VIDEO: Murphy: Who Would The Sandy Hook Kids Be Today?
Press (Murphy)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 13, 2024
CONTACT
Deni Kamper
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
MURPHY: WHO WOULD THE SANDY HOOK KIDS BE TODAY?
Click Here to Watch Murphy’s Speech on the Senate Floor
WASHINGTON—Ahead of the twelfth anniversary of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) spoke on the U.S. Senate floor to honor the twenty children and six educators who were senselessly killed that day and the impact of America’s gun violence epidemic.
"I never really know what to say every year when I come down here to give this speech, but because this is the year that those kids would have been going to college and voting for the first time, this year of transition into adulthood, it's worth thinking about who they would be today and what amazing things they might be getting ready to do in their adulthood,” Murphy said.
Murphy reflected on a few of the young lives lost that day: “Catherine Hubbard, as early as preschool, just adored animals. And she knew, even when she was six years old, that her purpose in life was to protect animals. She would catch butterflies and put them in her hand, and whisper to them, ‘tell your friends that I am kind.’ Then she'd let them go. She made business cards – she's six! She made business cards for Catherine's Animal Shelter, because she knew that was what she was going to do. She was going to save animals as an adult. Chase Kowalski was a jock. He loved to run, swim, bike. So much so that that year that he died, when he was six years old, he asked his parents to find him a triathlon to compete in. He's six! You wonder what triathlon, training for a triathlon—he ran in that triathlon, he swam in that triathlon, he biked in that triathlon, and he won his age group. That kind of indomitable spirit, the willingness to tackle challenges so big, that's a recipe for success in life. What would Chase Kowalski be getting ready to do right now? What big challenges in the world would he see as an opportunity to confront? What a difference might he be making in the world, having displayed those really rare characteristics as a six-year-old? Emilie Parker was a super talented artist who didn't travel anywhere without her colored pencils and her markers. She just wanted to do art wherever she was. She was very attuned to kids around her who weren't feeling well, who were feeling sad, and her immediate instinct when she would run into a friend who wasn't feeling good that day was to paint them a picture or draw them a picture to make them feel better.
He continued: “[W]hat would Catherine, and what would Chase, and what would Emilie have done with their lives had they lived? What would all of these other beautiful girls and boys, their teachers, have done with their lives, had they been here today? It's just unthinkable how many lives are cut off, how much genius is extinguished, how much change could have benefited all of us because we live in a world in which 100 mainly young men and women in their teens and twenties lose their lives every day? But I'm here to tell you that that's not the extent of the story. Because it's not just those who die who have their potential extinguished.”
On how living in violent neighborhoods impacts children, Murphy said: “I have a group of middle schoolers that I sort of call my ‘neighborhood kitchen cabinet,’ and I go and meet with them every month or so to get their feedback on what needs to be better about our neighborhood that we live in. And they regularly tell me that for them school is the safe place. It's their walk to and from school, it's the weekends, where they don't feel safe. And when you have millions of children in this country who experience that exposure to violence on a daily basis—in Birmingham, Alabama, 58% of people live within a quarter mile of a recent fatal shooting; in New Haven, same number, 58% of people live within a quarter mile of a fatal shooting—when that's your daily reality, whether you survive the year or not, your brain is impacted, as a child, in a way that robs you of the basic skills for life's success: resiliency, grit.”
Murphy continued: “I wish I knew what all these kids ended up being, where they were going to college, what their dreams were becoming. But make no mistake, the potential that we are losing in this country because of the choice we make here not to make combating gun violence a priority, it is extinguishing the potential, not of a hundred people a day—those that lose their lives—but literally of tens of thousands, and it's just a choice we make.”
A full transcript of his remarks can be found below:
“Mr. President, earlier today I got to spend a little time with a close friend of mine, Sam Saylor. And as I was talking to Sam—a resident of Hartford, Connecticut, the city in which I live— I was thinking about who his son, Shane, might be today.
“Shane had a tough life. Shane was born with a birth defect in which one of his arms was essentially inoperable. He grew up in really poor circumstances. He was often bullied. But Shane had a spirit about him—a fighting spirit, sometimes, that the got him in trouble—but a spirit to rise above his circumstances, to do something with his life. His mom—a strong mom—and Sam, his dad, clearly gave him a vision of what his life could be, such that when he was 20 years old, he had started a small business.
“He was buying cars that needed to be rehabbed and fixed up. He would do that. And he would sell them to make a little bit of a profit— an extraordinarily endeavor for a kid who had lived that kind of life, who had had those kinds of obstacles. Twelve years later, Shane would have been in his early 30's today. What would Shane have been doing? Would he be running an auto body shop, would he be an active member of his community, would he be making a difference in the way his father and mother have?
“Shane could have been a life changer. But he's not, because on October 20th, twelve years ago, Shane died. Shane died when he was selling one of these cars. He was meeting a prospective buyer. He brought his girlfriend along and one of the group of kids who was with the buyer said something mean or coarse about Shane's girlfriend. Some words were exchanged. Shane, as he sometimes did, threw a punch. In the other group's car, there happened to be an illegal gun. They were furious that Shane had thrown that punch. They went and got that gun. They shot Shane dead in cold blood. Shane's mom got there before he died at the scene. He died at the hospital. I just think about who Shane would be today, what great things he would be doing.
