, and yes, one of our transportation security officers in the l.a.x. airport was gunned down in the middle of the los angeles airport while he was just doing his job, protecting the american citizens. the time is over. it's time to act, brothers and sisters. it's time to bring the suffering to an end. we're fortunate, very fortunate to be with this brave group of lawmakers and families that we have here today. are you with us, brothers and sisters? are you ready to act, brothers and sisters?

on behalf of the federal and d.c. government workers that we so proudly represent, i stand with you, with the committed supporters that you see before us, for all american citizens to end the gun violence. we owe it to the memories of all of those lives that have been lost, to their families, to use the power that has been entrusted to us to make communities safe for everyone. the time is now, brothers and sisters. now, for the congress of the united states to vote for these bills, to help reduce gun violence. let's show our children, let's show our families that we will take a stand to make our country much better, a much better country for all american citizens. our country that we love. thank you, brothers and sisters. >> thank you very much.

all of those people over here, please come on around so you can get a better view, and we can see you better. thank you so much. now, from the great state of connecticut, elizabeth esty will present our next speaker. >> thank you so much. my name is elizabeth esty, and i represent connecticut's fifth district, which includes the brave community of newtown. since the tragedy at sandy hook elementary school in 2012, 100,000 americans have lost their lives to gun violence. 100,000. brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, and grandchildren. and in that time, the house of representatives has done nothing. the american people are calling on this congress to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, and it is time for this congress to heed the call of the people.

it is my honor to introduce one of the incredible, amazing citizen leaders of that effort, my good friend, chairman of the newtown action alliance. paul murrry. >> thank you, elizabeth. an armed society is not a polite society. one gunman, my neighbor, used an ar-15 to gun down 20 innocent children and 6 educators in an elementary school that my four children attended. after the horrific incident in sandy hook, where it devastated 26 families, 27,000 community members, and over 300 million

americans, the members of this congress, who are in the pockets of the nra, refused to take action. shame on them. shame! shame! shame! shame! shame! shame! shame! shame! shame! shame! shame! shame! i urge -- i urge my fellow citizen activists to rise up and demand action. stand with these champions of change. we are on the right side of history. take this challenge. those of you who came from ohio and pennsylvania and new york, together go back to your districts during recess and demand change.

hold your congressional members accountable. we are just as culpable if we do not stand up to demand change. we cannot have any more mass shootings, and we cannot have any more killings on our streets. sandy hook proved that no one is immune from gun violence. we are all touched by gun violence. we must take action. fellow activists, please take the message back to your district and in your state, and work with us to demand action for change that is needed. we don't want to be remembered for the tragedy that occurred in sandy hook. we want to be remembered for the change that occurred on that horrific day.

come back on august 13th. there will be a rally here in washington, d.c. and then, there will be in-district action for two weeks. national disarm hate 2016, weeks of action. i challenge all of you to hold an event, a sit-in, march, rally, all across the country in every city and town in every single state. and then, disarm hate, disarm hate. disarm hate! disarm hate! disarm hate! disarm hate! and then -- and then on august 27th and 28th, join national action network and american federation of teachers. join us again in washington, d.c. to rally again for change, to end gun violence once and for all.

thank you. [ applause ] >> to present our next speaker, representative of maryland. representative donna edwards. >> good evening. i'm donna edwards. i'm from maryland. i represent maryland's fourth congressional district. i'm here tonight to speak out for commonsense gun violence solutions, including hr-1217, the public safety and second amendment rights protection act. this bipartisan legislation would expand and strengthen background checks for all firearm purchases to make it harder for abusers to get a firearm than it is to buy cough medicine. to speak out on behalf of domestic violence gun victims,

people who die every day in this country in their homes, not by strangers but by people who know them, i'm pleased to introduce mrs. kim lee. >> good evening. my name is kim lee, and i'm from laurel, maryland, and i'm here to speak about universal background checks. for firearms purchase, because i don't want another family to go through what i did. as a teenager, my parents were estranged due to domestic violence. my mom had a protective order against my dad, and while i was a sophomore in high school, my older brother was shot and killed. no fault of his own. two years later, i became a victim of gunshot violence. my father, who was a convicted felon and should not have had a

legal handgun, shot me three times. when i answered the door, my father bum rushed in the door and dragged me around the house, looking for my mother with the intent to hurt her or myself or both of us. gun violence is an issue, and convicted felons should never have the right to purchase a gun or have ownership of a gun. i was shot three times, and i still have a bullet in my leg to this day from that incident. i was shot in the chest, the leg, and the hand. while i was recovering in the hospital on christmas day, my father ultimately was in a gun battle with the police officers and was killed. he died in the hospital. but that just goes to show that gun violence is everywhere. it's in the home.

