Anna Paulina Luna Testifies Before House Rules Committee on Resolution Honoring Charlie Kirk's Life

[00:00] on your testimony.

[00:02] Thank you, Chairwoman. Um, I want to

[00:04] thank you, Chairwoman Fox and ranking

[00:05] ranking member McGovern. I am urging the

[00:08] rules committee to grant a prompt rule

[00:10] for the House consideration of HRE 719,

[00:13] honoring the life and legacy of Charles

[00:15] Charlie James Kirk. On September 10th, a

[00:18] horrific tragedy was inflicted on

[00:21] America when a courageous American

[00:22] patriot, devout Christian, dedicated

[00:25] husband, and father of two. My friend

[00:28] and one of the most prolific

[00:29] conservative political minds of our time

[00:31] had his life tragically cut short in a

[00:34] targeted act of political violence. A

[00:36] deranged man who was apparently

[00:38] radicalized by progressive left ideology

[00:41] assassinated Charlie for his family and

[00:44] the entire world to see. As we work to

[00:46] make sense of it all, what should be

[00:48] clear is dangerous rhetoric describing

[00:50] political opponents as oppressive

[00:52] fascists, to say the least, has reached

[00:55] a fever pitch. The past year alone,

[00:57] we've witnessed multiple attempts on

[00:58] President Trump's life, as well as the

[01:00] murder of an elected of elected leaders

[01:02] in Minnesota and now a brave activist

[01:05] working tirelessly for peaceful

[01:06] political dialogue. Charlie was a man

[01:08] committed to his faith, family, and this

[01:10] nation. He dedicated his life to

[01:13] protecting and defending the god-given

[01:15] rights enshrined in our founding

[01:16] documents. Such violence has no place in

[01:18] our country, especially political

[01:20] violence, regardless of the victim's

[01:22] political leanings. Full stop. No

[01:24] excuses, no qualifications.

[01:27] Today, we firmly condemn these attacks

[01:29] and all those who seek to harm our

[01:31] fellow citizens, regardless of political

[01:33] beliefs. American democracy depends on

[01:35] resolving politi political differences

[01:37] through spirited debate, the ballot box,

[01:39] and embracing the rule of law. Beyond

[01:41] that, let's honor Charlie by hugging our

[01:43] loved ones a little tighter, expressing

[01:45] gratitude for their support, and

[01:47] embracing our faith a bit stronger,

[01:49] particularly when such an event may

[01:51] cause great stress. Again, I ask the

[01:53] rules committee to grant a prompt rule

[01:56] for the House's consideration of this

[01:57] legislation. And I welcome the

[01:59] committee's questions.

[02:03] Thank you very much, uh, Miss Luna. Last

[02:06] week was a tough week for I think all

[02:10] Americans. We saw a lot of violence in

[02:12] our country which touched people. Let me

[02:16] point out the resolution calls upon all

[02:20] Americans regardless of race, party

[02:23] affiliation, or creed to reject

[02:26] political violence, recommmit to

[02:28] respectful debate, uphold American

[02:32] values, and respect one another as

[02:34] fellow Americans. Does it not?

[02:37] Correct.

[02:39] I'd like to quote one whereas clause

[02:41] from the speaker's resolution that I

[02:44] find so striking.

[02:46] Whereas Charlie Kirk would not have us

[02:49] respond to his death with despair, but

[02:52] rather with renewed purpose, to speak

[02:55] truth with courage, to stand firm in

[02:59] faith, to seek unity while standing firm

[03:02] in principle, and to serve as living

[03:05] reminders of the values he championed,

[03:08] faith, family, and freedom.

[03:16] Uh let me uh also say to educate the

[03:21] broader public the resolution then

[03:23] continues as all resolutions do. It

[03:26] reads now.

