WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed his trip to Uvalde, Texas yesterday after the horrific shooting at Robb Elementary School which took the lives of 19 students and two teachers. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.

“Today is supposed to be the last day of school in Uvalde, Texas.”

“Today those children, those parents, and those teachers in Uvalde, Texas, have been robbed of the excitement and normalcy that this day would normally bring. Instead of celebrating the last day of school, 21 families are making funeral arrangements.”

“I joined hundreds of people to donate blood and received an update from law enforcement, state, and community leaders.”

“But I want to thank all of the law enforcement officials, the emergency medical technicians and health care workers who responded to this tragedy and continue to support the survivors and their loved ones.”

“While the terror of this attack will weigh on all of us, we saw the spirit of my state on full display as resources poured out to help the loved ones of the community that were hurting so badly.”

“From mental health counseling to food donations, there was an outflowing of support from the Texas community.”

“I can’t fathom the pain of seeing an empty bed where your child slept the night before. 

“The obvious question is, how do we prevent something like this from happening again?” 

“At this point, law enforcement is still investigating and piecing together the full story. In the coming days I expect we will have better information about the shooter and his background and the circumstances that led to this senseless, brutal act.” 

“Once it does, I’m eager to see whether there were any gaps that might have done something to make this attack less likely, that might have even prevented this attack from taking place.”

“In the past I’ve worked with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to prevent senseless tragedies from occurring through things like Fix NICS Act and the Mental Health and Safe Communities Act.”

“I’m not interested in making a political statement. I’m not interested in the same old tired talking points. I’m actually interested in what we can do to make the terrible events that occurred in Uvalde less likely in the future.”

“Now, we don’t know everything we need to know, but once we do, I expect there will be informed debate about reforms we can make and I look forward to participating in those discussions.”