it's not just an act of someone with an ak-47 as well. it's not just an act of someone with an ak-47 as well. we have to protect our young people. we have to protect our families, our women. we have to protect the police officers. because he was willing to get into a shootout with the police as well. and he had no right to have a gun. i thank you for listening. [ applause ] >> thank you. i'm told that all those over here who would like to walk down, the police officers have told us you may come on down in this area. come on down. they're opening up a walkway for you. thank you. come on. and now, to present our next speaker, from the great state of

illinois, representative robin kelly. >> thank you, mr. cliburn, and thank all of you for being with us tonight. we really, really, really appreciate and need your support. i am from the chicagoland area. and i'm so tired of coming back to d.c. every week and telling my colleagues how many people were shot and how many people died in the chicagoland area. 2100 people have been shot this year. and 344 have already died. we are on pace for 700 deaths this year. more than last year. it is my honor to have with me tonight, a young warrior in the gun violence prevention fight. danielle. she lost her father when she was 8 years old to gun violence. children should not grow up without their parents because of gun violence. enough is enough. please don't forget that. enough is enough, and we need your help. dani? [ applause ]

>> good evening, everyone, and thank you all for being here. thank you, congresswoman robin kelly. i love you so much. i lost my dad when i was 8 years old. he told me he was going to come get me but never showed up. only to wake up the next day, while i was jumping on the bed with my little brother. my mom came in the room and sat me down and told me my dad was shot and killed in roseland in 1996, while he was washing his car. we often talk about parents losing their children to gun violence. but i am here today to talk about children losing their parents to gun violence. and no, my dad was not a thug. he wasn't in a gang. my dad worked two jobs to raise five children. he was an innocent bystander. like i said, that was 20 years ago. all i can think about is the

little girl in the back seat with philando castile, watching as he was gunned down. all i could think about is alton sterling's son on national tv crying his heart out because his dad is gone. all i can think about is reverend pinckney's two girls, around the same age as i was when my dad was killed. we need to start thinking about the children. we need to start thinking about mental health. i'm 28 years old and today i still struggle with the loss of my father. today i am getting help because no one ever asked me if i was okay. that's what we need to do. congress, you need to step up. what if that was you and what would your children do? think about the children. not yourselves. think about the children who lose their parents. not everyone is a thug. not everyone is out here for ill intent. children need their parents. or the cycle will continue. children will grow up in broken homes because they don't have

their fathers. girls will be promiscuous and out in the streets looking for love. boys will join gangs because they don't have a father there to tell them right from wrong. so we need to take action. and i will continue to take action as the advocate for children who lose their parents to gun violence and also an advocate for young girls growing up without fathers. thank you. [ applause ] >> to present our next speaker from the great state of ohio, representative joyce bailey. [ applause ] >> yes, i'm congresswoman joyce beatty from the great state of ohio. and tonight, as we light the way forward, i want to introduce to you a mother who knows all too well the pain of losing a child to gun violence. on june 6th, 2015, ebony crosby

and her family's lives changed forever. that night, italy, 13 years old, was sitting at the kitchen table when shots rang out. in the blink of an eye, ebony crosby had lost her child. a tragedy experienced by far too many families in ohio and across the country. please join me and those in orange shirts from the great state of ohio. and across the country, to welcome ebony crosby to the microphone. [ applause ] >> hello, everybody. i'm honored to be here. i wish i didn't have to. but i'm here.

italy was a beautiful little girl who could bring a smile to anyone's face. she had a smile like no other. she loved her family, was real tight with her siblings, and her nephew. we would sit around for hours and talk about any and everything with her siblings and her friends or whoever was around. she always wanted to know something, anything, everything. her school loved her. students, teachers. as a 13-year-old girl, she was just finding herself and what she wanted to do and become. she loved to watch me cook, to take pictures.

and she loved to run. i used to call her speed demon, because she was so fast on her feet. she was fast like her father. she used to say to me or him, mom, dad, time me, watch me. we talked about her trying out for track at her school. but that never got to happen. because on june 6th, 2015, bullets tore through my kitchen, striking italy in the heart. and my other daughter, yanobi, in the shoulder. it took me a minute to even realize that both of them were shot.

it seemed like forever. but i looked up and i saw a cop. and i just screamed out, please, help me, help us. [ applause ] >> we love you! keep talking! >> by then, the police had drug italy out of my room and yanobi to start helping me work on them. that was the last time i saw my baby alive. now my family is left with empty spaces and loss and love in our hearts and lives.

i feel that we need our community. we also need to make sure people who shouldn't have guns, don't. [ applause ] that means expanding background checks. we need that village back, people. we need it. we can't do this on our own. if the violence doesn't stop, there won't be no next generation. i, like families up here, families across the globe, are losing children every day. that is our next generation. and we're losing them.

