John,

Over the weekend, 30 Americans were killed and dozens more were injured in mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. In the blink of an eye, in the most unsuspecting places - a Walmart on a Saturday afternoon and a neighborhood bar on a Saturday night - gunmen armed with assault-style weapons brutally murdered unsuspecting mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and children. 

There have been 251 mass shootings in America this year: in schools, shopping malls, offices, festivals, concerts, and religious services. I refuse to accept this is the "new normal."

Sign our petition demanding Mitch McConnell and the Senate take up bipartisan gun reform legislation already passed in the House.

In the face of this unspeakable tragedy, with a mourning country demanding solutions, the only response Republicans in Congress can muster are the usual “thoughts and prayers” - recycled condolences and empty Twitter condemnations that ring hollow in the face of their persistent inaction.

They say they’re “horrified.” They’re not. They say they’re working on the issue. I don’t believe that, and I know you don’t either. 

Today, I’m calling on Mitch McConnell to end the August recess, reconvene the Senate in an emergency session, and bring to an immediate vote H.R. 8 - the bipartisan background checks bill we passed in the House in February. 

If you believe as I do, that it’s unconscionable for Republicans to take summer vacations with their families while other Americans bury theirs-- sign our petition demanding the Senate immediately reconvene to pass H.R. 8. 

Let’s honor the memory of the victims of gun violence here in South Florida and across the country by taking action.

Sign our petition today: DonnaShalala.com/guns.

Thank you.

Donna