We are losing too many Americans to hate and gun violence, and I believe Congress has a moral obligation to take meaningful steps to heal our country and prevent these tragedies. Following the attack in Orlando, I joined millions of people across the country and the world in sending my thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families. But thoughts and prayers are simply not enough. If we truly want to honor the lives of those we lost, Congress must act.

There’s a lot that Congress can do right now to prevent these tragedies from happening again. Congress can require a background check for every gun purchase in America. Congress has the ability and authority to eliminate the civilian sale of weapons of war. We have before, and we should again. And Congress can lift federal restrictions on the study of the causes of gun violence, so that we can, at the very least, better understand why these tragedies keep happening.

Congress can also do more to keep firearms out of the hands of those that wish to do us harm. That’s why I introduced a bipartisan measure that would prevent suspected terrorists from obtaining firearms. This common sense fix would be a small, but important, step towards ending mass shootings.

We owe it to the victims of these senseless tragedies and their families to debate and vote on reasonable gun violence prevention proposals which the majority of Americans support. For those wondering what you can do to help, I encourage you to reach out to your elected officials and to talk with your friends and family, especially those that don’t agree with you, about what we can do to end this horrible epidemic.

I hope you’ll read my editorial in the New York Daily News on what Congress can and should do to prevent gun violence and join me in the fight to prevent another senseless slaughter.