we need more mentors for the youth. we need more outlets. parents need to know each other. the world is moving so fast, we're losing our babies. slow down. take a look around. meet somebody that your children play with. they might need you one day. from your next door neighbor to the person sitting next to you, to congress, to the president. whoever will listen. we need to get a hold on gun violence. if not, if not, it's going to wash away a generation of

children that will never see their dreams come true. please. i am begging you. president obama and first lady. the federal government. congress. anyone. we need you. these guns have got to stop. the violence has got to stop. harder laws are what is needed. thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> our next speaker is from the great state of new jersey, their representative. >> we thank you for being out here this evening and bearing with us for what is a hot evening. we thank you for sacrificing your time.

there is perhaps nothing more painful to losing your child to a senseless act of violence. two years ago, that's exactly what regina tompkins jenkins endured. they is comforted by the fact that she knows her son died saving the lives of two young women. but that doesn't change the fact that she can't hold her son anymore, that she won't see the man he would become. she can't even go into his bedroom anymore. this is another face of why it's time for change, why we need reform and why congress must do its job. ladies and gentlemen, i present to you ms. regina thompson jenkins. [ applause ] >> thank you, congresswoman coleman for the invite to d.c. today. i know firsthand about gun violence and the lasting impact it can have on a person, a

family, a community, even a nation. my name is regina thompson jenkins and i am the mother of 19-year-old tre lane, who was the 15th murder in the city of trenton, 15th. i can't get that number out of my head. tre was killed on september 22nd, 2012, by sacrificing his life to save two young ladies to avoid a bigger tragedy. he was my only child. tre died a hero. but that doesn't take away my pain. this is personal for me, because my story today can be any one of your stories tomorrow. i feel like i'm always defending my son's character or his honor. not everybody black and brown child wears their pants hanging

down. not every black and brown child stands on the corner selling drugs. not all black and brown children are in gangs. my son was not affiliated with any of those things. yet he was killed by a senseless act of gun violence. and i stand before you as a grieving mother. tre was in college. yet i will never see him walk across the stage. i will never see my son get married. so i will never know the feeling of that mother and son dance. i will never have grandchildren. i will never know the reason why we chose -- why someone chose to shoot into a crowd of people and take the love of my life, my pride and my joy. what i do know, that we have to make the gun laws strter so

another mother doesn't feel the way i do. [ applause ] i remember the moment i heard the gun violence that took place in sandy hook elementary school. my heart froze. instantly my thoughts went towards the mothers. i knew what they were going to feel. so i started to pray. they were never going to be able to hug their children again or tell them that they loved them. i knew that pain. guns are currently being used in our society for murders, hunting, and gang activity. guns take lives. there is no doubt about it. but there needs to be much stricter gun control laws that prevents criminals or people who have signs of mental illness from getting these deadly weapons. jordan davis, trevon martin,

south carolina shooting, orlando nightclub shooting. all of these people died from someone who had access to a gun. if there is even one thing we can do, one step we can take to save another person, prevent another mother from feeling the grief i do today, then we must act on it. so today, i urge you, we the people, we have the power. in november, take five people to vote. let's change. let's change 1600 pennsylvania avenue. so today, in memory of my son, tre lane, cornelius bokai, brielle childs, benjamin davila whose mother is standing to my left here, ira charles, james austin, and all the other victims in the city of trenton that have died at the hands of a

gun, all lives matter. change spares life. change spares life. in the words of pastor mark roach, not in my neighborhood. one, two, three, hard work, four, five, six, together. thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> our next speaker from the great state of connecticut, rosa delauro. [ applause ] >> thank you. my name is rosa delauro. and i represent the third district of connecticut. i am honored to introduce to you tonight nakia dawson from my hometown of new haven, connecticut. nakia knows the impact and the pain that gun violence has on families, friends, and the

community. she lost her cousin and her best friend to gun violence. i admire her courage. she is an inspiration. she founded the bereavement care network which reaches out to all families of homicide victims in new haven. she has made it her life's work to help families heal at a time of unspeakable personal tragedy. she turned that pain into something positive to help others. for nakia's friends and family and for everyone here who has suffered because of gun violence, we are here tonight to say enough is enough. we need to pass gun violence

legislation, support universal background checks, no-fly, no-buy, the assault weapons ban, increased mental health resources, and gun violence research. we come to this institution to vote, to vote to protect the families in this great country. each of us in our own districts. we will not stop this effort to get a vote. we will continue. and for those who say we can have no vote, we say, step out of the way, give us the opportunity to vote on behalf of the people of this great country. it is now my great honor to introduce to you nakia dawson. [ cheers and applause ] >> first of all i would like to thank god for allowing all of us to make it safely and to tell

our stories. on the morning of june 24th, 2011, i lost a very close friend that was near and dear to my heart. dinel david. dinel was gunned down. this was tragic and hard for myself, his friends, family, and the new haven community. he was such a people person, likeable person. and to have known him, you would have loved him. darnell was the 21st homicide in the city of new haven. all together there were 34 in that year. i was never a funeral person or could handle death. i was not mentally nor physically prepared to handle the death of a good friend or a family member. but i did. i found myself become stronger as the day went on, as i helped his mother, his family, his

