Fourth grade Uvalde shooting survivor appears before Congress

A fourth grade student who covered herself in blood to survive the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting appeared before the House Oversight Committee Wednesday during a hearing on gun violence. Eleven-year-old Miah Cerillo described the moment she watched the gunman murder her teacher. She said he told the teacher goodnight and shot her in the head. 

A nod and shake of Cerillo’s head revealed how she feels about school safety in the wake of the massacre. 

“Do you feel safe at school,” Cerillo was asked. She shook her head no. 

“Why not?”

“‘Cause I don’t want it to happen again,” Cerillo responded. 

“And you think it’s going to happen again?” 

She nodded yes. 

That was a theme among the witnesses at the hearing, who are all but certain this will not be the last time Congress needs to hold a hearing about a mass shooting. 

“America is inherently violent. This is who we are as a nation,” Zeneta Everhart said. Everhart is the mother of Ziare Goodman, a victim in the racially motivated Buffalo shooting. “My ancestors, the first currency of America, were stripped of their heritage and culture. Separated from their families, bargained for on auction blocks, sold, beaten raped and lynched. Yet, I continuously hear after every mass shooting that this is not who we are as Americans and as a nation. Hear me clearly. This is exactly who we are.”

Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn, and John Cornyn, R-Texas, are optimistic about their negotiations in the Senate and are hoping to reach an agreement on a new gun reform bill by the end of the week. Their legislation is not expected to include a ban on assault weapons like President Joe Biden wants, but it is expected to include stricter background checks, funding for mental health, red flag laws and resources to strengthen security in schools. 

“I’m encouraged by the discussions that we have had with Republicans over the course of the last week and a half. Every day we get closer to an agreement, not further away,” Sen. Murphy said. 

Republicans want the reforms to be specifically tailored to mass shootings and address mental health and school security. 

“We are not talking about restricting the rights of current law-abiding gun owners,” Cornyn said on the Senate floor. 

The House and Senate are currently working on separate bills. They will need to have a bicameral conference to get a package passed into law. That will require concessions from the House to get it approved with 60 votes in the Senate.