this cowardly act of violence prevent us from engaging with our constituents. i encourage my colleagues to take appropriate caution, but to continue holding constituent meetings and do the job we were elected to do without fear, to do otherwise would allow the gun marn a small taste of victory and -- gunman a small taste of victory and dishonor the victims of this senseless act. i look forward tore gabby's speedy recovery and working with her on the armed services committee again soon and i would like to say a few words about federal judge roll. she was with congresswoman giffords -- mr. braley: i yield 30 seconds. mr. johnson: judge roll was with congresswoman giffords to press for funding to relieve overcrowding on his district.

judge roll had been a lifetime servant of his community, 63 years old and as justice john roberts said, judge roll's death is a somber reminder of the importance of rule of law and the sacrifices of those who work to secure it. i would like to recognize the other victims. i won't name them and i do not know them personally, but i express my sympathy and condolences to their families and i yield back the balance of my time. . mr. lungren: i'm pleased to yield to the gentleman from florida. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> i rise today in support of this resolution. the thoughts and prayers of florida's second congressional district i deliver, our hearts are broken over the events of sat.

we want to deliver today our thoughts especially to those families who lost their loved ones, the six families who were today memorializing them and planning those details. you know, i also want to make sure that i express my appreciation for the short time that i had a privilege of speaking with representative giffords. you know, last thursday, shortly after we were sworn in, i walked just outside the floor and she met me outside and she extended her hand to me and she said, hello, she said, i'm gabby giffords. mr. southerland: she said, you must be new. i said, well, i am new. i'm steve southerland. she said, where are you from? >> i said, florida. she said, well let me introduce you to some people that will help you. mr. southerland: and she walked down the hall and out to the steps and she introduced me to numerous, numerous floor staff. i did not have any other encounter with her except for that five-minute brief time and on saturday when i learned of the events that had occurred in tucson, it was with horror that

i got home and i turned on the television and i realized that it was that wonderful, sweet person who with kindness and gentleness introduced me to the staff. and so it is with a burdened heart today that i want those in this chamber and the people of america to know that the citizens of florida's district two are heart broken as well. we are praying for each and everyone affected and i want to make sure that we go from here to continue in honor of those who have given their life and those who have been affected, to create a more perfect union, that we work hard to secure the blessings of liberty, for that is how we will be known by the world, not by our security, not by our policy, but by the civility, by the love we show and care for one another. that will make us a shining city on a hill and that's what i'm committed to doing. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from iowa. mr. braley: i'm pleased to yield

two minutes to the gentleman from the commonwealth of massachusetts, mr. mcgovern. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for two minutes. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, i appreciate the opportunity to speak here today. as has been said over and over, gabrielle giffordses is a smart, goisted -- gifted, and compassionate member of congress. it is a privilege to be her colleague and friend. and arizona is privileged to be represented by a person of her caliber. my wife lisa and i pray for her recover and our thoughts are with her, her family, her friends and her community as they come together in the aftermath of this terrible act of violence. i look forward to seeing gabby back here where she belongs on this floor, advocating on behalf of her constituents. i served in this house for many years as a congressional aide and since i've been elected to congress i've come to appreciate even more the generous and selfless service of our staffs. so i am especially touched and grieved by the murder of gabe zimmerman who served as gabby's director of community outreach. for those whose lives were lost, christina taylor green, dorothy

morris, judge john roll, phyllis schneck and dorwin stoddard who is related to one of my own staff, my sympathy, condolence and prayers with their loved ones. i believe so very strongly that we here in this house and all of us as americans must come tote and transform this tragedy into something positive and hopeful. we live in a country that is too toe larized and we live in -- polarized. if this horrible act of violence results in all of us becoming more civil to one another and taking a more careful look at the words and imagery we use when talking to and about one another as we deal with difficult and controversial policy debates, if it results in concrete ways to begin to reverse this culture of violence, then our nature will triumph over this pain and loss. today is a time to grieve, to mourn, to express sympathy. but unfortunately in the aftermath of this tragedy, too many of the old fights resurfaced. the left blame the right, the right blame the left. everybody blame the media. op eds were written and bills

were introduced. but, madam speaker, none of that will bring back those who were lost. none that have will put a 9-year-old girl back at the breakfast table where she belongs. like many of my colleagues on monday i participated in a national moment of silence. the best thing about that moment was that for just a minute or two the noise stopped. we paused and we reflected. and i hope that we can do more of that in the months and years ahead. thank you, madam speaker, i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: madam speaker, it is my pleasure now to yield two minutes to the gentleman who has returned from new mexico, mr. pearce. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new mexico, mr. pearce, is recognized for two minutes. mr. pearce: thank you. madam speaker, it's my distinct honor to rise today and call congresswoman gabby giffords not only a colleague but a friend. i had the pleasure of working with this fine lady from arizona on several initiatives, beginning very early in her first term.

the districts that we serve are very similar. southern new mexico, southern arizona, we share the southern border, we have issues of public land, public access, resources. so many of our perspectives originate from the same sort of district. i got to know gabby just in the first month here in february. we went together to iraq to visit soldiers. together we'd sit down and visit with young men and women who were defending our country, who were fighting for the freedom of the iraqis there and we just grew a common bond in the service and the recognition of those who were serving in even more o'a more difficult circumstance. we found the opportunities to work across the aisle on several issues just after we returned and that's the strong memories that compel me today to stand up and say that i've grown to respect and admire the efforts of this courageous young woman

as she served here in congress. as we saw the unforeseeable and tragedy circumstances of this past weekend, we realized that there are circumstances that face us all and i would recognize right now that gabrielle giffords decided to do her job no matter the risk. she served with courage, determination, with openness and forth rightness to her constituents that should be a model to all of us. i know that she is an inspiration for me today as she struggles to regain her health and to regain her position here serving the american people. i've been able to support many of gabrielle giffords' initiatives in the past. it's my privilege today to lend my support to this resolution. i pray for her speedy recovery and for the recovery of those

injured on that fateful day. i pray for the comfort of those who lost loved ones. may god bless gabrielle giffords. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from iowa. mr. braley: madam speaker, at this time i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. maloney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. maloney, is recognized for two minutes. mrs. maloney: i thank the gentleman for yielding. madam speaker, like so many of my colleagues, i knew gabrielle giffords to be a warm and caring friend. a rising star in the house with a moral compass as sure as it is true. that is why she conveniently -- recently spoke out against the rising tide of hate speech in our country. and the lack of civility in our political process. while it may be too early to come to any conclusions about the consequences of the recent tragic events, it is never too late to reflect on lessons we have learned from earlier such tragedies and take them to

heart. guns kill and those who grammarize gun play do no service to humanity. words matter and those who use inflammatory rhetoric to achieve cheap political gain wound our country and weaken the ties that bind us. democracy triumphs, the fundamental wisdom that has distinguished our nation and led her to greatness resides in our unwavering commitment to settle disputes with ballots, not bullets. my thoughts and prayers go out to congresswoman giffords. i hope for her swift and complete recovery. and to her family and to all the friends and family members of the victims of that tragic event. as we approach the observance of martin luther king day, let us recall the words of robert kennedy that were said on that tragic day so many years ago. and i quote, let us dedicate

ourselves to what the greeks wrote so many years ago, to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. get well soon, gabby, we need your leadership, your strength, your courage. you're in our thoughts and you are in our prayers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. platts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for got ins -- for two minutes. mr. platts: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the distinguished gentleman from california to yielding -- for yielding to me. madam speaker, i rise in humble and solemn support for house resolution 32. i also rise to express my heartfelt gratitude to our distinguished speaker, the gentleman from ohio, mr. boehner, and all members of the house leadership, republican and democratic alike. the thoughtful and compassionate manner in which they have united the members of this great

institution in prayerful support for our beloved colleague and friend, congresswoman gabrielle giffords, and all of the victims of the january 8 attack in tucson, arizona, is sincerely appreciated. madam speaker, as with all americans, i was deeply saddened and horrified upon learning of the senseless and violent attack on congresswoman giffords, members of gabby's staff and citizens of arizona's eighth district. this act of violence was an unthinkable attack on a dedicated public servant and her constituents. it was also an attack on one of the most important cornerstones of our form of representational democracy, the duty of elected officials to reach out to the citizens they serve. it is imperative that we not allow the tragic events of january 8 to prevent elected officials from fulfilling this duty, to remain in close contact

with their constituents and well grounded in their concerns. on behalf of my wife leslie and our family and all residents of pennsylvania's 19th congressional district, i offer our deepest sympathies to the families, the friends and the co-workers of those who were taken from us in this attack. please know that you and all the victims of this terrible tragedy are and will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers. may god watch over you as he continues to watch over our grieving nation. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from iowa. mr. braley: madam speaker, at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from wisconsin, ms. baldwin. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from wisconsin, ms. baldwin, is recognized for two minutes. ms. baldwin: i thank the gentleman for yielding and thank you, madam speaker. i rise to express my thoughts and offer my prayers and those of my constituents for my friend and colleague, gabby giffords, who lies critically wounded and

for her staffer, gabe zimmerman, for the precious patriot christina taylor green, for dorothy morris, judge john roll, phyllis schneck and dorwin stoddard who lost their lives in this senseless tragedy. and to their families. our thoughts and prayers too go out to the other innocent victims of this tragedy, including congressional staffers ron barber and pamela simon and their families. and our heartfelt gratitude to all those brave souls who responded valiantly and quickly, preventing even more deaths and injury. and to the people of arizona who love their state and our democracy, to you we express our solidarity. gabby, as we all know, is one of the nicest, most decent, dedicated, concerned and

compassionate representatives in this body. the fact that she and her staff were gunned down while doing their jobs, doing exactly what is required in a democracy, makes this tragedy even more unfathomable. and so i'm concerned about the impact of this tragedy on our democracy. we cannot have a well functioning democracy without ample interaction and discourse between members of the public and their elected officials. directly or indirectly this tragedy invites us to examine the way we conduct business on all levels. and i hope out of this tragedy comes a renewed commitment to civility. i applaud speaker boehner and speaker pelosi for setting the right tone. we have a moment now to look

prospectively at how we debate issues of great import. i hope -- mr. braley: an additional few seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. bald whip: how can we provide -- ms. baldwin: people need to differ without demonizing others. people reach different conclusions of important topics of our time but each of us like gabby seeks office because we want to make life better for the people we represent. we want a better america. dwabby -- gabby, keep fighting the good fight. we need you and america needs you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. mr. lungren: i'm pleased to

yield two minutes to the gentlelady from tennessee. the speaker pro tempore: the the gentlelady from is recognized. mrs. blackburn: our thoughts and prayers are with all of those victims, with their families, and with our colleague gabby giffords. she was doing what we all do, hearing the concerns of her constituents and i think we all know and recognize that we in this chamber are more visible and more accountable than ever before. on saturday a madman, a monster, attempted to assassinate our beloved colleague. she was shot in the line of duty, the duty of listening to so she could more effectively represent those constituents. it was a duty she and many of us do love and treasure that interaction with our constituents. today more so than ever as members of congress are called to that duty, we realize that

it goes with us wherever we go. every trip to the grocery store, to church, to a soccer game can turn into a town hall meeting, that accessibility for those who count on us to make the decisions is something we cannot give up. even the past week's events have devastated us, we must not compound the tragedy by being deterred from those duties. the shooting occurred on saturday and on sunday i kept a previously scheduled district appointment at fort campbell. that army post is home to the 101st airborne when they are not deployed as they currently are in afghanistan. these public servants know what the senseless loss of an honored friend, colleague, even a hero feels like. they also know better than anyone else that service is often most valuable when it is performed in the face of fear, uncertainty, or hostility.