siblings, and some of his friends give him a proper burial. the loss of my loved one that i unfortunately endured i would not wish on anyone. once again, i will say, i will not wish on anyone. gun violence. this has to stop. it's taking a toll on our families, our community. death we know, and hopefully understand that we cannot control it. but what we can control is gun violence. it's killing and taking away too many of our loved ones, leaving us to fill that gap. and it's also leaving us a financial burden and hardship on those families. we need to end this and end this now. our families are suffering. we need to take a stand to make gun violence the thing of the past. and not allow it to become our future. it starts with you.

if you don't make the first move to end it, when will we take a move to stand? thank you very much. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. now for our next speaker, also from connecticut, john larson. >> this is henrietta beckman. when they asked us why we sat down, it was so america would stand up to the senseless violence that's cast a plague over this nation. henrietta beckman lost her son, randy. she, like everybody else here,

carries in her heart that unrelenting love that demands not only that we sit down, but that we speak out and that congress does its job! they may leave -- >> do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! >> they may leave today, but this issue is not going away,

and neither are we! henrietta is the president of mothers united against violence from the capital city of connecticut, hartford, henrietta beckman. >> thank you. well, every time i have to tell this story, it just, you know, gets me so emotional. but there's no pain like the pain of a mother who loses her child. we should not be burying our children. our children should have long lives, because that's the way god planned it. randy was 20 years old when he was shot.

he was just around the corner sitting in his car, minding his own business, when an suv pulled up. i was still at work, but i was told that the person got out of the car, they had some words, and they shot my son in the head. >> we're with you! [ applause ] >> i stayed in that hospital for three days with hope, hope that he would make it through. so on that fourth day when they knocked on the window, we were all in the waiting room, they're like "we lost him." i'm like what do you mean you lost him? you just said you upgraded him?

so the devastation that guns have on families and on the community is devastating. it's been 14 years since my son got shot, but as you can see, the pain never, ever goes away. and for it to still be continuing today, young people keep losing their lives to guns. when are we going to wake up and stand up? i don't understand the congress that's not supporting the laws that we're trying to get passed. i'm sure they got kids and families that they care about. it's not about the money. it's about the lives. our lives matter. our kids' lives matter. when my son passed away, he had a 4-month-old son. [ applause ] he's 14 now.

he wants to be something. he tries to stay out of trouble. he say, grandma, i think i'm a pretty good man. i said, yes, you are. and he wants to be a good man. he wants -- his goal is to be basketball player. he thinks he's going to be a superstar. if he keep going, he will be. i have eight other grandkids and it's sad that you have to live in a city where you have to fear -- i mean constantly reminding the kids, don't go here, don't go there, stay away from this person, that person. they should be children. live to have a happy life. and us parents should not ever, ever have to go through what we mothers have been going through. and fathers. because my husband hurts just like i do. because, you know, it just ripples -- has a ripple effect. it goes through the community. right now today, even after 14

years, the kids that are dying in our streets, their friends, a lot of them know me, i knew a lot of kids that have passed. and it's just sad that, you know, no one's doing anything about these guns. get these guns out of our neighborhoods. put that money somewhere where it needs to be. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you. >> thank you very, very much. and now from the great state of florida, representative corinne brown. >> god bless america. and he has blessed america, because you are here. give yourself a hand. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. i will never forget waking up that sunday morning when i found out that 49 of my constituents had been killed, and 53 wounded,

by senseless attack on them with these assault rifles. and then, we came back to congress and what did we do? one minute of silence! one minute of silence! to whom god has given much, much more is expected. it is my honor to introduce the next speaker, a combat veteran, an author, political advisor, and military advocate, and his father is a marine, mr. tarron sims. [ applause ] >> good evening, everyone. my name is terrell sims, ii. former captain u.s. army and a proud veteran of "operation iraqi freedom." [ cheers ] as a veteran and proud american, it is an honor to be here today,

alongside true heroes in our u.s. congress, and so many others who are fighting to make our community safer places to live. leader pelosi, assistant leader clyburn, and congressman lewis, you are true champions for common sense and champions for the responsible change our country so desperately needs. i thank you for the opportunity to stand alongside you and through your leadership in standing up to the gun lobby and acting to help build our safer communities. as a proud veteran, i currently serve on the advisory committee for the veterans coalition for common sense. the initiative founded by captain mark kelly and congresswoman gabrielle giffords. through their gun violence prevention organization, americans for responsible solutions. the veterans coalition for common sense is a new national and non-partisan initiative of america's veterans who have come

