Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously voted to make Pulse Nightclub a national memorial.
This unanimous vote comes just weeks before the five-year anniversary of the Orlando shooting. U.S. House Representative and bill sponsor Darren Soto (D-Fla.) took the floor stating “This horrific act of hate and terror … could have divided us, but we came together stronger than ever before. Orlando swore as a community to never forget those we lost that night. Their stories, their images, their memories, and their spirits must live on in our hearts.” The bill is now on its way to the Senate to be voted on. If they vote yes, the nightclub will officially become a national memorial.
This is not the first time a bill has passed through the house intending for the night club to become a national memorial. Last year, a similar bill, HR 3904, passed unanimously in the House but failed to successfully pass in the Senate.
Right now, there is a temporary memorial on-site that attracts visitors from all over the world. The permanent memorial is being planned and implemented by non-profit organization onePulse Foundation. The new memorial will be called National Pulse Memorial and Museum. This national memorial will be constructed on-site where Pulse Nightclub once stood and will include a museum intended to be a “dignified place for remembrance, education, inspiration, and hope,” according to the foundations website. The memorial will also include a survivors walk that will trace the three-block journey many survivors and first responders made to get to the Orlando Regional Medical Center.
As the resolution makes it way through congress, U.S. Representative Stephanie Murphy tweeted, “Designating Pulse as a National Memorial site is about more than building a monument to mourn those we lost. It will be a physical reminder that our work won’t be complete until we ensure the lives of the victims were not lost in vain.”