so many of my constituents have asked, what will this mean for how we as members carry out our jobs. and i think we all will be more careful when we undertake our duties. we know we are not responsible, not only for our own safety, we're responsible for the safety of our staff, our constituents who bring issues to us and in this i hope our service does credit to the men and women in uniform. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: i grant the gentlelady an additional 20 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for an additional 30 seconds. mrs. back burn: i hope it -- mrs. blackburn: god bless gabby giffords and the staff and other innocent victims. bless this house and our great nation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from iowa. mr. braley: i yield two minutes

to the gentleman from texas, mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized two minutes. mr. doggett: our colleague gabby giffords was doing what she does so well, what every member does, listening to her constituents in an open public forum, young and old, americans of all political philosophies gathering to meet with her. this is the very type of neighborhood office hours that so many of us hold. i've held many of them throughout central seconds and this is the very type of openness that is fundamental to our democracy and critical to a society that recognizes that change is achieved through ballads, not bullets. less than a year ago, another disturbed individual expressed his anger by crashing his airplane into a building in austin, texas, that housed i.r.s. employees, causing great

death and destruction. incredibly, a face book page was erected quickly in his honor. what i said then i would re-emphasize today, we must turn down the volume on hate to discourage more such harms. debate, vigorous debate, is at the very heart of our democracy. sometimes it is heated and strongly worded. such strong discourse helps us to set america's course. but violence is not discourse, it is the basis of our democracy. violence can kill a human being but it cannot kill the truth. in a free and open market of ideas, truth will ultimately prevail. in the words of dr. martin luther king jr. whose life and work we celebrate this very month, i believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in

reality. that is why white temporarily defeat -- right is temporarily defeated than evil triumphant. we pray for those lost and the many who still suffer from this great tragedy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. lungren, madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fitzpatrick. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman mr. fitspatrick is recognized. mr. mits patrick: i had the honor of personally meeting representative giffords for the first time just last week here in the chamber and although my service in the house is thus far only overlapped ever so briefly with hers, gabby's attitude of service and spirit of commitment to those that she represents was immediately apparent. representative giffords was practicing one of the most

basic and important duties a member of congress will have, making herself available to constituents when a gunman viciously an inexplicably aattacked her and 19 others. it's difficult to find explanation for the tragic event. wheel an explanation will a-- while an explanation will allude us, we can find comfort in this rabbi's words. this past monday evening before a town hall meeting in buck's county, the rabbi prayed and prayed the disaster in arizona serves as a wake-up call for our country and serves as a more loving atmosphere for us all. at the end of the day we're all americans and rise and fall together. i'm proud to support the resolution. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from iowa. mr. braley: madam speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield two minutes to the

distinguished gentlewoman from hawaii. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. >> i rise to join my colleagues in support of the resolution and support myself with the eloquent and heartfelt expressions of condolences and comfort from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. and to hear the wonderful stories about gabby told on this floor help capture the warmth and humanity that is gabby giffords. the shock, horror and tears that follow the unfolding of the terrible youth in arizona, it's like just yesterday. here was gabby on the first day after we finished votes to meet with her constituents with on the corner. an event many of us do in our

own districts. she was joined by her staff and a large number of constituents who wanted to talk with her including a third grader so excited to meet with her congress person who had just been elected to an office in her elementary school. i send my condolences on behalf of all of the people of hawaii, to the families of those who lost loved ones in this senseless act of violence, and i'm going to say their names again because they must not be forgotten. john roll, 63, chief judge for the u.s. district of arizona. gabriel master zimmerman, 30, master director of community outreach. christina taylor-green, 9 years old, beautiful, bright girl who should have had a chance for a full life. dorthy murray, 76, whose husband was critically injured trying to protect her during

the shootings. phyllis scheck, 79, mother of three, grandmother of seven, dorwin stoddard, 76, who shielded his wife who was also wounded. our prayers are with those who are struggling to recover from their injuries, including our dear friend and my classmate gabby. gabby's husband, mark kelly, and all the family members of the victims. we are all one family, as we say in hawaii, united in our collective aggressive and prayers. i was listening to n.p.r. this morning and learned the evening before this terrible tragedy -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from iowa. mr. braley: i yield the gentlelady an additional 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: put the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. hirono: gabby reached out to a republican of her state to talk to him about ways that we

both, we all could tone down the political rhetoric and partisanship and at this point we don't know what drove the gunman to commit this horrible act of violence, regardless whether his actions have a causal connection with an increasing i had negative tone of our political discourse, i think this tragedy should give us all pause to reflect. just as we have all come together today to honor the victims of this tragedy, i believe we can honor gabby by going forward with the heightened commitment to respect each other, listen to each other's points of views and come up with policies that will strengthen our nation. we must go forward together. the speaker pro tempore: the the gentlewoman's time has expired . the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: i yield two minutes to the gentlelady from new york, dr. h a, yworth. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. hayworth: i rise to honor those of the atrocious attack. congresswoman giffords and her staff are constantly in the thoughts and prayers of her colleagues in the house. as a mother i'm profoundly saddened by the loss of the youngest victim, christina taylor-green. she was only 9 years old. she belonged to history at the beginning of her life and she belongs to history at the end of her life. she was born on september 11, 2001, and christina was acutely aware of the impact that day had on our nation, but she always found the positives and hopeful in that dreadful event. she would often tell people she was born on a holiday, and she said it was a holiday because it gave hope to say that and people came together on that gay. she wore red, white and blue and she was vocal about her

patriotism and pride to be an american. in addition to being extremely patriotic, christina was an inquisitive and mature young lady who recently taken an interest in the most fundamental of american rights, civic engagement. she had just been elected to her own student government and she was attending saturday's event to meet her congresswoman and learn more about government. as we dwreeve for -- as we grieve for her loss, it's important to pay tribute to the model young citizen christina was and honor her memory. as adults, we can all learn from christina's positive outlook on life, love of country, and participation in government. even during these dark and painful times, we should take solace in knowing that with children like christina growing up in our society, our nation has a bright future. thank you and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from iowa. mr. braille eye: i'm delighted to yield two minutes to mrs. capps. the speaker pro tempore: mrs. capps is recognized for two minutes. mrs. capps: i thank my colleague from iowa. i rise to support house resolution 32 to honor gaveds as she recovers from her injuries and pay tribute to those who lost their lives and thank those who also lost their lives. this is a devastating week for all of us in congress. . the violence in tucson has infringed upon our sense of safety and decency. it has also left us grieving for a colleague, for her staff, for the six americans who lost their lives last saturday as recited by my colleague from hawaii just now. representative giffords, gabby, to so many of us, is truly a treasured member of this body. she's a gifted legislator,

frequently leading her colleagues on issues like solar energy, space endeavors, veterans health care and precomprehensive immigration reform. but gabby is also known around capitol hill as a smart, generous and unfailingly dedicated servant and friend. she's the one who would be helping to plan a baby shower for one of her colleagues, to reach across the aisle to lend a supporting hand to a colleague in need of advice, or to take time to offer a hand to a staffer after a long day at work. i also think of gabby as a unique and all too rare representative in this congress. she prefers considerate and detailed debate over harsh and angry rhetoric. she chooses her words thoughtfully and has spoken out against violent language and the consequences such careless acts create. so i would argue that if we really want to pay tribute to gabby here today, may her service not be an exception to the rule. we in this chamber have the opportunity to live every day by the words we are speaking today.

madam speaker, the sorrow of saturday's tragedy will echo for many years to come. as we pray and take stock of this tragedy, i'm also concerned by the ease with which a clearly troubled young man could obtain a firearm. and i believe that this incident also illuminates a serious gap in our mental health system. one where far too many ill people slip through the cracks. the price for these failings is all too often paid as in this case by friends and neighbors. we owe it to the victims of this horrific tragedy to improve our mental health system. could i ask for an additional 30 seconds, please? mr. braley: at this time i yield 30 seconds additional to the gentlewoman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. capps: thank you. we owe it to the victims of this horrific tragedy to improve the mental health system and in addition to address gun violence. we can do better. let us resolve to do so. like everyone here in count -- and countless at home, i am praying for gabby's recovery, for her constituents who lost

their lives and for our country. let us adopt this resolution today in honor of our beloved friend gabby and the victims of this senseless tragedy. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: madam speaker, at this time i do not believe i have any other speakers. i would intend to close on this so i would reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from iowa. mr. braley: at this time i yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. sherman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california, mr. sherman, is recognized for two minutes. mr. sherman: we come together today as a nation to mourn those who died in arizona and to pray for the full recovery of those still lying in hospital beds in tucson. gabby giffords has captured the love and admiration of this

entire country. as america has come to know her through news reports, just as we have come to know her over the last four years. as the most cliteful and engaging member of this house -- delightful and engaging member of this house and as a woman who brought intelligence and determination to the service of this country. the last time i had a chance to spend time with gabby was just six days ago. we were here on the house floor. as it happens we sat next to each other as we waited our turn to be assigned a portion of the constitution. to be read. we had a chance to listen to each passage, to speak briefly about some of the salient provisions and as they got down the line to where we were sitting it became apparent that gabby would be called upon to read the first amendment to the constitution and that i would be called upon to read the

considerably less august third amendments. for just a selfish instance, i wondered why luck couldn't have been just a little different, if we had been sitting just one seat over, then i could have stood here and talked about freedom of religion and freedom of speech. but providence had determined otherwise, had determined that gabby giffords should stand on this floor and have the honor of reading the first amendment, an amendment that is best known for its earlier clauses but which ends with the words that enshrine the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. the day after she read those words at this podium she flew home to arizona so she could stand in front of a safeway intending to meet people peaceably assembled and to listen to them petition for a

redress of their grievances. i ask the gentleman for another 30 seconds. mr. braley: i would yield an additional 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional 30 seconds. mr. sherman: i was relieved yesterday when doctors said they were confident that the assassin had not taken gabby's life. and i am confident that that assassin did not take from our people the right to peaceably assemble and to tell their elected representatives their ideas and, yes, their grievances. and i look forward to two years from now and two years after that and two years after that, to sitting here on this floor with gabby and waiting until she is called upon to read the first amendment. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: contrary to my previous statement, i do have another speaker and at this time i would like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from tennessee, dr. roe.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee, dr. roe, is recognized for two minutes. mr. roe: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in support of this resolution and i join my colleagues in denouncing the horrific attack that occurred against one of our own this past weekend and took the lifpkes of six innocent people -- lives of six innocent people, including a staff member, gabe zimmerman, and a beautiful, beautiful 9-year-old child. we continue to pray for congresswoman giffords and all those who were injured and the families of the deceased. as members of congress we have two responsibilities after such an attack. first, we must vow that we will never let the work of a mad man stop us from doing our work on behalf of the american people. and secondly we will make it clear to all that while we have disagreements, we are all still americans and we respect each other. words matter. and when we show americans that we can disagree substantively and respectfully we bring our entire country closer together and show the world why america is the greatest force for good.

and as a song "angels," we place them in the arms of angels and may god bless this family and these people who endured this horrific event. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from iowa. mr. braley: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. moran. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia, mr. moran, is recognized for two minutes. mr. moran: i thank the very distinguished gentleman from iowa. madam speaker, gabby giffords is a wonderful human being and a treasured colleague and friend. but this resolution, as important and appropriate as it is, stops short of any collective commitment to prevent this type of tragedy from happening again. it happened because of a combustible mix of, one, a highly charged antigovernment political environment, two, easy

access to weapons whose only purpose is to kill large numbers of other human beings, and, three, mental illness. not too long ago another mentally ill person used the same kind of weapon to kill 32 innocent people on the virginia tech campus. in response we passed legislation eventually that enabled states to provide the names of people that they judged were too mentally imbalanced -- unbalanced to be buying guns and provide those names to the national institute of criminal background check system. we authorized $250 million to enable them to do that. but since then we have appropriated each year less than 10% of that amount. and as a result of the 2.6 million people that the states know should be disqualified from buying firearms, less than 20% are actually on that list and so disqualified.