together to urge our elected leaders to do more to make our country safer from gun violence. we've come together to say that it is time for elected leaders to do more to address the gun violence crisis that is tearing our communities apart, which is making our country stand out in the worst of ways. we are men and women from every branch of the armed services who served our country from vietnam, to the wars in iraq and afghanistan. after graduating from west point, at entering our army, i swore an oath to serve and protect the constitution of the united states. this includes our second amendment right to bear arms. like so many of our brothers and sisters in our armed forces, throughout my service, i never forgot that oath. and basic training, soldiers received in-depth training in firearm safety. we are taught to respect the truly awesome power of our

weapons, and quickly learn why they must only be placed in the hands of responsible, trained, and law-abiding people. today we far too often see the tragic results that come when guns fall into the hands of dangerous, irresponsible people. like most americans, i am heartbroken and outraged by the tragedies in sandy hook, orlando, dallas, and so many other communities. and by the tragedies that do not make the headlines. the americans taken in orlando and dallas were among the approximately 33,000 americans who will die this year from a gunshot wound. 33,000 of our fellow americans. gone. let's be honest. this is a national crisis. we know that our gun violence crisis has many causes. thus, there is no single solution. but, what we do know is that our current laws are riddled with

dangerous loopholes that make it far too easy for dangerous people to acquire guns and bring terror to our communities. we know that in many states, dangerous persons, career criminals, domestic abusers, known terrorists -- have the ability to purchase guns without something as simple as a criminal background check. we know that dangerous people, even al qaeda or isis operatives exploit these bad laws to gain access to firearms and we know our elected leaders can do more to keep guns out of the wrong hands. we know that our elected leaders can do more to save some of those 33,000 lives. that is why i'm here today. i'm here because i believe that our constitution affords responsible americans the right to own guns, and i'm here because i know that with our freedom comes the responsibility to keep dangerous people from having any -- from having easy access to guns.

faith without works is nothing. it is now time for congress to get to work and finally do something about the gun violence that is tearing our communities and our nation apart. i know that we can do better. we're americans. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you very much. now to present our next speaker from the great state of kentucky, representative john yarmouth. >> thank you, jim. i'm from louisville, kentucky, the metown of muhammad ali who spent his life preaching non-violence and would have definitely thought that this event was the greatest. republican congressional leadership has adjourned for the summer, but we're still here calling for action to combat our nation's gun violence epidemic. we've seen mass shootings on our college campuses and our movie theaters, in shopping malls, night clubs and office buildings, in our elementary schools, at peaceful protests,

and even gathering in a church basement during a moment of prayer. we've also experienced mass shootings on our military bases. almost three years ago, about a mile from where we stand tonight, at the washington navy yard, a mentally ill man with a gun took the lives of 12 innocent individuals. one of the lives lost that tragic morning was sylvia frazier, an information assurance manager at naval sea systems command. she was a dedicated public servant and a beloved family member, friend and neighbor. to tell you more about sylvia and what she meant to those who loved her, i'd now like to introduce her siblings, dr. wendy edmonds and mr. bobby frazier jr. [ applause ] >> thank you, congressman yarmouth. 64 years ago, my parents, james and eloise frazier, loved each other so much that they got married and started a family.

they had seven children. marvena, bobby lindley, wanda, maria, sylvia, and me. all productive citizens. on monday, september 16, 2013, one of their children, sylvia rene frazier, at the age of 53, was murdered, brutally murdered in the washington navy yard massacre. along with 11 of her other colleagues. sylvia was doing her job. sylvia was serving her country. sylvia was where she was supposed to be.

now this tragedy joined us to a new family. the survivors of gun violence family. we didn't ask to be a part of that family, and to be perfectly honest with you, we'd rather not. but the choice was not ours. but what we realize is that there is a paradigm shift. in a traditional family, we celebrate births because births are growing our families. but unlike tradition, our new family, the survivors of gun violence family, it's growing, but it is not growing by the number of births. it is growing by the number of deaths. this is sad. it is tragic, and we are traumatized.

it is time for this country to understand that we need gun reform. not yesterday, not hopefully, but now. [ cheers ] >> thank you. platform guests, members of congress, and my fellow americans, i am sylvia's big brother, and any of you have a big brother, you know they're there to protect you, look out for you, and help you make that way through life. but i want to tell you something that i know. that is, america is the land of the free and home of the brave as stated in our national anthem. but i ask you, where are those who are free and brave to stand against those against gun violence? we love our guns in america. they give us a false sense of power to protect us against our

fears. the second amendment of our constitution has been interpreted to guarantee each individual in america a right to own a gun. the constitution in the 14th amendment also says i have an inalienable right to be safe and free in the pursuit of happiness. that has been taken away from all of those murdered and us who live in fear. those at columbine high school. 20 babies at sandy hook elementary school. many at the movie theater in aurora, colorado. 49 in the nightclub in orlando. and those serving their country state side in washington, d.c. navy yard and at ft. hood, texas. et cetera, et cetera. who are not here with us physically, who are dead because of our love affair with guns.

where are the brave to stand against the nra bully? and stand for social accountability for those who want to own guns but must be vetted to own a gun. [ cheers ] >> these two pieces of legislation in the house of representatives are a step in the right direction. we do need increased background checks to ensure -- you and i can't drive a car without being vetted. gun owners know that they have a social responsibility to our society. a gun owner's personal rights should not negate our freedom to be safe and wherever we go in the pursuit of happiness. we are greater than i. we, the american people, matter. thank you.