[03:28] Now therefore be it resolved

[03:31] and this can be Congress's resolve can

[03:34] it not? that we can respond with that

[03:37] renewed purpose. To speak truths with

[03:39] courage, to stand firm in faith, to seek

[03:42] unity while standing firm in principle,

[03:45] and to serve as living reminders of

[03:48] faith, family, and freedom. That can be

[03:51] our fixed purpose if we embrace this

[03:53] resolution. Correct.

[03:55] Correct.

[03:56] I thank you very much for representing

[04:00] our body here today in uh bringing the

[04:05] resolution to us to the rules committee.

[04:08] And I yield back Mr. McGovern. You're

[04:12] recognized.

[04:12] Miss Luna, thank you for being here. Um

[04:15] and um we uh we all condemn this ter

[04:18] this terrible terrible uh tragedy. Um,

[04:21] and I just want to say that I know that

[04:24] you were a personal friend of uh, Mr.

[04:26] Kirk and I Mr. Roy as well. And uh,

[04:29] and I know this uh, hits you both

[04:33] particularly hard and I just want you to

[04:35] know that we we're aware of that. Uh,

[04:36] but I appreciate you being here and um,

[04:39] thank you and I yield back.

[04:41] Thank you. Um, if I can just add in one

[04:42] more thing too. Representative Moscowitz

[04:44] has an amendment um 5371 and I want to

[04:48] let you all know that I'm actually

[04:49] co-sponsoring that amendment. It's

[04:51] calling for one um for an additional pot

[04:54] of money 250,000 for the MRI to be used

[04:56] for a designated security personnel for

[04:59] members of Congress um in the in in

[05:03] light of what's happened. I think it's

[05:04] incredibly important especially if the

[05:06] legislative branch and the executive

[05:08] branch is getting additional security

[05:10] that we consider that for members. Um,

[05:12] as you may know, Jared Moscowitz

[05:14] actually had someone threatening to

[05:15] murder him. And I actually have someone

[05:16] who's serving federal prison time for

[05:18] threatening to murder me as well, um,

[05:20] after fleeing to the Philippines. So,

[05:21] this is something that we take very

[05:23] seriously, and I hope that you all

[05:24] consider supporting that amendment as

[05:25] well. Thank you.

[05:28] Thank you. U, Miss Fishbach, you're

[05:30] recognized.

[05:30] Thank you, Madam Chair, and I I just

[05:32] want to say thank you for bringing the,

[05:34] um, resolution forward. you know, I'm

[05:36] from Minnesota, so not that long ago, we

[05:39] dealt with the assassination of Speaker

[05:41] Hortman and the attempted murder of uh

[05:44] Senator Hoffman, who are great friends

[05:46] of mine. I knew them both. Um and um and

[05:50] so I just would say we just have to

[05:53] recommmit to treating each other with

[05:56] respect and and stop the inflammatory

[06:00] language. And I think that both Speaker

[06:02] Hortman and Mr. Kirk treated people with

[06:05] that respect and um and really did um a

[06:09] wonderful job making sure that people

[06:10] felt heard and that they were listening

[06:12] and having a conversation and not using

[06:14] the inflammatory words. So, thank you

[06:16] for bringing it forward. And I just uh

[06:18] wanted to mention that.

[06:21] Thank you, Miss Fishbot. Miss Scandlin,

[06:23] you're recognized.

[06:24] Thank you. I just associate myself with

[06:26] the ranking members remarks.

[06:28] Thank you. Um Mr. Scott is not here. Mr.

[06:32] Griffith, you're recognized.

[06:35] Yeah, these are uh this was a terrible

[06:38] event that occurred last week. I

[06:39] appreciate you bringing up the other

[06:41] incidences, both yours and Mr.

[06:43] Moscowitz's

[06:44] uh and appreciate you bringing us to us

[06:47] this afternoon. With that, Madam Chair,

[06:49] I yield back.

[06:53] Miss Leisure Fernandez.