in fact, less than 4% of arizonans who the state knows should be disqualified from purchasing firearms are actually on that list and unable to purchase those firearms. so perhaps we could consider following up on this resolution with some concrete steps to prevent this from happening again. i know it's important to protect one's individual freedoms. but a little 9-year-old girl should also have the freedom to visit with her congresswoman, secure in the knowledge that her congress has the courage to take reasonable steps to protect her and our country from such senseless violence. thank you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from iowa. mr. braley: madam speaker, i yield two minutes at this time to the gentleman from kentucky, mr. courtney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized for two minutes.

mr. courtney: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, the horror of saturday's bloodshed in arizona, the senseless loss of life and the cowardly attack on gabby giffords has raised for many americans the question of whether we as nation have lost our way. many wonder if an act so benign as gabby's effort to listen to her neighbors in the eighth congressional district of arizona can be the target of such violence, whether there is hope in a future for our democracy. one voice from our recent past suggests that there still is hope for that fragile ideal. on april 4, 1968, senator robert kennedy spoke in indianapolis, indiana, shortly after the slaying of martin luther king, at a time when political violence racked our nation. this is what he said. we have to make an effort in the united states, we have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond these difficult times. he then said, my favorite poet once wrote, even in our sleep pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until in our own despair against

our will comes wisdom through the awful grace of god. he concluded that what we need in the united states is not division, what we need is not hatred, what we need is not violence and lawlessness, it is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another. gabby giffords' work at that tucson shopping mall on january 8 and all those present and all those victimized by a coward's bullets were affirming senator kennedy's vision that peaceful dialogue and understanding is the true calling of the american people, not division and violence. as one who entered congress with gabby, with the class of 2006, a tight knit group that has met every wednesday over the last four years, it has been an honor to watch her on the armed services committee advocating for the air force and for military families. even during the lame duck session she was a leader in enacting the g.i. bill patch which will make sure that guard and reservists will not be left out from the g.i. bill's educational benefits. she is an extraordinary person

who this country needs if we are going to overcome the many challenges that we face today. mr. speaker, i strongly support passage of this resolution -- madam speaker, which is an ampleation that we will not surrender our way of life to the forces of lawlessness and hate. on behalf of the people of eastern connecticut i want to express our you a and reverence to the examples of -- awe and reverence to the examples of excellence that gabby and the people of tucson displayed last saturday. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from iowa. mr. braley: madam speaker, i'm proud to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from the district of columbia, mrs. homes norton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from the district of columbia is recognized for two minutes. ms. norton: i thank the gentleman for yielding. a gunman has underestimated the will and undaunted bravery of gabby giffords. tragically we have lost gabe zimmerman, her director of

community outreach, her constituents, judge john roll, christina taylor green, phyllis schneck, dorothy -- dorwin stoddard and dorothy morris. all of whom were engaged in the very civic activities we most encourage. along with 13 others who were injured along with congresswoman giffords. together these americans have brought this house together as never before for a much-needed time of reflection. i am heartbroken for all who were in the line of fire and for their families. i focus now on gabby because i cannot get her out of my consciousness. i am trying to understand her fearlessness in the days before the attempt on her life, for what has happened to civil

discourse in our country rather than for her own safety can gabby's selflessness and her concern for our country give us the fortitude to follow her examples in assuming that it is not the safety of members that is at risk. do we dare to follow gabby in her search for ways to be at once resolute and respectful, remarkable courage and determination have made gabrielle giffords the living manifestation of what members of this institution and the citizens of our great country want to be. . may gabrielle giffords' words prove as contagious as her

at the same time dozens are in mourning for those killed in the senseless slaughter. including judge john roll and our own gabe zimmerman. congresswoman's giffords director of public outreach. we join them in a grieving process that is painful beyond words. to those families, particularly that of gabe's who reached out in gabby's voice each and every day, we weep for your loss and know of the constant ache left in your hearts by the sudden loss of those you love. and we are blessed to join you in the celebration of their lives. and as we mourn those who were

lost, we triumph with equal emotion in miracles, by the mercy of god and the swift hands of our medical heroes, gaveds -- giffords those those murdered have been saved. i wondered a question each of us may have wondered dozens of times. how can anyone hate or seek to harm this wonderful public servant. this beautiful person who has never spoken across word nor showed a down cast expression throughout her time in this great house. those these answers are painfully slow in coming, i pray her return to the warm embrace of her family will be swift. more selfishly, because she is my friend and because i see in her the pure heart of a servant, i pray she will return to this chamber as soon as possible, to continue her work

for the people of arizona whom she so treasures. gabby knows at the core that she is an ordinary lady called to an extraordinary mission. gabby, you are champion among champions, a friend among friends, and a fighter among fighters for the common good. we all are pulling for you. get well soon. we can't wait to have you back. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from iowa. mr. braley: at this time i yield myself as much time as i'm about to consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bragey: madam speaker, this body is -- mr. braley: madam speaker, this body is numb. we forget we're a family, a dysfunctional family at times but we are a family and we all get to know each other. we all have a common passion for the values of this country that brought us here in the first place. and that is a remarkable story

we heard unfolding about our good friend gabby giffords since this horrible tragedy first took place. all of us in this body share a unique sense of responsibility for what happened to our dear friend, her courageous staff and the incredible people who showed up to participate in democracy at that safeway in tucson on saturday. and i know that a lot of us had this shared experience of horror on saturday as we watched these horrible images appear in front of our eyes. i want to take time briefly to talk about my good friend gabby, and it's ironic on this day when our president is in tucson, honoring the memory of those who lost their lives and those struggling to put their lives back together that my connection with gabby and president obama go back to the exact same day, it was september 29 of 2006 when gabby

and i were both candidates for congress, we met at an event and there were things about her that leap off the page immediately. it was her passion, why she was running. it was her fearlessness, and it was that smile you heard people talking about that could light up a room. and we got talking about each other and what we had in common, and i learned that her brother alex giffords had been a placekicker at iowa state university where i graduated from college and where i was an unknown walk-on under earle bruce. and we talked about that. and i have in my office this little print of iowa state university at berkshire hall gabby gave from me she got from her brother alex because she knew this was important to me. and this little picture is an

emblem of what an amazing human being gabby giffords is because she was always thinking more of her friends more than she was of herself. i got on a red eye after first meeting gabby giffords and flew back to my district and met an unknown senator from my district who just got elect pd named barack obama for the very first time. that's what's great about this country. it's these random meetings that we have with amazing people from all over the country who we meet on the house floor, many of whom came in, one of the largest classes in recent memory. you heard them come to the floor today and talk about someone they barely knew or may have met briefly or didn't know at all. because that's what binds us together is the spirit, the history of this chamber, and what it has meant as the people's house. and that is why it is incumbent

on all of us to take away as a lesson from this tragedy a renewed sense of respect for each other and the common purpose that brought us all here together in the spirs place. i talked about how we are a family. every thanksgiving our family has a tradition of watching a movie called "home for the holidays" about a very dysfunctional family and the star of that movie is holly hunter. and in one of the closing moments of this movie, which like all good movies makes you laugh, makes you cry, and makes you think, holly hunter's father is down in a basement watching old home movies and he's talking to her about one moment in his life that took five seconds and made all the difference in the world and his relationship with his daughter. and he said, you were fearless. fearless. that is my friend gabby

giffords. she is fearless in what makes this job worth having. and that is why we have a responsibility to her and all the people who lost their lives and who showed up at that town hall meeting because they care about this country to make a difference going forward in how we talk to each other and how we care about each other. as we look forward to next monday, we should remember what martin luther king jr. taught us, that the moral arc of the university is -- universe is long but it bends towards justice. we have a collective duty, all of us, to make sure that we bend that arc sooner and quicker so that the american people realize that we are all in this together and that this is the people's house for a reason. i want to thank my republican colleagues for their extreme sensitivity and their devotion

to this important resolution and with that, i want to thank my colleague from california for helping us put this resolution together today, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lungren: i rise in enthusiastic support of h. recent 32. -- h..res.32. i am not as some who come to the floor a close personal friend of gabby giffords, but i, as others, have been under her spell here. i've had a chance to talk with her on occasions in an informal setting. and i might mention in each of those occasions she reminded me she used to be a republican. i don't know if that was her way of thinking maybe we can have a rapport. you didn't need that with her because of her openness and her

smile. but it was interesting. and she always did it with a smile and she always did it with an invitation to engage with her that is the mark of her. we pray. all of us together. that she and those others grieveously wounded, will have a speedy and full recovery. we pray for those who have lost their lives. we pray for this institution. that we will take the correct lessons out of this tragedy. and when i use the word "tragedy" it's a tragedy on the side of those who were attacked in the institution that was attacked . it is, however, the product of a criminal act and we should understand that. madam speaker, it is always -- it is always within our power to either take the proper

lessons from a particular instance, to discard them, to think deeply about them or think of them superficially. i believe the fact that we have dedicated this entire day to trying to find the right lessons out of that and to give proper respect to those who suffered in this tragedy is evidence of the fact that we were -- we will attempt to take the proper lessons out of this. one is, of course, that this is the people's house. if you read the constitution, article 1, it is clear that the house of representatives is meant to be the closest to the people of any of the federal institutions. we all in a real sense, no matter where we come from, are institutionalists in that we love this institution. we fought in many ways to get here. but we honor one another by showing respect to one another and we honor our constituents

as well. speaker boehner has said, an attack on one is an attack on all. that is true. perhaps several hundred years ago, the writer, the poet john dunn said it best, he said, no man is an island entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. if a cloud be washed away by the sea, europe is the less as well as if a pronintory were as if a manner of thy friends or own were. any man's death diminishes me because i am involved in mankind and therefore, never send a no for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. all time for debate has expired. pursuant to the order of the house of today, the previous question is ordered on the

resolution on the preamble and on the preamble, the question is on adoption of the resolution. those in favor say aye. >> aye. the speaker pro tempore: those opposed no. the ayes have it. the resolution is agreed to and without objection the most to reconsider is laid on the table. the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: pursuant to senate resolution 1, i move the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. pending that, the chair will announce one appointment. without objection, pursuant to clause 11 of rule 10, clause 11 of rule 1 and the order of the house of january 5, 2011, and notwithstanding the requirement of clause 11-a-1-c of rule 10, with the chair announces the speaker's appointment of the following members of the house to the permanent select committee on intelligence.

the clerk: there thornberry of texas, mrs. myrick of north carolina, mr. miller of florida, mr. conway of sks, mr. king of new york, mr. lobiondo, mr. westmoreland of georgia, mrs. balkman of arizona, mr. rooney of florida, mr. heck of nevada. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed no. the ayes have it. the motion is goed -- agreed to. pursuant to senate concurrent resolution 1, the house stands adjourned until 2:00 p.m. on january 18, 2011 and pursuant to house resolution 32, the house stands adjourned out of respect for the victims of the attacks in tucson, arizona.

the update on congress the congresswoman at this time period is that it's going as anticipated, again at this time period, things can go very slowly and progress can occur very rapidly at some period of time and can go in a negative fashion in a downward way as well and i'm happy to state that none of the downward events have occurred at this time which is exactly what we kind of wanted to happen at this point and we have really decreased the amount of sedation we're giving her and as a result of that she's becoming more and more spontaneous all the time. other than that, there'll be no other additional information about the congresswoman at this time, i will not be taking questions regarding her status either. at this time period, what i'd like to do is introduce two family members who are going to make a brief statement. after the brief statement, we'll open it up for a very

short period of questions and answers and then conclude at that time period. we have the family members of ronald barber and nancy barber here, jenny douglas is going to talk but we have nancy barber, christy blake, jason blake and gwynn douglas. i got that right? i'm going to repeat the names again, if you could signify who is who, nancy barber. christy blake. jason blake. green douglas. that will help the press quite a bit. >> good morning. my name is jenny douglas. i'm ron barber's daughter. behind me are my mom, my sister, christy black, my brother ga lean douglas, i have

a statement i'd like to read on behalf of my family and we'll take a few questions after that. we would like to let you all know that my dad, ron barber is doing well after his second surgery yesterday morning. he's been very alert since coming out of his six-hour surgery on saturday, he was able to see his four grandchildren on monday which gave him great pleasure. we expect him to be released from the i.c.u. on thursday. on behalf of my dad and the rest of our family, we would like to give our heart felt thanks to our extended family, friends, and community as a whole for the overwhelming support we have received. specifically, we would like to thank all of the u.m.v. staff, doctors, nurses and patient care technicians who have been lovingly caring for our dad and our family these past days. the level of care, compassion, and professionalism is truly exceptional. we would also like to thank the

tucson police department, sheriff's department and f.b.i. we would like to express our deepest sympathies to the families who lost loved ones on saturday. dad is so deeply saddened by the loss of his friend and fellow staff member, gabe zimmerman, and longtime friend chief judge john roll. our thoughts and prayers are with the other victims and their families during their recovery. we would also like to express our sincere gratitude to daniel hernandez, whose clear thinking and actions in the midst of chaos undoubtedly helped to save congresswoman giffords' life, we would also like to personally thank anna ballas who applied pressure to my dad's wounds until the paramedics arrived, we are greatly indebted to her.

