At this moment of great distress, we come together to share sorrow and to express our sympathies to the many who are suffering from this weekend’s tragic events. We can barely comprehend the unbearable grief of the families of those who will never come home from their shopping trip or night out.

We mourn those whose lives have been cruelly taken. But it cannot end there.

First, we must join with political adversaries and the faith community to affirm that violence is never the way to resolve disputes. Americans of different political viewpoints may be wrong, but they are not traitors—the epithet that President Trump has too often used. Let’s do all that we can to reduce the danger of copycat extremists.

Second, all of our elected officials should do far more than merely offer “thoughts and prayers.” We need weeks and weeks of action, not just moments of silence. As the Editorial Board powerfully wrote on Monday, each official must find “the political will and the courage” to fix the gun laws that enabled the carnage. Mass gun violence is an epidemic, enabled by all those steadfastly refusing to approve gun safety measures.

Whether it is Sutherland Springs, Santa Fe, El Paso, Dayton, or any other community torn apart, America is distinguished from other advanced countries not by a greater proportion of our citizenry who are violent, but by easy access for the violent to weapons of war, whose only purpose is to kill other human beings. Such weapons should be banned, as they once were. Too many officials stand opposed to doing anything meaningful about the 255 mass shootings that have already occurred in the U.S. this year. Majority Leader McConnell and his cohorts refuse to permit the Senate to vote on even the modest, House-approved universal background check bill. And, of course, the House could and should do more.

Finally, we must continue to speak out against domestic terrorism, violence, and acts of hate, as well as the corrosive and un-American rot of white nationalism. Using language quite similar to President Trump, the El Paso gunman was specifically targeting Hispanics. Hate speech and racist rants, using Stalin’s language to declare the press “the enemy of the people,” xenophobic, false claims of an immigrant invasion—these have grave consequences, especially when they come from the highest office in the land. We have now witnessed those bloody consequences, inspired by our president’s repeated wrongdoing. President Trump has made clear that he is not changing, nor apologizing, nor uniting. Just as he does not care enough to know Dayton from Toledo, he cannot unite because division is his chosen path to stay in power.

But we can unite to bring about the change that he refuses. I believe that this lawless president, for whom lying is a way of life, who not only obstructs justice, but who recklessly inflames hate, condones violence, and empowers extremist, racist movements, has lost the credibility to govern. He must be impeached.

We need leaders who have the moral decency to take tough votes, to vigilantly combat domestic terrorism and white supremacy, and to speak plainly about the gravity of these threats. Those ignoring both Trump’s conduct and guns—while blaming video games or claiming that gun violence is impossible to reduce—insult our intelligence.

With a heart that is heavy with sorrow, but steeled with conviction, I certainly do not claim a monopoly on truth. I am willing to work with anyone who is genuinely committed to addressing these scourges and working to heal our nation. Let’s recommit to confronting these horrors directly and acting promptly to preserve both our security and our democracy.

Doggett, D-Austin, represents the 35th Congressional District.