[ cheers and applause ] >> now from the great state of new york, representative gregory meeks. [ applause ] >> i'm congressman gregory meeks from the fifth congressional district in new york. i've got to tell you, i'm not happy to be here. i'm not happy that you have to be here. i'm not happy that any of us have to be here. because we're here, it means that folks who supposed to be doing their job has left! without making sure that we make our people safer. we're here because we have to listen to the stories and the hurt and the pain of people who have lost loved ones. this is not a good day for america. we're here because young black folks have to remind people

again that black lives do matter. [ cheers and applause ] to speak out on behalf of those that have lost their life in new york, one who has took her pain and anger and turned it into action when she lost her son, andrell. she started an organization called not another child, incorporated. this provides support to families and communities who experience gun homicides. she, like all of us here, supports most -- like most americans -- expanding background checks and gun safety laws. let me present to you someone

who i wish would not be here, did not have to be here. arissa knapper williams. [ cheers and applause ] >> good evening, and thank you, congressman meeks. we are at war! if you don't know it or not, we are at war. the war is dividing those of us who want gun violence reform from those that are establishing their first amendment right. like the speaker said previous to me, we're not asking you to take back your right. we're asking you to be responsible for where these guns end up at. to be accountable for these guns ending up in our communities. for these guns ending up in those that are mentally disabled. the 15-year-old that pled guilty to my son's murder did not go to a gun show and purchase a gun.

but it ended up in his hand. so i, like others, can get up here and show the emotional side, can show the torment that we go through day after day, missing our loved ones. it's almost ten years for me and it feels like ten minutes ago someone told me my son was murdered. that is the anguish that we go through on a daily basis. and although i'm glad to be here and present and meet all of these politicians and elected officials, i'd give every one of them back to have my child with me. [ applause ] and i am offended at the republicans walking out at a time like this! the blood is on their hands! the longer they do it, the blood is on their hands! those that we lose, those that are murdered, whether mass

murders, whether individuals in inner city communities, it does not matter! all blood is red! the hardest part of my life was not having a son my last year in high school, nor turning around and having my son, justin, at the age of 20. but the hardest part of my life has been living without my child, has been waking up every day realizing that someone that i brought in to this world is no longer here. congressman meeks didn't get a chance to tell you that my son was a double victim of gun violence. while in high school, changing classes, walking to his class, doing what he was supposed to do, he was shot in the third vertebrae in his back.

when another student walked out of a side entrance and brought a gun back in looking for someone. the fatal incident that took my son's life was when he went to visit a family member and waiting downstairs, as we often do, gunfire erupted in front of the building. august 7, 2006. hot. 10:00 at night. they made it where there's nowhere to go any more in housing authority, to any parks. so they're waiting in front of the building. he hears the gunfire and runs, not knowing they're shooting in the direction of the building. bullet to the back of his head. so that right there has prompted my fight and my quest to not let another child become a victim of homicide.

not let another child become a victim and be put and have a gun put in their hand as the 15-year-old perpetrator did. [ applause ] so in my closing, like cancer and other deadly diseases, those that guns affect has no respect to person. you can be black, white. it's not gender-based. it's none of the above. yet, unlike cancer, and other deadly diseases, this is something we can control. thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> and now to lead us in our lighting ceremony and to present our final speaker, the democratic whip of the house of representatives from the state of maryland, steny hoyer.

[ cheers and applause ] >> thank you, jim clyburn. thank you, every mother and every father, every young person, every brother and sister, every friend and neighbor who lost somebody to gun violence. we thank you for being here. we thank you for your courage. we thank you for remembering your loved one and making this a very real issue, not a theoretical issue. i particularly want to recognize bobby frazier and dr. wendy edmonds. my constituents. as was their sister, sylvia. who lost her life in gun violence, as you heard, at the washington navy yard. the republican majority has

decided that in the house chamber tomorrow and for the next seven weeks, the lights will be out. the microphones will be turned off. and no debate will take place on common sense gun safety legislation, even as the american people demand. people, thank you for being here tonight! [ cheers and applause ] so ladies and gentlemen, we may not be able to turn the lights on in the dark chamber of the house, but we can shine. we can shine, we can shine a bright light across the nation to signal our determination for change.