my dad has worked in the public sector for this community for 40 years. he was with the division of developmental disabilities for 34 years, most of that time as director for southern arizona. he retired in 2006 and began volunteering immediately with gabby's campaign where he was the community outreach director. after her successful election, gabby pointed him as her director. we knew he worked tirelessly to give a voice for those who often were not heard in his career with the division of developmental disabilities. it was hard to imagine he could actually work even more in his new career with gabby but somehow he does. with such a long career of public service in this community, he has touched many lives and now we are hearing from many of you who know him well and some of you who just knew of him. he has friends across the political spectrum and like his boss, he just wants to do what is best for the people of our

couldn't. that is what drew him to gabby and that is what binds them. throughout this ordeal, dad's singular focus has been on the well-being of gabby and he asks that we all continue to pray for her recovery and her family. >> this is the son of pamela simmons who is a staff member as well. >> good morning. i'm going to be reading a brief statement from my mother, pam simon. this is in her words.

i'm incredibly grateful for the outpouring of love and support from my family, friends, co-workers and community. the wounds inflicted are healing thanks to the amazing care of the doctors and staff here at the university medical center and i would especially like to thank dr. frees. the loss of life and deep wounds and the sadness over this act of violence will take much longer to heal. i am touched and encouraged by the tremendous caring and coming together of the community and i believe in the days and weeks ahead that we will work together to solve challenges and promote healing. i ask for your continued prayers for gabrielle, my congresswoman and my friend. she is a leader truly needed in this nation. my special thanks to my husband bruce, for his support, and to my children for being here throughout this time. thank you.

>> we'll open it up for a couple of questions of the family. >> [inaudible] >> we are very sad about this tragic event. we are grateful ta thinkmy dad is alive. we are very sad about the people who lost their loved ones. >> could you tell us more about your father and what he's been saying about congresswoman giffords and her recovery. intl my dad wants to see her, it will help him to see her, i believe they're going to arrange that. he's just asking about her every day. >> can you talk about how you're helping him get through

-- [inaudible] >> you know, he's doing as well as can be expected and day by day, he has to heal. it's going to -- going to take a long time to heal. he wants to express to the community this wonderful community of tucson, his love and gratitude because we are a wonderful community and we are a family and we all join together and he's grateful for that. >> can you talk a little bit about what he remembers from saturday, does he remember what happened? >> he remembers it all very clearly. >> [inaudible] >> we can't share that information but he remembers it very clearly. >> can you talk about his condition. >> my sister is a nurse, so that's more her.

>> my dad is healing from his wounds remarkably well and we really think that that's because we have so much love and prayer coming our way right now. he had surgery yesterday to close some wounds that were created in his original surgery and he is healing incredibly well. his pain is being managed by his nursing staff, and he's expected to make a full recovery, so we're really happy about that. >> the person who was putting pressure on his wounds, can you talk about that person? he -- you say he remembers everything so clearly. >> we just found out who she was yesterday. there was an article in today's "star" about her. a friend of the "star" helped me identify her. in the photo in sunday's paper, there's no identification, i'm

sure the photographer couldn't get close enough. we were table find out who she was and actually, i spoke with her yesterday and -- i spoke with her yesterday, anna polis is her name. ron is very keen to speak with her, as he was with daniel hernandez, and he is hoping to meet with her in the next day or so. >> thank you. i think this is a testament that these people are in the hospital after being shot multiple times and always thinking of others and the congresswoman. that concludes the press conference at this time. thank you very much for your cooperation. >> that medical briefing from tucson earlier today. here live looking at the u.s.

capitol as on the capitol and across much of the country, flags still at half-staff in recognition, in memorial of the six victims and the others injured in the shooting in tucson on saturday morning. here on c-span, in about an hour and 45 minute, we'll take you to the memorial service for those victims, that service of recognition, but first we want to let you know that in about 45 minutes, at 7:00, we'll bring you the tv newscast from kgun tv in tucson, we'll show you some of their coverage ahead of the remarks tonight by president obama and others. that gets under way, 8:00 p.m. eastern from the mchale memorial center on the campus of the university of arizona that will be here on c-span. the ceremony is called "together we thrive," tucson and america, president obama will speak, as will january brewer, the gnchor, and former

governor janet in a poll tau ne and others, including the president of the university of arizona. we'll have it live for you here on c-span. while the president is -- well, the president is in tucson, he arrived there about 45 minutes ago or so. we understand from a reported news event, the president is on his way to the hospital to visit with congresswoman giffords, her family and other victims of the shooting on saturday. we'll bring you details of that as we get them from the associated press. we understand also that that event at the mchale center at the university of arizona is going to be pretty crowded, some 17,000 people lined up to see the event tonight, according to the "suton citizen," they write that the lines are wrapping around the center, out across the university of arizona mall, people have camped out overnight, apparently, to take part in the service. a report also this afternoon that the event will be shown at arizona stadium so the larger

outdoor stadium, the football stadium there in tucson, they'll show the event for the overflow crowd and those folks will see that on video. you'll see it here tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span. the u.s. house has spent the day discussing their colleague, gabrielle giffords and the other victims of the shooting, and offering up a resolution, h.r. 32 a sense of the house resolution about the shootings on saturday, it starting -- started about 10:00 this morning with comments on the resolution with comments on beth sides, speaker boehner, minority leader, nancy pelosi, the eric cantor and steny hoyer. we'll show you more on that when we bring you coverage from kgun news later. ner: i ask for resolution and ask for its immediate consideration in the

house. the speaker pro tempore: house resolution 32. whereas on january 8, 2011, an armed gunman opened fire at a congress on your corner event hosted by representative gabrielle giffords of tucson, arizona, killing six and wounding at least 14 others. whereas christina taylor green, dorothy morris, john rohl, and gabriel zimmerman lost their lives in this attack. whereas christina taylor green, a 9-year-old daughter of john and roxanne green, was born on september 11, 2001, and was a third grader with an avid interest in government who was recently leblingted to the student council in mesa verde elementary school. whereas dorothy morris attended the january 8 event with george, her husband of over 50 years, with whom she had two daughters and who was also critically injured as he tried to shield her from the shooting. whereas john rohl, a

pennsylvania native who was 63 years old, began his professional career as a bailiff in 1972, was appointed to the federal bench in 1991 and became a chief judge for the district of arizona in 2006 and was a devoted husband to his wife, marie, father to his three sons and grandfather to his five grandchildren. whereas phyllis, a proud mother of three, grandmother of seven, a great-grandmother from new jersey, was spending the wenter in arizona and was a 79-year-old church volunteer and a new york giants fan. whereas dorwan, a volunteer at the mountain avenue church of christ, is credited with shielding his wife, a long-time friend whom he married while they were in their 60's who was also injured in the shooting. whereas gabriel matthew zimmerman who was 30 years old and engaged to be married served as director of community outreach to representative

gabrielle giffords and was a social worker before serving with representative giffords. whereas representative gabrielle giffords was the target of this attack and remains in critical condition at the arizona hospital. whereas 13 others were also wounded in the shooting, including ron barber and pamela simon, both stafferers to representative giffords and whereas several individuals, including patricia mosh, amply -- army colonel bill badger, retired, who was also wounded in the shooting, roger schullingburg, and daniel hernandez jr. helped apprehend the gunman and assist the injured, thereby risking their lives for the safety of others and shall be commended for their bravery. now therefore be it resolved that the house of representatives, one, condemns in the strongest possible terms the horrific attack which occurred at the congress on your corner event hosted by representative gabrielle giffords in tucson, arizona, on

january 8, 2011. two, offers its heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of those who were killed in the attack. three, expresses its hope for the rapid and complete recovery of those wounded in the shooting. four, honors the memory of christina taylor green, dorothy morris, john rohl, phyllis, dorwan and gabriel zimmerman. five, applauds the bravery and quick thinking exhibited by those individuals who prevented the gunman from potentially taking more lives and helped to save those who have been wounded. six, recognizing the service of the first responders who raced to the scene and the health care professionals who attended to the victims once they reached the hospital. whose service and skill saved lives. seven, reaffirms the bedrock principle of american democracy and representative government which is memorialized in the

first amendment of the constitution and which representative gabrielle giffords herself read in the hall of the house of representatives on january 6, 2011, of the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. eight, stands firm in its belief in the democracy of which all can participate in which intimidation and threats of violence cannot silence the voices of any american. nine, honors the service and leadership of representative gabrielle giffords, a distinguished member of this house, as she courageously fights to recover and, ten, when adjourning today, shall do so out of the respect to the victims of this attack. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house today, the resolution shall be debatable for six hours, divided equally and controlled by the majority leader and the minority leader or their designees. the gentleman from virginia, mr.

cantor, and the gentleman from arizona, mr. pastor, each will control three hours. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia. mr. cantor: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i yield one minute to the speaker of the house, the gentleman from ohio. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio, the speaker of the house, is recognized for one minute. the speaker: madam speaker, my colleagues today, we are called here to mourn. an unspeakable act of violence has taken six innocent lives and left several more, including our colleague, gabrielle giffords, battling for theirs. these are difficult hours for our country. among the fallen is gave zimmerman, a member of congresswoman giffords' staff, a public servant of the highest caliber, one of our own. and even in our shock, we are composed and determined to fulfill our calling to represent

our constituents. this is the great cause for which gave gave his life. we swore an oath to uphold the constitution and at the time of the attack, he was engaged in the most simple and direct of democratic rituals. listening to the people. listening to his neighbors. the brutality that shattered saturday morning's calm was devastating but brief. bravery and quick thinking prevented a larger massacre. turning innocent bystanders into heroes. the service and skill of first responders and medical professionals saved lives. law enforcement officials are now working to ensure swift justice. look to tucson right now and you'll be reminded that america's most plentiful source

of wealth and strength is her people. we're thankful, so thankful, that gabby is still with us and we're thankful that two of her staffers who were also wounded, ron barber and pam simmons, are with us as well. in her steady, gabby's staff has pressed on, opening for business monday morning, right on schedule. and the men and women who faithfully served the people of arizona's eighth district have signaled that no act, no matter how heinous, will stop us from doing our duty and being among the people we serve. and to all the dedicated professionals that we rely on to make this institution work, to each of you, thank you for what you do. and to gabby's staff and their families, please know that our hearts and prayers go out to

each of you. this body has yet to fully register the magnitude of this tragedy. we feel a litany of unwanted emotions that no resolution could possibly capture. we know that we gather here without distinction of party, the needs of this institution have always risen above partisanship. and what this institution needs right now is strength. wholly and uplifting strength. the strength to grieve with the families of the fallen, to pray for the wounded and to chart a way forward no matter how painful and difficult it may be. today is not a ceremony, but tragedy that stirs us to renew our commitment to faithfully fulfill our oath of office. and let us not let this inhuman

act frighten us into doing otherwise. the free exchange of ideas is the life blood of our democracy as prescribed by the first amendment, the beacon of free expression that congresswoman giffords recited in this well just days ago. these rights have not been handed down by dictate, they've been preserved and protected through generations of hard sacrifice and commitment. and we will continue that unfinished work. we will do it for christina taylor green, dorothy morris, phyllis shank, dorwan, ordinary citizens who died participating in their democracy, and we will do it for judge john and we'll do it for gave zimmerman. and we will do it, god willing, with gabrielle giffords. our hearts are broken but our

spirit is not. this is a time for the house to lock arms in prayer for the fallen and the wounded and resolve to carry on a dialogue of democracy. . we may not have all the final answers but we already have the answer that matters most. that we are americans and we'll make it through this difficult period. we will have the last word. god bless this house. god bless this congress. and god bless america. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona. >> madam speaker, i yield one minute to the minority leader, ms. pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: the the gentlewoman from california, the minority leader, is recognized for one minute. ms. pelosi: thank you very much, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. extend my condolences to him, mr. pastor, the senior member of

the arizona delegation, and all of the members of the arizona delegation. madam speaker, i'm pleased and saddened greatly saddened to join the speaker of the house, mr. boehner, in coming together in sadness today to share our prayers and indeed our hopes for those who have lost so much because of the tragedy in arizona involving our colleague, congresswoman gabby giffords. her staff and innocent bystanders. words are inadequate at a time like this, but nonetheless i hope it is a comfort to those who are -- lost loved ones, or injured on saturday that so many people mourn the losses but also pray for the survivors and care for them at this very difficult time.

