Biden signs bill designating 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting site a national memorial News
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Biden signs bill designating 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting site a national memorial

President Joe Biden signed a bill Friday honoring the victims of the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting and designating the nightclub as the National Pulse Memorial.

In June 2016, a gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 at the popular nightclub located in Orlando, Florida. The gunman used an AR-15-style rifle and a pistol. The mass shooting is one of the most lethal in the nation’s history. President Biden was vice president at the time of the shooting.

“A place of acceptance and joy became a place of unspeakable pain and loss,” Biden stated at the bill signing. Biden explained that the National Pulse Memorial represents “an absolute determination that that we’re going to deal with this every single solitary day and make sure that we’re not in a position to see this happen again.”

After signing the bill, Biden asserted that over half of states lack specific protections for LGBTQ+ people and their families. Biden urged Congress on Friday to pass laws protecting the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people.

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