everyone here, everyone here, has either a candle or a flashlight or a phone. put your lights on for justice. put your lights on for common sense. put your lights on to make a difference. dr. martin luther king wrote, "darkness cannot drive out darkness. only light can do that. hate cannot drive out hate. only love can do that." let us shine a light for the victims of gun violence, from aurora, to newtown, to emanuel nine, to orlando 49, and to all those other places where people ought to be, where people ought to be, and they gave their lives being where they ought to be.

from alton sterling, to philando castile, to the five fallen officers in dallas, and all the many thousands whose stories we didn't read about on the national news. and let us shine the light of our common resolve to see this work through to disarm hate! disarm hate! disarm hate! disarm hate! disarm hate! disarm hate! and now, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great privilege and honor, not to introduce -- because you know him -- but to present a hero of the civil rights movement, who faced down a wall of oppression and resistance in selma, and so many

other places, and nearly lost his life. demanding only the right to vote. the right to vote. as you listen to john lewis, resolve to yourself -- i will never, when given the opportunity, not vote. it makes a difference. he led our sit-in last month that called for common sense gun violence prevention measures. and he's here with us tonight to join in remembering gun violence victims and calling for action. ladies and gentlemen, you know this. john lewis embodies the conscience of our country. [ cheers ] he embodies the striving of our founders to create a more perfect union.

and john lewis is the essence of non-violence and the beloved community. i give you my brother, your brother, john lewis. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you very much, my friend, my brother, steny hoyer. i want to thank our leader, nancy pelosi, assistant leader, jim clyburn, for bringing us here tonight. i want to thank each and everyone of you for being here. tonight. tonight. in a sense, i must tell you, it saddens me that we have to stand here and plead with members of

the congress, those men and women that left washington before considering doing something about gun violence. the speaker of the house, the republican speaker of the house, told us if we want a bill, win the election! so let's go out and win the election! let's go out and win! [ cheers ] i must tell you, we have it in our power. we can do it! some people said we would never make it from selma to montgomery. some said we would never make it in washington in 1963 and get a civil rights bill passed. but we did it. and the marching beat, the talking tones.

i just want to thank all of you here tonight bearing witness to the truth. and we never, ever, ever give up! we will not leave! we will not be satisfied! we will not be patient until we get legislation passed to deal with gun violence. we can do it. so i say to you, on election day, all across our country, we must get out and vote like we never, ever voted before! we can do it! [ cheers and applause ] the vote is precious. it's almost sacred! it is the most powerful non-violent instrument of true we have in our democratic society and we must use it! use it. don't stay home. get up and take someone to the

polls with you. we can do it! and we will win. i tell you, my colleagues and my wonderful friend, my brothers and sister here, we're not going anyplace. the sit-in, the sit-in was only the beginning. some of us have suffered too long. some of us have seen too many of our sisters and brothers, our mothers and our fathers, our uncles and aunts. some of us have seen too many of our little children, our babies, taken from us by gun violence. we're tired. we don't want to see it anymore. and i tell you, my colleagues, as long as i have strength in my body, i'm going to do my part to do what i can, not just in my state of georgia, or my native state of alabama, but all across america!

we can do it! we can win! let's win! don't give up! keep the faith! thank you very much. [ cheers and applause ] >> as we raise our lights, we invite to the mike singers from the baptist street church. to lead us in our closing song. one that all of us know so well. ♪ this little light of mine, i'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ oh this little light of mine yeah i'm gonna let it shine ♪ oh this little light of mine yeah ♪ ♪ i'm gonna let it shine

♪ let it shine let it shine let it shine ♪ ♪ everywhere i go yeah i'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ yeah everywhere i go ♪ oh yeah i'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ i said everywhere i go you know i'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ yeah let it shine let it shine let it shine ♪ ♪ all around the world yeah i'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ oh all around the world

♪ all around the world yeah yeah i'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ all around the world ♪ all around the world i'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ i'm gonna let it shine ♪ let it shine let it shine let it shine ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! do your job! c-span's "washington

journal," live issues that impa you. coming up, ed keith will join us and donald trump's vice presidential pick. >> and then frank holloman listen talking about the world of lobbyists and korcorporation. be sure to join us beginning at 7:00 a.m. eastern saturday morning. join the session. >> c-span tour in the world. what issues do the next president need to address? >> i would like the next president to address jobs, i want to make sure we have a secure future of the next eight years so we are not in the state

that obama was in when he first got into office. job and unemployment and first and for most for the middle class. all the status quo, keeping our country safe, black lives matter, all lives matter. all the things that we already have issues with. >> what i think the next president needs to focus on is national defense. we are looking at a time of a lot of threats for america. we are worried of threats in the states. we have threats from north korea and china. we need a president to make sure that our best interest taking out of the priority and home and abroad and making it safe for us to travel anywhere where we need to. >> make sure that america is number one because that's the most important job as a president. >> i think the next president needs to address the lack of