i think the resolution is -- its description of what happened and the context with which it happened is an excellent resolution and i hope people will read it, pray over it, and be grateful that we had this opportunity to comment on it. today we will say many prayers for our country and for the victims of this horrific evening. we think of our colleague, congresswoman gabby giffords, fighting to recover and the 14 others who were injured, remember the six who were killed. there names are mentioned and they are described in the resolution. the speaker has mentioned their names, but i think acknowledging them bears repetition. how do you explain the death of

the 9-year-old christina taylor green, recently been elected to the student council in her school, mesa vare day elementary school? -- verde elementary school? the unbearable grief of john and rocks an -- roxanne green. dorothy morris married for more than 50 years to her high school sweetheart and mother of two. federal judge john roll who had just come from mass. which he attended every day. phyllis schneck, mother of three, grandmother of seven, and great grandmother. and i know the new yorkers are glad to hear she's a giants fan. snowbird in arizona carrying that dedication wes. dorwan stoddard, died shielding his wife, mary, shielding his

wife, mary. and has been mentioned in the resolution and we have mourned, congresswoman gabby giffords director of community outreach gabrielle matthew zimmerman. one ever his -- gabriel matthew zimmerman. one of his co-workers said gave for the living. some who protected others, wong member, phyllis, who grabbed the fuel magazine of ammunition of the killer as he attempted to reload. just think how many more we could have lost. roger sulzgeber and joseph zimudeo, and daniel hernandez jr., 20 years old an intern who had just been on the job for four days when he heard gunshots, he ran toward them, ran toward them, and attended to congresswoman giffords, helping to staunch her bleeding with his

own hands. pray for the recovery of other members of congresswoman giffords staff, ron barber, pam simon, and the entire giffords staff for carrying on. those heroes at the scene were joined by first responders from county and municipalities, arriving just three minutes after the first 9-1-1 call and performed excellently and in doing so saved lives. we also pay tribute to the skilled professionals at arizona's university medical center whose role is ongoing. healing the victims of this tragedy. tonight the university community. to acknowledge together saturday's tragedy.

promptly this is called together we thrive, tucson and america. together we thrive, tucson and america, will be an opportunity to grieve and it will be a demonstration of our strength. strength in community. a strength in community that was demonstrated last saturday, a strength in community there that is ongoing. tucson demonstrated its strength on saturday when the city was full of heroes, ordinary citizens, victims, first responders coming together in the spirit of community. madam speaker, our colleague, congresswoman giffords, was the primary target of cowardly act, and as she recovers, we honor her as a brilliant and courageous member of congress. she brought to congress an invigoration, thinking of new generation of national leaders.

a businesswoman, state legislator, she came to congress full of ideas, and we will long continue to be blessed by them, look forward to when she is present with us on the floor. she has spoken out courageously and led boldly when the times demanded it. it's especially tragic that those who lost their lives and those who were wounded had come together as the resolution presents to participate in an activity that reflects the best of our democratic tradition. a representative of the people, gabby giffords, her staff hearing directly from the men and women she represents. american democracy is founded on our commitment to a contest of ideas not violence. political disagreement and dissent must never violate our

nation's values as expressed in the constitution, of free expression, speech, and peaceful assembly. gabby spoke to that right here from the floor last week. in this hour of anguish, we seek renewed commitment to hope, to civility, to peace among the american people. in our -- many of our churches we sing on sunday and other days of the week, let there be peace on earth and let it begin i guess with us, but with me. with each of us, within each of us. speaking as one house today, coming together, peace with us, we offer our thoughts and support, our prayers to the health of our colleague, gabby, congresswoman gabrielle giffords, and all of the injured. we share the stories, the heroes of the tramdy, and mourn those who perished.

let their actions and their memories be a blessing to our country. we don't know why god saw this to be necessary, but let this be something that we cherish as an opportunity as we mourn the heartbreaking horror of it all. this resolution is fitting tribute, great resolution, please read it again and again, carry those names in your heart. remember each of these people because of, again, a tragic accident took lives, wounded people, in the free expression of ideas. may this resolution remind us of the urgent need to uphold our democratic values, to treat one another with courtesy and with respect, and to act as congresswoman giffords has always done and always do, in a

manner that reflects the best of american leadership. as our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of all who were affected, i want to call special attention to commander, captain mark kelly, gabby's husband, who has been a source of strength to all of us in this difficult time. we pray for him. we thank him for he -- for his and gabby's service to our country. god truly blessed america with their leadership, with their service. and with their love for each other. thank you, madam speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from virginia. mr. cantor: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cantor: this week most members of the house will gather briefly here in washington, but our hearts and spirits will be in arizona.

the unspeakable tragedy in tucson last saturday came as a complete shock, casting a pall over the entire nation. with this resolution we join 300 million americans and millions of others around the world in showing our solidarity with congresswoman giffords and the rest of the victims. gabby serves arizona's eighth district with distinction and thoughtful leadership and we are all praying for her speedy recovery. saturday's cowardly crime was more than just an attack on dozens of innocent americans at a grocery store. it was an attack of the very essence of democracy and representative government. an assault on the open exchange of ideas between legislators and the people to whom they are accountable. this resolution honors the memory of christina taylor green, dorothy morris, judge

john roll, phyllis schneck, dorwan stoddard, and gabrielle zimmerman. the -- gabriel zimmerman. it represents a broad american public, young and old, men, women, and child, friends, brothers, sisters, and children . they will be missed. but not forgotten. this inexplicable crime reminds us there is evil in the world. yet as we look for light in a thicket of darkness, our nation has drawn inspiration from the bravery and quick thinking displayed by the heroes on the scene. were it not for their efforts, there likely would have been many more victims. the outpouring of support, prayer, and solidarity also reminds us that america is a country of compassion,

community, and empathy. we will stand with the victims and their families and pray and mourn with them as they cope with this horrific tragedy. madam speaker, i also want to offer my thoughts of comfort to gabby giffords' staff and want them to know that our hearts hang heavy and our thoughts and prayers are with them. as they try and persevere through this very difficult time. madam speaker, i'd also like to add my thanks to the brave law enforcement that has helped our nation over the last several days and every day. the law enforcement under the directorship of director mueller, the f.b.i., the local law enforcement in arizona, and from our perspective most especially the capitol bliss and -- capitol police and the office of the sergeant at arms

and sergeant at arms themselves that they are doing each and every minute as we try to cope with this tragedy. madam speaker, this resolution affirms the point all of us want to make, our hearts are heavy, we mourn with the victims, and i urge my colleagues to support it. madam speaker, i yield my remaining time to the gentleman from arizona, mr. flake, and ask unanimous consent that he be permitted to control that time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from arizona. million pastor: i yield four -- mr. pastor: i yield four minutes to the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for four minutes. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman from arizona for yielding. madam speaker, this week we pause the work of the house to mourn the loss of lives of six of our fellow citizens. one of those born on that day

of tragedy and carnage when thousands were slain and equally -- in an equally indiscriminate, heinous act of hate. citizens shot dead on saturday in tucson in pursuit of the right to peaceably assemble. . the amendment which gabrielle giffords read on this floor. we come as well to honor those who risked their lives to save others. to pray for the lives of the wounded. and to pray for our colleague and friend, congresswoman gabrielle giffords. today this tellble of representative democracy -- tell am of representative democracy is -- temple of representative democracy is a sadder place. but representative giffords' intelligence and toughness, her public spirit and her charm will, god willing, and with the

extraordinary med edcal care she is receiving -- medical care she is receiving, soon return to this body. and again be a practitioner and a model for the principles of civil debate and thoughtful deliberation on which this temple is founded. congresswoman giffords was attacked doing the work that is the heart of democracy as has been so eloquently observed by our speaker, mr. boehner. listening to her neighbors, listening to those who sent her here to washington to reflect their views. each one of us have done that work, each one of us has come back bearing their fears and their hopes, their convictions and their visions for the future. some of course are everyday hopes, some are matters of life and death.

but in each case we bring these hopes here and speak to our neighbors as best we can. that is what congresswoman giffords was doing. we do not know, of course, the specific motive which led the perpetrator of this crime to act. nor can we draw conclusions as to specific causes. but it seems to me it is a time for us to reflect on the heightened anger being projected on our public debate. and the daily denigration of those with whom we disagree and it is appropriate therefore that the wrenching, shocking, senseless violence of that day compel us to reflect on our own represent -- responsibility to tell per our words -- temper our words and rcht those with whom we disagree. let the failure to do so give incitement to the angriest and

most unstable among us. let us speak for our neighbors in a spirit of unity. not a false and shallow unity, not a unity that wishes away our differences or our discords, but a unity founded on our reverence for our democracy's most precious, most franl ilgift, its power -- fragile gift, its power to resolve without violence our questions. in a much darker time than ours, from the edge of a great war, president lincoln addressed these words to the men and women whom even in the war's depths he refused to see as anything other than his fellow americans, he said this, we are not enemies but friends. we must not be enemies, though

passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. there are in every society and in every culture and every nation those who reflect that cede -- creed, but if we love our country, if we honor our oath to country, constitution and to our nation of laws, we must live by those words. there is perhaps nothing we can do that will prevent the mindless violence committed by the few. but we can and must appeal to the best instincts of the many, to the families of the fallen we extend our sympathy. to the survivors we extend our prayers for a full and speedy recovery. and to our colleague, to our

beloved colleague, gabby, we extend our love, our hopes for her early return to the chamber and our ranks. all of us in this time have come together, reached out to one another, comforted one another and lifted one another up. may that sentiment not pass quickly from this body or from this country. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from arizona, mr. flake. mr. flake: madam speaker, i want to thank speaker boehner and the leadership on both sides of the aisle for bringing this resolution to the floor. this is indeed congress at its best. none of us will ever forget the feeling we had when we heard the news of the shooting last saturday, one of the victims of which was our dear friend and

colleague, gabrielle giffords. a few hours after the news broke, i was in attendance at the press conference in tucson at the medical center, amid the turmoil and the anguish of the occasion there were audible expressions of joy and relief in that room and around the country when the doctor announced that gabby could listen and respond. gabby's progress over the past few days has been measured in much the same manner. the squeeze of a hand, the raising of two fingers, a thumbs up sign. each gesture letting us know that she hears, that she is listening and responding. these traits, listening and responding, have defined gabrielle giffords' career as a legislater. let me give but one example born of another tragedy just 10 months ago. long-time arizonan known to provide assistance to those he found in need was murdered on his ranch near arizona's southern border. farmers and ranchers in arizona were understandably alarmed.

