A few weeks ago, MomsRising asked our members to sign on to our message, "Don't let the NRA choose our U.S. Surgeon General," and confirm Dr. Vivek Murthy at U.S. Surgeon General.

Last week on Monday, June 2, we asked members to contact their U.S. Senators to let them know that moms and tots were heading their way to#StandWithVivek and drop off the petition signatures, including yours.

On Tuesday, June 3, we delivered their message to the U.S. Senate, urging lawmakers to not let the NRA choose our U.S. Surgeon General, and to move forward with confirming Dr. Vivek Murthy as our nation’s top doctor. Working with MoveOn, CREDO and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, we had more than 220,000 signatures to deliver!

Here’s what went down: More than 45 moms, dads, family members, doctors and health professionals, along with more than 25 kids and tots, gathered at a church near Senate office buildings for a rally and press conference with the following speakers:

• Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director/CEO & Co-Founder of MomsRising.org
• Anne Haynes, Health Educator and Gun Violence Survivor
• Dr. Sanjeev Sriram, Pediatrician
• Christian Heyne, Legislative Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and Gun Violence Survivor
• Jeanette Richardson, Founder of Parents of Murdered Children and Gun Violence Survivor
• Dr. Chris Lillis, Internist
• Gloria Pan, MomsRising Senior Campaign Director for Gun Safety

After the gathering, we divided into groups for petition drop offs, as well as in-person meetings with Senate staff representing key swing states. MomsRising delivered 220,000 signatures in person to 17 swing Senators, but we broke down the 220,000 signatures by state, so the swing senator also got their constituent signatures and stories clearly presented to them. On top of that, we electronically delivered all the petition signatures to every single Senator, hitting the 17 Senators one more time. While we were making our deliveries, CREDO drove phone calls to the offices of the target Senators.

Our kids were dressed in scrubs and lab coats in honor of Dr. Murthy and public health. As they walked the Senate halls and into offices, they handed out custom tongue depressors with the message: "Listen to moms, not the NRA."

Here are some of our favorite pictures from the day:

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*The photos displayed here are owned by MomsRising.org, and are not to be distributed or shared beyond this newsletter, but please feel free to share the blog post!

You can see the rest of the photos on our Facebook photo album. 

We had terrific news converage. Here were our top media hits:

WJLA - ABC DC Local

http://action.momsrising.org/go/4546?ak_proof=1&t=4&akid=.727728.whIioj

NBC 4 (DC)

http://action.momsrising.org/go/4547?ak_proof=1&t=6&akid=.727728.whIioj

Roll Call

http://action.momsrising.org/go/4548?ak_proof=1&t=8&akid=.727728.whIioj

Fox 5

http://action.momsrising.org/go/4549?ak_proof=1&t=10&akid=.727728.whIioj

Roll Call Photo

http://action.momsrising.org/go/4550?ak_proof=1&t=12&akid=.727728.whIioj

This was a great day! Moving, powerful, effective, and spent with some of the cutest kids and most amazing moms, dads and other public health and gun safety advocates we know!