President Biden signed into law Friday the bill designating the site of the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, as a national memorial, according to the White House.
“Just over five years ago, the Pulse nightclub, a place of acceptance and joy, became a place of unspeakable pain and loss,” Biden said. “And we’ll never fully recover, but will remember. ... May no president ever have to sign a monument like this.”
Biden was joined at the White House by First Lady Jill Biden, survivors and family members of the victims of the June 2016 shooting, as well as Florida Congress members and members of the Congressional Equality Caucus. Behind them were names and photographs of the 49 people who died.
The bill designating the National Pulse Memorial, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, passed unanimously earlier this month in the Senate The U.S. House’s version of the bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Darren Soto along with U.S. Reps. Val Demings and Stephanie Murphy, also passed unanimously in May.
Congress “enshrined in perpetuity a monument to the loss that occurred there,” Biden said. “And an absolute determination 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 the signing, the Bidens were set to greet LGBTQ+ advocates, faith leaders, state and local elected officials, and members of Congress in the East Room, near a White House ground floor corridor that has been illuminated in rainbow colors for the first time as part of a Smithsonian LGBTQ+ exhibit.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay member of a president’s Cabinet, was scheduled to lead off the proceedings, while Biden was to be introduced by a 16-year-old transgender advocate, Ashton Mota of Lowell, Massachusetts, with the group GenderCool Project.
“The victims of Pulse are important to us. They are loved,” Demings said in a statement. “Making Pulse a national memorial, we honor not only the victims, but what they stood for, what they represent, and what our country could be and should be.
“With this signing today, we declare that Pulse was a national tragedy, not only for what it was, but for what it meant,” Demings said. “It will be a national memorial not just to commemorate our past, but to guide our future. Love will always triumph over hate if we have the bravery to embrace it.”
On Twitter, Murphy wrote she was “Thrilled that POTUS has signed our bill to honor the lives of the 49 innocent souls taken from us at Pulse by designating the location as a National Memorial Site. Proud to have worked with Rep. Darren Soto & Rep. Val Demings to get it done.”
Soto said he was “humbled by the support that our #OrlandoStrong community has received for the last five years as we work to honor those that were taken from us on that tragic night. #Forthe49”