gabby listened and responded over and over she contacted and visited those affected, reassuring them that help was on its way. she convened monthly conference calls for the farming and ranching communities involving the border patrol, immigrations and customs enforcement and justice department and other federal agencies, each month broadening the circle to include more stakeholders. we learned of her efforts in delegation meetings here in washington where she enlisted additional support last august. much as a result of gabby's persistent efforts, the congress acted, providing unprecedented resources to improve security in the area. gabby listened, she responded and in the end congress responded as well. we are responding here today by giving thanks for the service of federal judge john roll and gave zimmerman for the public service they have rendered. we are responding today by recognizing the heroic life-saving efforts of people like daniel hernandez who delivered aid to congressman

giffords, those who tackled the gunman, to dorwin stoddard, who shielded his wife from the gunfire, selflessly giving his own life that she might live. we are responding today by joining john and roxanne green in mourning the loss of their 9-year-old daughter christina, as well as the friends and families of dorothy murray and phyllis schneck. we in the arizona delegation are proud of the wonderful state that we together with more than six million of our friends and neighbors call home. arizona is defined not by the actions of a lone, crazed gunman, but by the heroism and bravery of those who left us on saturday. and those like our friend and colleague gabrielle giffords who will continue to lead us in the future. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona, mr. pastor. mr. pastor: i yield three minutes to the leader of the caucus, mr. larson. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from connecticut is recognized for three minutes. mr. larson: i thank the gentleman from arizona, thank you, madam speaker. shake peer -- shakespeare tells us in "othello, that when aigo whispers mistruths in the ear of othello, something beautiful dies. something beautiful died in tucson, arizona, this past saturday. people who came to an event to hear their congresswoman speak, one little girl, 9 years old, all beautiful, all celebrating the great beauty and manlesty of our democrat -- majesty of our democracy passed on that day.

who knows what mistruths were bouncing around in the head of the assassin, who could know that? but something beautiful died. democracy died just a little that day. but beauty has a way of coming back. it resides in people like gabrielle giffords. she epitomizes all that is good and rich about serving in the united states congress. from her very demeanor, to her graciousness, to the way she carried herself in committee

with her legislation and how she held forth with her constituents in an accountable manner that has become so much a fabric of our democracy, our congress on the corner. she truly is a beautiful person and that beauty had others responding that day with acts of remember wism that have already been recounted on -- heroism that have already been recounted on this floor, and that beauty lies in state with her husband by her side and with the fervent prayers of a nation and hope, knowing and feeling confident that she will return from this awful incident and be back here

with us, gracing us with her beauty and dignity and vision and purpose. one of her last remarks was, in speaking to mr. troy grayson, director of harvard institute of politics, was to say, i would love to talk about what we can do to promote criticism, centrism and modderism. i think we need to figure out how to tone down our rhetoric and the partisanship that exists here. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from arizona, there -- mr. flake. mr. flake: i yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from arizona, mr. franks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona is recognized for such time as he may consume. mr. franks: and i thank the gentleman. madam speaker, the tragedy this week in arizona has been a reminder to all of us of the

brevity and delicate nature of this earthly life. it is my prayer this morning that god would grant all of the victims named in this resolution as well as the grieving families and loved ones who are mourning the loss of the six precious lives that were taken that day the comfort, the peace and the restoration that only he can give. madam speaker, it happens that the only one of those victims that i knew well personally was our own gabby giffords. madam speaker, gabby and i are from different parties and on past and happier days, many in arizona would often joke about the differences in our politics. but i can testify to you this morning, madam speaker, that in the four years that i have known gabby giffords, there has never

been one unkind or even ters word passed between us. gabby giffords is a precious, warm, caring, decent human being whose warmth and charm touched the hearts of all who know her. and the testimony of her life and work is proof that true tolerance is not in pretending that we have no differences. it is being kind and decent to each other in spite of those differences. and it strikes me as more than a poignant coincidence that only days before the tragedy we all listened to gabby giffords as she stood at this very podium and read the words of the constitution's first amendment which protects the right of the people to peaceably assemble. and then only days later, madam speaker, as she was exercising

that right and faithfully doing her job as a member of the united states congress, one berest of heart human compassion and respect for innocent human life mindlessly shattered her life and the lives of so many others around her. . madam speaker, the last words i had with gabby giffords were spoken not 10 feet from this podium when we exchanged simple with you genuine and heartfelt words and best wishes for the new year and the new congress. madam speaker, i will tell you that when i heard the news of this tragedy and the false report that gabby had died, i felt such an overwhelming sense of grief in my soul to think that those were the last words i would ever speak to her. and it was a reminder to me, madam speaker, of the brevity and preshness of human life and freedom and just how important it really is for each of us to

seize every moment and to speak kind and loving words to each other while we still can. so, madam speaker, it is my prayer that god would come -- would comfort the giffords family and all of the victims of this horrible tragedy and hold them closely in his arms as only he can and that he would someday very soon return a smiling gabby giffords to this chamber and to all of us. as clear eyed and as whole as when she left us. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona, mr. pastor. mr. pastor: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pastor: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pastor: i would also join my colleague from arizona, jeff flake, in thanking the leadership and bringing this resolution here this morning. i also want to recognize that

representative giffords staff is in the gallery with us this morning. so we want to wish them the best. madam speaker, it is with great sadness i rise today to pay tribute to six innocent and precious arizonans who, while participating in a public event, designated to strengthen our democracy, so tragically lost their lives in a senseless act of violence last saturday. i also want to pay tribute to those 14 arizonans, including our dedicated and beloved colleague, and my personal friend, gabby giffords, who were wounded. these americans all dedicated to freedom and all loving our country so much that they chose to use their sunday morning to participate in a public event to make their government better. recovering at different paces

and with unique and different needs, the city of tucson, pima county, and the entire state of arizona assist and welcome these brave heroes back to our communities once they have reef covered. gabby continues to fight, literally fight, every minute, for her life. and we are all reaching toward our god in prayer, contemptation, -- contemplation, and whispers, in a unified effort to bring about a quick recovery and return to us here in this house of representatives. those who perished, dorothy morris, gabe zimmerman, christina taylor green, dorwan stoddard, and john roll will be missed by their families, their colleagues, their friends, and all arizonans. >> comments from house members earlier today, they agreed by

voice vote to h.r. 32, recognizing the victims in the tucson, arizona, shooting. momentarily here on c-span, we'll take you live to channel nine news, kgun and later, the mchale center on the university of arizona campus where president obama and others will be speaking, that's at 8:00 eastern. now live to kgun news in tucson. . the good news is it was an isolated event. thankfully we don't live in a place where we should live in fear of this kind of a thing. we should not live in fear. but i think the reality, you know, and the randomness hit a lot of people. >> one of the people i was talking to about the event on saturday was sergio avala, who actually of course works on weekends and he says so many

times when's giffords has been here and holding her meetings with constituents, he's assigned to cover them. >> it's not unusual for the media to go to these events. we hear all the time and get rundowns of events from our local leaders and politicians and saying hey, we're going to be at this event saturday, come by and check it out. yeah, it's not unusual for us to swing by, get some video and put it on the news for the night. a couple of our weekend crews were thankful they were not there when it happened. >> one of the chairifications the peoplea county sheriff's office -- the pima county sheriff's office has made when all this happened, when they're questioned to provide security for the politicians, they don't turn them down. they do provide the security. it's always a matter of whether the politician feels as though there could be something that dangerous and of course there were a number of times during

the last election where gabrielle giffords did question some security because things got very hot during the last election and they did provide security. >> you were mentioning that -- you know, with regards to security and the shooting itself and what happened saturday, we are hearing more and more as time goes by about the suspect in this case, about jerod houghner's connections with the law, run-ins and pima county sheriff's department had been involved in his -- with his family. so as we continue to piece together the pieces of that puzzle in particular it is going to paint a picture of the person we're dealing with. we've learned had his family is not yet prepared to talk to the media, though they did release

a statement that was written, so yes, we will -- as security issues are looked at on behalf of our lawmakers, as, you know, the background comes out about the suspect in this case, you know, we will start putting together a lot of pieces of this puzzle to learn more about how we move forward. >> and now we are ready to begin an extended edition of 9:00 on your side at 5:00. dd >> once again, good evening, i'm guy ashley. >> and i'm jepfer waddell. we continue our together we thrive with a special hour long edition of k-gun on your side. president obama did go straight to tucson to talk to the families of the victims. >> we're joined live from u.m.c. >> president obama essentially

got whisked in the back of this hospital by the secret service. we never got to see him in person but since early this morning it has been a growing sense of speculation that has led to these crowds here hoping they can catch a glimpse of the president and then speculation turned to confirmation as we witnessed the motorcade passing through, surrounding streets blocked off. in a series of police motorcycles passing down the street and then eventually we saw president obama in a limousine. we actually didn't get to see him through the tinted windows, but people who have been out here since early this morning and have been waiting for hours are relieved that he is here. >> it's just a very hard day, very hard. i didn't think it was going to hit me this hard. >> a community, a nation consoled by the presence of a leader. they're helping this presidential visit will fulfill a need to move past a very dark place. >> just be here for us to help us get over this sad and tranlic days that we're going

to pass and live for a while. >> outside the hospital were the most severely wounded of the surviving victims remain, there is comfort that obama's mark in tucson will be a long lasting one. >> as the leader of our country, i think some people need the calmness of somebody that knows we can get despair. >> for those filled with faith, seeing such positive attention is an extra boost and another step forward. >> i feel a lot of hope. people are hopeful. go down to the university, it's unbelievable. people are waiting in line. there's thousands. >> it's a great experience and in a tragic, tragic way. >> despite such positive energy seeping through the overwhelming sadness, many grieving are uplifted but realistic there are many tough days that lie ahead. >> and it's going to be a day or two, it's going to be years and years before she can get better, for our community to get better and for us to believe again that everybody is safe.

>> and visibly still a lot of emotion out here. president obama is said to have met with family members of the remaining six hospitalized victims and also meeting with some of those victims personally. with congresswoman giffords being the only remaining victim in critical condition it was unclear if the president was able to make it to her room or if he met simply with her family members. reporting outside of u.m.c., we're on your side. >> in just about an hour, president obama will speak at the public memorial service at mchale center where a crowd has already packed the arena. craig smith has been there all day and joins us live from just outside mchale. >> guy, as kgun 9 was showing you minutes ago, the president has arrived and his motorcade has pulled up alongside on the east side of mchale and he's safely inside. as best as we can tell from our perspective right here. because they deliberately obscure your view a little bit in the name of safety. but a lot of people, a lot of

people were vying for seats in the roughly 14,000 seat mchale earlier today. a lot of them got here actually last night to try to improve their chances of getting here. but getting inside. let's go ahead and showed you what it was like as people vied for a place in this auditorium. >> things like this happen when a huge event comes together this fast. there was a mini stampede when police decided letting people line up along campbell was too dangerous because someone might stumble in front of a car. our photographer tried to catch people who suddenly lost their place in line. >> i believe it's a shame, i really do. >> does this mean everyone for themselves now? >> we don't know. there's no organization. we were in line. i thought it was fine. then everyone started running and moving so i guess we have to move or miss your chance to get in. >> people started running to wait in another line over here and we just run. it seems like we've been

running all morning for about five miles already and we're tired. >> we played musical chairs around the cherry parking garage, everybody running and running we literally lapped it three times. i stopped and asked the secret service w do you know where the line is forming? they didn't know. >> if they don't get 14,000 seats at mchale, the stadium can take an overflow crowd to watch it on the big screen tv. there were some pockets of peace in all the commotion. including a service near main. >> in truth this is a challenge for the living, not the deceased. though we may not understand why their time in this world came to an end, they completed their mission and now have gone back. >> we know mchale is beyond full so the overflow crowd has gone to arizona stadium where they'll be able to watch what goes on, not in person but at least through the big screen tv's there. it's kind of interesting at the moment, out here on the outside of mchale, we can hear little samples of what we might expect

to be as part of the program, little bits of musicians practicing, the performances that they will have as part of this. we can hear a little snippet of "amazing grace" going on deep in the background. perhaps we can hear it and you can't from this perspective. it's going to be a very huge event, something of national, really international importance and it will be happening here right here in tucson because of such a regrettable incident on saturday. reporting live at u of a, craig smith, kgun 9 on your side. >> we can hear it. >> you can faintly hear it in the background. craig told us a massive crowds at u.m.a. >> we talked to some of those people to find out why it was so important for them to be at tonight's memorial. she's live at the u of a campus. >> that's right, guy. and while no one is around me right now, just moments ago, this is where the line was ending. but as you can see, the traffic, everyone is moving very quickly trying to make it into the stadium and i'll let

you take a closer look at the line there. earlier today we spoke to several people who say they're here because they want to be a part of the community and they want to remember all of the victims and be there to support everyone who is affected by this. most of the people we spoke to at the end of the line say they knew they weren't going to be able to make it into mchale. however, they said they still thought it was worth coming out here standing in line, communicating with other people, getting to know neighbors and people here in the community and also just be able to be here and take part in something that they say will last forever in their hearts and in their memory. again, the line is moving fairly fast. at this point we've heard that mostly everyone who wants to be here will be able to make it into the stadium. and so far we haven't heard many people who are disappointed that they will not be able to go into the center. guy and jennifer? >> having been to a lot of football games there at the stadium, that crowd right there from our vantage point seems to rival that of a football crowd.