[06:55] Uh thank you, Madam Chair,

[06:56] Representative Luna, and and

[06:58] Representative Fishbach. uh

[07:01] condemning political violence of of all

[07:03] kinds in every corner of America is an

[07:06] important thing to do. Thank you for

[07:08] pointing out your own friendships

[07:11] across the aisle. Thank you. Thank you.

[07:14] Thank you, Miss Leisure Fernandez. Mr.

[07:16] Jack, you're recognized.

[07:17] Thank you, Madam Chair. And and I want

[07:20] to thank Representative Luna for her

[07:21] testimony. Um, I don't think there's a

[07:24] member of Congress who was closer to

[07:26] Charlie than you and someone who worked

[07:28] with him um during my service for

[07:30] President Trump. There's no greater

[07:32] advocate for you than Mr. Kirk. So, this

[07:34] is a wonderful testament to his legacy

[07:36] and look forward to supporting this. I

[07:37] hope it's unanimous. Uh, with that, I

[07:39] yield back.

[07:41] Thank you very much, Mr. Norman. You're

[07:44] recognized.

[07:46] Thank you for your words. Thank you for

[07:47] bringing it to the rules committee. And

[07:49] I think it's a proper time. I just got a

[07:51] note that uh said it's I think it

[07:54] doesn't it's amazing but said Donald u

[07:58] Charlie Kirk died at 12:23 that

[08:01] coincides with John 12:23

[08:04] about a colonel falling to the ground

[08:07] and that life is after that. Very

[08:10] fitting. Thanks for bringing it. I yel

[08:12] back.

[08:13] Mr. Roy, you're recognized.

[08:16] I'll be brief. I'll just thank the

[08:18] gentle lady from Florida. um we know how

[08:22] close she was uh with Charlie and um

[08:26] being such a strong advocate for uh the

[08:30] message that Charlie uh was carrying

[08:32] forward um not for himself but but for

[08:35] this country and for our kids and our

[08:37] grandkids and for the gospel of Christ.

[08:41] And um you know when I when the events

[08:45] occurred last week uh my children are

[08:49] not on social media by design. Um that's

[08:52] a topic for another day that we should

[08:53] address. But um I was pinging my son

[08:58] saying don't let any of your friends put

[09:00] you on social media. I did not want him

[09:02] to see because he had become quite um

[09:05] enamored of Charlie. My son's name is

[09:07] Charlie. And um so I told him what had

[09:11] happened and uh he asked if it was

[09:14] public and I said yes he's gone. I'm

[09:15] sorry buddy. And he said I would love to

[09:17] have meet him someday and then he just

[09:20] sent me a a verse um from the Paul's

[09:23] letter to the Corinthians 1 Corinthians

[09:25] 15:58. Therefore my dear brothers and

[09:28] sisters stand firm. Let nothing move

[09:30] you. Always give yourselves fully to the

[09:32] work of the Lord because you know that

[09:35] your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

[09:38] And I I only share that because it was

[09:41] indicative in my view of the impact that

[09:44] Charlie uh will continue to have on um a

[09:50] new generation who are recommitting

[09:52] themselves to the word of God and to um

[09:55] the founding principle of this country.

[09:57] So I appreciate it, Anna, the gentle

[09:59] lady from Florida and um I yield back.

[10:04] Thank you, Mr. Scott. You're recognized.

[10:08] Madam Chair, I just uh

[10:11] e echo the other things that have been

[10:12] said. It was a gut-wrenching day. Um

[10:19] and a lot of us will miss him and I

[10:23] appreciate you bringing the resolution

[10:26] and uh his work will continue.

[10:32] Thank you, Mr. Scott. That um will um

[10:37] end the hearing portion, but we'll

[10:40] recess until the last votes because we

[10:43] have amendments to consider.

[10:46] And so um we will go to votes and then

[10:49] we'll come back uh and re reconvene as

[10:54] soon as the last vote in this series.

[10:56] Thanks to everyone.