information that the general public goats frets from the nom due to people getting out there saying the same thing over and over and the general public is not informed on what's actually going on. >> i would say probably environmental issues, climate change and renewable energy as well as keeping up good relations with international affairs and other countries. get everybody on the same page and lets make a difference. >> voices around the world on c-span. preparations are under way for cleveland which starts on monday. we'll bring you every minute live on c-span. you can listen on the c-span

radio act. here is a look at what the city of cleveland has done to get ready for the four days event. people in city leadership will tell you that they have been working for ten years. the fundamental things that city needs is basically have the capacity to handle it. cleveland is not the political convention in the past. they came maybe -- they called them at the time of lacking toll le rens. you need to have 16,000 hotel rooms and enough near by venues. other than that, i mean the big factor as well as fund raising and local communities are expected to pay for these things. we fell short in 2008, the number of hotel rooms close to

the convention site, what they have done then waycross bs a bi. >> they used a sale tax hike to pay for it. this is the major event that's going to be hosting. that was a big one. i found in july 2014, i think we got a phone call after reince priebus went on tv. one of the things you guys will see is there is a public square downtown which is a public park that's made more than a park than it used to be. there is a lot of road paving and where they want to look nice. this is the convention of the economy. there is been consultants here for the better part of 18 months, getting restaurant s on board with them. i think they're sort of flying

blind a little bit because of road closures recently announced they don't know what security and restrictions are going to be in place. i think tt a lot of the places downtown are already, they're expecting very busy with private events and stuff like that. it is hard to know what to expect until it actually gets there. >> a big part is recruiting police officers, they need to get here. they have been secretive about that. there is been obvious signs of setting a hard time of getting police to do it. some of that could get blown up. a lot of the entry around and stuff like that, clearly they're having trouble and meeting some of those early numbers they are trying to reach. it seems that it is quiet down and we think it will be all right and one of those things at the end of the day, people may not notice it was an issue, but it was a challenge for them. they have been recruiting officers and training officers

to be ready for it. >> on equipment on things like vehicles and personal detective equipment and riots here and medical supplies and things like that. we had a lot this year that was filed on the aclu of some of the people that planned to be here. but p we expect that there is going to be a number of groups that's going to be following official parade route that's going to pass downtown and pass the cleveland pal park. other than that, it is hard to know because they're estimating how many protesters are going to show up. there is going to be a lot of interests in this year's election of the presumptive nominees are controversial. cleveland is an easy spot to get to. in tampa of 2012 a quarter of america. i expect the next president is going to be setting u

up -- cleveland has said that there is no barriers of people, they want to approach the physical security perimeter themselves. we could see people throughout the streets. again, i guess we'll find out when it comes. >> the cavs had a victory parade here in downtown and things were backed up and closed down. one of the big things that will be nice is that we do have a rail system here. so rather than super backed up of the cavs parade, we should be up and running with a anc. a lot of people should be avoiding downtown because there will be city wide street bans. police assets or media or whatever, honestly, i expect a lot of people are spending time here as much as they can. because of cleveland's reputation, they don't think they'll see much when they get

here. it does offer a walk of urban style and really good restaurants and bars that's near the convention space. i see people -- cleveland is a pretty fun place. the republican national convention from cleveland starts monday. watch live, every minute on c-span. listen live on the free c-span radio app. it is easy to download from the apple store or google l play. watch live or on demand any time at cspan.org on your desktop or phone or tablet, you will find all of our convention coverage and schedule, follow us on cspan on twitter and like us on facebook to see videos. don't miss a minute of the 2016 republican national conventions starting monday at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span.

the c-span radio app and cspan.org. before next week's national convention, this weekend's city tour along with our charter communication will explore the history and life of cleveland, ohio. we'll talk with author john cabosky as he talks about his book in cleveland of "history in motion." >> it was essential -- he was introduced the the work and walt wittman to his teacher and miss wiemer and he also composed a poem that's kind of famous.

>> on america history tv, we'll visit the cleveland history center and take a tour of politics with chief curator. then we'll tour the crawford aviation with derek moore and hear why cleveland was nicknamed motor city before detroit. >> cleveland, we are on lake erie which was one o f the great lakes. great shipping routes. we also have the railroads in the area and a lot of shipping rou routes that could be taken. we have a steel industry here which is very important. also, there is a lot of lumber that all came together. this weekend, watch c-span cities tour to cleveland. >> sunday afternoon at 2:00 on american history tv on c-span 3.

working with our cable affiliates and visiting cities across the country. the former u.s. ambassador to iraq and afghanistan was part of a recent discussion on u.s. policy twor policy towards syria. >> what needs to be done with syrian president. this was hosted on our interest and it is an hour and a half.