any numbers yet? >> you know, we don't have numbers yet because they're still filling in. at this point what we do know is they're trying to fill up the east side of the stadium first and at that point they'll have to decide whether or not they can let more people go out there but they say they do have a large group out here and they're hoping to accommodate everyone who wants to be here tonight. >> thank you. >> earlier this afternoon, mchale center was packed with people preparing for the event. >> tammy tells us the eyes of the world will be on tucson tonight. >> we're told the crowd that lined up to get to mchale exceeded capacity. what a sight that was out there this afternoon. >> impressive. but as you heard, you can still be a part of the memorial to either go to the stadium or join us here. we will carry the service live right here on kgun 9 on your side starting at about 6:00. >> an emotional day in tucson and an emotional day on capitol

hill. >> giffed -- gabrielle giffords' presence dominated the house floor as the members paid tribute to her and others who were shot, killed, wounded saturday. house speaker john boehner and minority leader nancy pelosi worry -- wore their hearts on their sleeve. >> our hearts are broken but our spirit is not. this is a time for the house to lock arms in prayer for the fallen and the wounded and resolve to carry on a dialogue of democracy. we may not yet have all the final answers, but we already have the answer that matters most, that we're americans and we'll make it through this difficult period. we will have the last word. >> words are inadequate at a time like this but nonetheless, i hope it is a comfort to those

who have lost loved ones or who are injured on saturday that so many people mourn the losses but also pray for the survivors and care for them at this very difficult time. >> lawmakers signed two condolences books for shooting victims that were placed in the rotunda. >> now i believe we have a live look inside mchale center where the crowds have been gathering all day long to be able to get into mchale. they were allowed in beginning at about 3:45 this afternoon. it's going to be a full house there tonight. you can see a number of doctors will be there. >> i see two doctors there in the center of your screen who are there meeting folks, screening folks. so we do have a lot of dignitaries. i see the mayor up there to the left of your screen.

we have a lot of people who are in attendance, more than 14,000 in mchale center right now. the rest of them over at the stadium and we will continue to see so many of our local leaders, our dignitaries in the stadium as the president is set to make his remarks between 6:00 and 7:00. he will not be the first speaker of the night. we will hear from governor brewer and u of a president robert shelton and attorney general eric holder and hear from the homeland secretary-general fer napolitano, all those people before the president takes the stage. >> we'll get back to mchale in a few minutes. gabrielle giffords's began her third term of the u.s. house of representatives and narrowly won re-election in november. >> she's always been a visible politician in southern arizona and staff members tell us she was always running late because she never turned anyone away who wanted to talk with her.

steve nunez has more. >> at first the details were sketchy and then word spread quickly giffed was one of 18 people shot. five died at the scene and another at the hospital. giffords 's was rushed to the media snen. several reported she died and emotions ran high and people immediately began gathering at giffed -- giffords' congressional office. >> wonderful woman, loved the people of arizona and just beyond words. >> by late afternoon, the u.m.c. doctor faced the media, the neurosurgeon performed surgery on giffords. his announcement eased everyone's mind but not their sorrow. >> the congresswoman is not deceased. she is in critical condition and the neurosurgeon finished operating on her and i can tell you at the current time i'm very optimistic about recovery.

>> we then learned giffords was shot once in the head. >> she was shot one time. >> where, sir? >> in the head, through and through. >> the mayor reported he met with giffords distraught family. >> he was in a wheelchair and overcome with emotion. he had the family members around him. he wanted to be with his daughter. >> a candlelight vigil outside u.m.c. became the place people came to play for all the victims, especially giffords who had survived the worst. on sunday morning, giffords' home synagogue prayed for the whole community to heal. ♪ >> on monday morning in the darkness of tragedy more heroes emerged including giffords intern who may have saved her life. >> i propped her up against my

chest to make sure she was breathing properly and there was no danger of asphyxiation and i started applying pressure to her wound to make sure the head injury, we could stem the blood loss as much as possible. >> giffords communication director then told us the congresswoman remained in critical condition but was still able to respond to doctors commands by raising two of her fingers. then during the hospital scheduled press conference, dr. michael marmol reported he is cautiously optimistic about giffords' condition. >> on top of that the cat scans are showing there is no progression of that swelling. we're not out of the woods yet, that swelling sometimes can take three days or five days to maximize but every day that goes by and we don't see an increase, we're slightly more optimistic. >> meanwhile the candlelight vigil continued to grow and so did the prayerful. on tuesday, optimism turned to good news, dr. lamol reported giffords is able to breathe on

her own. >> this kind of injury, i think we've said it a couple times, a penetrating injury through the skull, really the survival, let alone recovery, is abysmal. she has no right to look this good and she does. we're hopeful. >> on wednesday, dr. rei reports giffords condition remains the same but no change is good. >> i'm happy to state none of the downward events have occurred which is exactly what we kind of want to happen at this point and we have really decreased the amount of sedation that we're giving her and as a result of that, she is becoming more and more spontaneous all the time. she is not out of the woods yet but perhaps the prayers are beginning to work miracles. >> if you want to send something, the congresswoman's office has set up an email account for well-wishers, the address,

giffordswellwishes@gmail.com. and has asked food donations has been made to the american red cross where a fund has been set up. ask for the giffed's hunger funds or donate to another of her favorite charities, the american red cross. we've set up links at our recovery session at kgun 9. despite the shooting her office is open. >> the staffers came to prepare for today's opening and found a growing memorial out front. visitors continue to leave messages on a card and drop off flowers and candles. mark kimball said the addition to reopen was tough but they did it for the community. >> people still need help and come to congresswoman giffords 's office looking for assistance. and the people still need help and if gabby were here she'd want us to open the office.

>> gabe zimmerman was among those killed saturday, her staffer, and two others ron barber and pam simon are recovering from their injuries. a number of other representatives have offered to help giffords' staffers. >> signs of support are showing up all over time. >> the marquee at the fox theater reads "gabby and all in our hearts." at the screening room, our thoughts are with gabby. her staff and everyone affected by this tragedy. and at the rialto, simply, we love you, gabby. >> buses also showing their support, signs that usually display route information instead read "together we thrive." drivers who shuttled people to mchale center volunteered to work for three. union leaders tell us the drivers worked extra hours between shifts and came in on their day off or even gave up vacation time to help out. that is the spirit of the

community, so good to see. >> been several days since the tragedy changed tucson forever. >> we look at the events leading up to today. >> gabrielle giffords was hosting a meet and greet at the safeway on saturday. at around 10:00 in the morning, everything changed when a gunman showed up and suddenly opened fire. >> the screaming and crying and the bleeding. >> the wodse laying on the concrete. >> 19 people were hit by the bullet and six of them didn't make it. >> within minutes helicopters were picking up victims and transporting them to nearby hospitals and that's when they got word congresswoman giffords was one of the victims hit. >> it took the air out of me.

i was flabbergasted and don't know how else to put it. it was like somebody punched me hard in the chest. >> within two hours, the scene was blocked off, roads were shut down and pima county sheriff clarence dupnik was addressing the community. >> i hope all americans are saddened and are shocked as we are. >> sheriffs arrested jared loughner at the scene. he was dropped off at the scene by a cabdriver. after he started firing shots, bystanders reacted, holding him down until officers arrived. >> somebody said grab the magazine so he got it out of his pocket and it ended up by the sidewalk by his hand but i was able to grab it before he did and get the magazine. >> i came over and put my legs on his knees and my arm on the back of the small of his back. another guy was stepping on his neck and people had his neck. he wasn't moving. >> he was down? now he faces charges for murder

and attempted murder but the community faces much more. the loss of innocent victims and a tragedy that will never be forgotten. k gp gun 9 on your side. >> a lot of us are still struggling to come to terms with those events. >> certainly understandable. and people deal with it in different ways but if you're having trouble or feel like you need to talk, there is help. you can call the southern arizona crisis response network. the number is on your screen. it is 622-6000. indeed our thoughts are with the families of those killed. >> from a 9-year-old girl to a federal judge, to a man whose step daughters called him daddy? a look at their lives and legacy they leave behind when we return? >> that's part of the 5:00 news, 5:00 mountain news from

kgun tv in tucson, arizona. coming up at 6:00 mountain, 8:00 pacific we'll take you live to the mchale center at the university of arizona. you've heard much about the crowds gathering there at the university at the mchale center. the center holds some 12,000 to 14,000 people and as you heard in the reports, they have so many people that want to, they've overflowed folks to the university of arizona stadium and the crowd there will see it on the giant jumbotron video. a full crowd at the mchale center waiting for the arrival of president obama and others, other speakers include the president of the university, the governor of arizona, the attorney general eric holder and homeland security secretary janet napolitano and others. again, the program set to get underway in 35 minutes but may start earlier than that. the video you're seeing here inside the mchale center and i'll see a lot of red shirts in

there, those are volunteers from the university community, both students and faculty there. some of the preliminary singing underway and we'll take you live there once the scheduled speakers and others begin to arrive. at the meantime we're going to get historical perspective on presidents and congress during times of crisis. we're joined this morning by thomas man, crongsal historian and historian douglas brinkley from rice university, frequent guests on the c-span networks, they talked about pastimes including president bush and congress after 9/11, president reagan following the challenger disaster and president clinton in 1993 following oklahoma city for some perspective on what president obama might say this evening. >> we want to welcome thomas man who is evenor fellow at the brooks institution. also joining us is doug brinkley from rice university.

