Rep. Chu Announces SOTU Guest: Dr. Juily Phun, Family Member of Victim of Monterey Park Attack

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28) announced that Juily Phun, the family member of a victim of the January 21, 2023, mass shooting in Monterey Park, will be her guest at President Biden's 2023 State of the Union Address to Congress. Dr. Juily Phun is a multiethnic refugee from Vietnam who grew up in Monterey Park and now lives nearby in Los Angeles County. Her scholarship, research, activism, and community is in the San Gabriel Valley.

"I am so honored and humbled to welcome Dr. Phun to Washington to be my guest for President Biden's State of the Union," said Rep. Chu. "In the aftermath of the recent horrific violence in our hometown Monterey Park, her presence Tuesday will underscore the massive toll gun violence exacts on families. While last year's Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was a step forward in protecting our communities, our work in Congress isn't finished. I will continue to push for federal solutions to prevent future violence, including by banning assault weapons and magazines, instituting universal background checks on weapon purchases, and ensuring gun safety and mental health resources are translated and accessible to AAPI communities in my district and across the nation."

The attack in Monterey Park killed 11 people and wounded 9 others. The shooting occurred near where tens of thousands had gathered earlier that Saturday for the start of a two-day Lunar New Year festival, one of the largest holiday events in the region. Monterey Park is a city of about 61,000 in the San Gabriel Valley, east of Los Angeles, and is 65 percent Asian American. The city is widely recognized as the first suburban Chinatown in the United States, and the shooting there is the worst in Los Angeles County history.