Today’s grand jury decision is both disturbing, yet completely unsurprising, because our justice system too often fails to value Black lives. My heart goes out to the friends and family of Breonna Taylor. She deserves better, and so does our country.

My deepest condolences to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s family and friends as we mourn her loss together. Her commitment to equity and gender equality changed our country for the better. On the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg was our firewall to protect civil rights, voting rights, and everything that we fight for.

I hope you and yours are doing well and staying safe. As we progress through month 6 of this pandemic in Virginia, I want to highlight an important issue. September is National Suicide Prevention Month. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US, it has taken 48,344 lives and caused 1.4 million attempts in just 2018.

Several elected and community leaders from Prince William County and Manassas are endorsing Delegate Hala Ayala in her bid for Lieutenant Governor. This group of leaders include Dumfries Mayor Derrick Woods, Prince William County Supervisor Vic Angry, and community leader and wife of the late Supervisor John Jenkins, Ernestine Jenkins.

We are now in the 6th month of this pandemic. As the numerous experts, officials, and the Governor said back in the beginning of the pandemic, this virus would be something we will have to fight against for months, not weeks.Though our statistics give us reason to be cautiously optimistic, there are still new cases found everyday. We need to carry on practicing physical distancing and safe, healthy, habits. While we all continue to fight against this virus together, my colleagues and I continue to pass legislation that will improve Virginia.

This past Tuesday, August 18th, our General Assembly began its special session. The House of Delegates met in person on Tuesday, but we have since been holding our session virtually. It is certainly an unprecedented manner of convening our legislative body, but this is certainly an unprecedented time. For the sake of the health of my colleagues, General Assembly staffers, their families, and the local residents of the Richmond area, I am proud we have made this historic step.