let me begin with you, the discussion about the u.s. in the aftermath of national tragedies, mr. brinkley. let's begin with the role of the president, what is it? >> the president has to become healer and chief in a sense. he's the agent of healing. the whole country after an event like tucson, we're hurting right now and there aren't easy answers. we're not sure there is going to be a big congressional debate over gun selling policy. we're not sure whether there's going to be increased security on congressional candidates or people in statehouses or governor's mansions. what we do know is that the behavior, the an harnte -- the abherrant behavior and the feelings for this young man killing dangerous people, somebody has to move us beyond the mourning behavior and frame it for us. president obama going to tucson

like bill clinton going to oklahoma city in 1995 or ronald reagan with the challenger disaster in 1986. is going to have to say words about heal the family, kind of soothe our national mood but also talk about there being real evil in the modern world and that we have to confront it, we have to give a moral speech and a speech that's continuinged with a kind of spirtuality, either quoting from the bible or some kind of spiritual text. and at the end of the speech has to give some hope. i recently reread bill clinton's oklahoma city speech and talked about planting trees on the white house lawn for the victims of oklahoma. he needs to also make arizona feel good, president obama, most of the people of tucson are amazing folks and it's a wonderful state and the whole state is dealing -- feeling very ostracized and hurt. many people knew the people that were shot. so he needs to kind of bring that state back into the union,

if you'd like, emotionally. >> "the arizona daily star" this morning has a piece from their editorial pages, their view is -- they have a note to the obamas, despite tragedy, this is a good town. and that they write in there that they would like the obamas to get to know how great of a town it can be. thomas mann, he has to, according to the papers, steer clear of politics? >> i think that's very right. if there was any intimateation that he is trying to garner political advantage from this, the opportunity for the country would be lost. i think doug is exactly right, he's healer in chief. seeing the reaction over the last couple of days, i'm not talking about tucson, i'm talking about the broader political partisan debate that's ensued as to whose fault it is and whether the heated,

ugly, vial and prone rhetoric we hear is coming from one side or the other in in some way caused this. i think all of that is a reflection of our times in some respects, the worst of our times. and president obama needs to get us beyond that. and i suspect that's what he's going to try to do. >> here's the headline in "the new york times" for enter boehner, rampage imposes its own agenda. the shooting rampage in arizona upended those plans. mr. boehner is being called on to play a far less partisan role in leading the republicans and democrats alike through a difficult period. mr. mann, what is the role of the speaker of the house? >> i think that's really quite accurate and i think speaker boehner has rich to the occasion so far. the early maneuverings in this congress suggested open

partisan war over repealing the health care act and intense battles over domestic spending. but speaker boehner immediately sensed a new situation and canceled immediate business and i think is doing his utmost to atone the rhetoric. frankly, that's what's needed right now, to tone it down. and i think the speaker is a constitutional officer of the united states, not simply the leader of the majority, and he or she has a responsibility to speak on behalf of the entire congress and country. and i think boehner understands that. >> here is doug brinkley, a piece in "usa today", amid troubles, presidents inspire and heal. and it takes a look back at different tragedies that have happened to our country and

when and how and what past presidents have said. i want to show for our viewers what president reagan had to say after the challenger accident. >> leam, i plan to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the union but events earlier today led me to change those plans. today is a day for mourning and remembering. nancy and i are pained to the corby the tragedy of the shuttle challenger. we know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. this is truly a national loss. 19 years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground, but we've never lost an astronaut in flight. we never had a tragedy like this. and perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. but they, the challenger seven, were aware of the dangers and overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly.

we mourn seven heroes. >> doug brinkley, what did you hear there, what was the reaction? >> well, it's a peggy noonan speech and ronald reagan did a wonderful job of paying homage to the people who died in the challenger. when you go in a space program, the risks are so high and you're training and any time you go in space you know it could be your last time alive at any moment. that's part of the risk of joining the space program. in this case in tucson, it's a congresswoman doing a meet and greet at a local grocery store, so it creates a different kind of mourning and filled with anger right now. there's a lot of political warfare. and partisan bickering. that wasn't the case in the challenger, our country was unified over that. so obama has a tougher task in

a way. he's got to not stoke hate rhetoric against him or against his opposition. he's got to kind of keep an even keeled tone. and i think bill clinton at oklahoma city is the analogous speech. i might add, when we're looking at tucson, i'm looking at other assassinations or assassination attempts and it's almost eerily similar to what happened to giffed -- giffords to the attempted assassination of george wallace in maryland when you had a real misanthropic kook who wanted to kill somebody and fumbled the job and couldn't kim the primary person he was after in close range. i see great similarities in that and also to the sense of wallace and congresswoman giffords, they weren't presidential people, not everybody was invested in gabby's tucson or george

wallace's movement, and so it was sort of a periphery event where something like oklahoma city had such a tragic consequence for a company, made us rethink terrorists. oklahoma city brought the climate of partisan warfare down a notch and you see that happening right now in tucson. most americans are not in the mood right now for a partisan food fight this week. but what went wrong in tucson, people would like to have a proper mourning and believe we're a country capable of having the dignity at a time of tragedy. >> that memorial service with president obama gets underway at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. we have coverage here on c-span. "usa today" notes past presidents, their messages have customarily been invoked national pride and resolve. mr. man, is that also the role of congress. i mean, when you think of pictures of after 9/11 and the

members of congress coming together on the capital steps. >> oh, absolutely. it's partly a way of showing national unity in the face of a crisis or trauma or just horrific outbreak of violence, frankly members of congress don't come together very often. they are separated into party caucuses, the level of debate is very intense and heated and these occasions call for something very different. you know, it's not that the rhetoric of politics caused this mentally unbalanced person to commit violence. but that this sad occasion provides an opportunity to try

to tone down the intensity of partisan great, -- partisan debate and what you'll see unfolding over the next several days. >> historians thomas mann and brinkley from this morning's "washington journal" previewing some of the tone you might hear this evening when president obama speaks to a packed house at mchale center at the university of arizona and more outside at the university of arizona football stadium. some 12,000 to 14,000 people inside the mchale center. the president will speak, the president of the university, also the governor of arizona, jan brewer, homeland security secretary and former state governor janet napolitano, attorney general eric holder as well, and they'll hear from students, too, including the presidents of the student body, the president, president obama, it is, has just wrapped up a visit to the hospital where gabrielle giffords and others are being treated. the president, according to the

associated press, has visited the intensive care unit and spent about 10 minutes with gabrielle giffords. and there's representative trent franks of arizona, one of a number who flew out with the president on air force i. as we mentioned, the a.p. says the president spent about 10 minutes with giffords and her husband, mark kelly. he also met with four other victims who are still in the hospital and spent some time, too, at the memorial at the university of arizona which you may have seen some video earlier. trent franks, one of the bipartisan delegation that flew out on air force i with the president. also flying out was supreme court justice anthony kennedy. he is not on the speaking schedule this evening. so again, in about 20 minutes or so, probably earlier, we will take you live here to the university of arizona for the thrive together, we thrive together is the name of the ceremony tonight that is honoring the rescuers and the survivors in remembering the victims of saturday's shooting.

the u.s. house today spent five hours or more discussing h.r. 32, the sense of the house resolution honoring those victims and those rescuers and remembering the lives lost and all of that, by the way, you can find on our website in our video library at cspan.org. there's well over five hours of it and many members spoke on the house floor today including jeff henserling of texas. >> frankly, i'm not sure my vocabulary or thoughts can do the moment justice. i would say in the victim that we know, congresswoman giffords, gabby, if there is a sweeter, a kinder, a more gentle member of the house, i

know not their name. so many of us consider her to be a friend. i think if there was a poll of members of the house, she would probably be voted least likely for offend any human being. which makes this incident, this tragedy so unfathomable. we all pray for her full recovery. this house is not whole without her smile, without her voice, without her presence. madam speaker, i did not know gabriel zimmerman, but i know a lot of great americans, young people, who decide to dedicate themselves to public service and work on my staff.

and i know how they are a part of my extended family. i didn't know dorwin stoddard, phyllis scheck, doherty morris. -- dort had, y morris. but -- dorthy morris. but they're parents and spouses. we think of our own family. i didn't know judge john roll, but again, somebody who committed their life to public service. and last but not least, i don't know christina taylor-green. i didn't have that pleasure. a 9-year-old child thrilled to learn about our representative democracy and brought down in an act of evil. i never met her. but i think about my 8-year-old daughter, and i think about my

7-year-old son, and how they learn about their father's business. so all of us come together in this time of mourning but this time of resolution. we mourn the loss of these great american citizens, but we resolve that the representative democracy that the traditions of the house will not be a casualty of this tragedy. the people's house will be open. the members' representative will be accessible. it can be no different in this country. can i have an additional 30 seconds? >> madam speaker, i yield to the gentleman an additional 30 seconds. >> the gentleman has an additional 30 seconds. >> we cannot allow the tragedy to be compounded by changing the way we conduct the people's business. this cannot happen. and so we come here today to mourn, but we come here to be

resolved. that this individual who is responsible for a heinous, evil act will not succeed. in interfering with the people's business in the people's house. godspeed in her recovery to gabby, our colleague. i yield back. >> jeff hensarling on the floor of the house. waiting to take you live, waiting for the events to begin at the mchale center at the university of arizona as dignitaries and others arrive. as you see in that look there, we have anthony kennedy, supreme court justice, and former supreme court justice sandra day o'connor among those arriving for the events set to get underway this evening at 8:00 eastern. ♪ dd

mckayle

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[no audio] >> this is inside the mckale memorial center, the university of arizona in tucson, a capacity crowd of somewhere between 12,000 and 14,000 people. we understand there's an additional large crowd as well at the university football stadium. the official ceremony is supposed to get underway at 8:00 eastern, 6:00 p.m. mountain, about 15 minutes or less from now. and there in the blue dress in the center, one of the speakers this evening, the governor of the state, jan brewer. behind her, f.b.i. director robert mueller who flew to arizona this weekend to take personal command of the investigation into the

shootings.

♪ [applause]

>> talking with her husband,

that's mark kelly. and in another 35 minutes meeting with -- >> we are getting a feed, as you can see, getting wendell goler, this feed is what's called a pool feed so we're seeing a lot of different shots from dignitaries. we saw john mccain and his wife cindy arriving. john mccain came back, cut short a congressional delegation visit to south america to return for the memorial ceremony which again is being held at the university of arizona in their mckale fieldhouse. the fieldhouse holding some 12,000 to 14,000 people. what they've had to do because the crowd is so huge, they've had to open up the football stadium there so those folks could watch the events on jumbotron. we're waiting for the events to get underway. president obama of course will speak, the governor jan brewer will speak and many others as well and should get underway in just a few minutes.

[no audio] >> a look outside at one of the many buildings at the university of arizona. again, waiting for the event to get underway in tucson at the mckale center. we mentioned earlier that the house was in much of the day today discussing the resolution in honor of the victims, the memorial for those who died, some five hours or more of comments by house members beginning at 10:00 eastern this morning, new york's carolyn mccarthy was one of them. >> thank you. the great state of new york certainly sends their wishes and their prayers to the great state of arizona. new york state went through a

horror, the same as arizona is going through now. it's so parallel, it's scary. six killed, 20 injured. my husband dying, murdered, my son shot. but this is really a message of hope because my son did survive. many of the victims survived. but i think the wonderful thing that needs to be out there are the prayers that came through from all parts of this country. gabby's staff is suffering terribly. those that have died, your families are suffering terribly. and those that have been wounded have to go through the pain to heal. but i'll say to all of you, time will heal you.

you'll never forget but time will make you smile again. gabby would be so proud of this chamber today. one of the things that gabby is known for and how bipartisan she is, and she has brought this chamber together. it's just a shame that a tragedy has to bring us all together. you know, gabby's going to be fine and she will be back here. and she'll be over there hugging people, talking to people, but that's what we as a nation have to learn. we can disagree but we need to work together. that is what gabby wants. and that's what she'll push when she gets back here.

so with that, the prayers of this nation go to all. god bless our country. >> and needless to say, that resolution passed by unanimous voice vote in the u.s. house earlier today and all of that is available on our website at cspan.org. in a couple minutes at the university of arizona in tucson, the we thrive together event will get underway with president obama and a number of other folks speaking throughout the hour long -- what's expected to be hour long ceremony. the speaker of the house nancy pelosi on your screen right now. again, the ceremony should get underway beginning in about four or five minutes, 8:00 eastern. [no audio]

>> you saw speaker pelosi there on the floor of the mckale center at the university of arizona in tucson. the speaker was in washington today starting out some of the initial comments on the resolution honoring the -- those who lost their lives and those injured in the shootings on saturday. she also stopped by the canon house office building today to be one of the many folks who come by to sign the book in honor of the victims and we want to show you some of that from earlier today.

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