“Two months later the entire world woke up to the epidemic of gun violence in this country. Shane's murder happened on October 20th, 2012, and then, on December 14th, 2012, the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School happened. Twenty first graders and six educators lost their lives. I never really know what to say every year when I come down here to give this speech, but because this is the year that those kids would have been going to college and voting for the first time, this year of transition into adulthood, it's worth thinking about who they would be today and what amazing things they might be getting ready to do in their adulthood.
“Catherine Hubbard, as early as preschool, just adored animals. And she knew, even when she was six years old, that her purpose in life was to protect animals. She would catch butterflies and put them in her hand, and whisper to them, ‘tell your friends that I am kind.’ Then she'd let them go. She made business cards – she's six! She made business cards for Catherine's Animal Shelter, because she knew that was what she was going to do. She was going to save animals as an adult.
“Chase Kowalski was a jock. He loved to run, swim, bike. So much so that that year that he died, when he was six years old, he asked his parents to find him a triathlon to compete in. He's six! You wonder what triathlon, training for a triathlon—he ran in that triathlon, he swam in that triathlon, he biked in that triathlon, and he won his age group. That kind of indomitable spirit, the willingness to tackle challenges so big, that's a recipe for success in life. What would Chase Kowalski be getting ready to do right now? What big challenges in the world would he see as an opportunity to confront? What a difference might he be making in the world, having displayed those really rare characteristics as a six-year-old?
“Emilie Parker was a super talented artist who didn't travel anywhere without her colored pencils and her markers. She just wanted to do art wherever she was. She was very attuned to kids around her who weren't feeling well, who were feeling sad, and her immediate instinct when she would run into a friend who wasn't feeling good that day was to paint them a picture or draw them a picture to make them feel better.
“This month, the Catherine Hubbard Animal Sanctuary broke ground on what will become Catherine's Learning Barn. And over the last ten years, the not-for-profit her parents set up in her name has conducted thousands of opportunities and workshops for kids to commune with animals. There is a Race for Chase kids triathlon today, and so there are children all over Connecticut who are learning how to overcome obstacles by racing in their first triathlon, named after Chase. And the Emilie Parker Art Connection has helped support arts programs that are under siege with local budget cuts. Not just in Connecticut, but all over the country, kids are getting to experience art because of the Emilie Parker Art Connection.
“That's a lovely story. The triathlon, the animal sanctuary, the arts programming. But what would Catherine, and what would Chase, and what would Emilie have done with their lives had they lived? What would all of these other beautiful girls and boys, their teachers, have done with their lives, had they been here today?
“It's just unthinkable how many lives are cut off, how much genius is extinguished, how much change could have benefited all of us because we live in a world in which 100 mainly young men and women in their teens and twenties lose their lives every day? But I'm here to tell you that that's not the extent of the story. Because it's not just those who die who have their potential extinguished.
“I live in the south end of Hartford. The presiding officer lives in a neighborhood with high rates of violence. And he knows as well as I do the biology that impacts kids who wake up every single day fearing for their lives. I have a group of middle schoolers that I sort of call my ‘neighborhood kitchen cabinet,’ and I go and meet with them every month or so to get their feedback on what needs to be better about our neighborhood that we live in. And they regularly tell me that for them school is the safe place. It's their walk to and from school, it's the weekends, where they don't feel safe. And when you have millions of children in this country who experience that exposure to violence on a daily basis—in Birmingham, Alabama, 58% of people live within a quarter mile of a recent fatal shooting; in New Haven, same number, 58% of people live within a quarter mile of a fatal shooting—when that's your daily reality, whether you survive the year or not, your brain is impacted, as a child, in a way that robs you of the basic skills for life's success: resiliency, grit.
“It's not a coincidence that all the low-performing schools in this country are in the violent neighborhoods. It's hard to learn, impossible, for those kids who see gun violence on a daily basis. And so I wish I knew what Shane would be as an adult. I wish I knew what all these kids ended up being, where they were going to college, what their dreams were becoming. But make no mistake, the potential that we are losing in this country because of the choice we make here not to make combating gun violence a priority, it is extinguishing the potential, not of a hundred people a day—those that lose their lives—but literally of tens of thousands, and it's just a choice we make.
“Shane's first small business was a water selling business. He asked his dad one summer if he could just set up a little stand and sell bottled water to people in the neighborhood. And so his dad fronted him the money, bought him one of those big Costco packs of bottled water, and Shane set out his little stand to sell the water in a neighborhood where whether he knew it or not he was already exposed to levels of trauma due to the loss of life that was happening almost every weekend that summer in Hartford, Connecticut. And he put a sign in front of his table. He named his business ‘Shane Oliver Sells.’ And he wrote the acronym, S.O.S. When you send out an S.O.S. call, right, it's your last chance, right? You're on that boat, you've tried everything—you’ve tried bailing it out, you’ve tried restarting the engine, you’ve tried plugging the hole. You're done. The only thing left is to signal that S.O.S. call so that somebody in charge will come and rescue you.
“I don't know if Shane knew or didn't know what his acronym meant, but Shane Oliver sat out there every day in a neighborhood plagued by gun violence with a sign that said S.O.S. And it is representative of the millions of kids all across this country who every single day are sending out an S.O.S. signal to the adults that are supposed to protect them, that are supposed to show up here every day and make it a priority that something like this never, ever happens again. Where the kids that live in my neighborhood never ever fear for their lives walking from their home to school. That S.O.S. call is being sent out from thousands of neighborhoods all across this country, here. That call is being delivered to us. It's been twelve years since we lost these beautiful children and the adults that protected them, and it's about time that we respond to that plea for help. I yield the floor.”
###