"The murder of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University was horrific. In a democratic society, we do not settle our political disagreements through violence. I pray for Mr. Kirk’s wife and young children as they grieve the loss of their husband and father.

I mourn the loss of any life. I mourn the lives of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, who were brutally assassinated in their own home in June. I mourn the lives of the children at Annunciation Catholic School and pray for the injured students at Evergreen High School in Colorado. We owe it to each other to build a society free from violence.

I voted in support of H.Res.719 - Honoring the life and legacy of Charles "Charlie" James Kirk, because it forcefully condemns political violence, extremism, and hatred in all its forms.

Many of the beliefs Mr. Kirk held and statements he made directly contradicted the principles of equality and justice on which our nation was founded. He made many inflammatory remarks, including statements that were racist, sexist, and homophobic. I strongly condemn his language and ideology.

However, at this extremely difficult and dangerous time in our nation’s history, the safety and security of the American people must remain our highest priority. As my colleague, Jamie Raskin said in a statement about his yes vote, “the Resolution repeatedly condemns all political violence, extremism and hatred in unequivocal terms. It’s a very positive thing to get our Colleagues, Republicans and Democrats alike, on record condemning these dangerous forces when we hear so many outrageous calls to polarization, demonization, censorship, hatred, violence and division, often coming from the highest levels of government. We should overlook whatever surplus verbiage is contained in this Resolution designed to make the vote difficult for Democrats. We cannot fall for that obvious political trap and should rise above it.” It is time to turn down the heat and stop encouraging this division. We must de-escalate the inflammatory rhetoric in our political discourse and renew our commitment to recognizing the shared humanity of those with whom we disagree."