[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 20 (Tuesday, March 1, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: March 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
OBSERVANCE OF THE ATTACK OF MARCH 1, 1954, ON MEMBERS OF THE U.S. HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
The SPEAKER. Under the Speaker's announced policy of February 11,
1994, the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Emerson] is recognized during
morning business for 5 minutes.
Mr. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to note the fact that it was
40 years ago today that the House was assaulted by a group of
terrorists who were in this corner gallery here. This is not an
occasion that we celebrate, but it is one that we note, and 40 years
seems to be a significant milestone.
Mr. Speaker, I happened to be a Page at the time. That was the second
session of the 83d Congress. This being the second session of the 103d
Congress means that an awful lot of water has gone over the dam in the
intervening period. Another Page at the time, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania [Mr. Kanjorski], I gather, will be here at a later period
today and may speak on this subject also and I will join him then for
further exposition of the event.
Mr. Speaker, I shall not speak at length just now. I wanted to say
that there is a lot of curiosity on this subject, which is a reason
that I bring it up today. I was visiting recently with our
distinguished Parliamentarian, Mr. Brown, and his associate, Mr.
Johnson, and they told me about a file that exists in the
Parliamentarian's office noting the occasion, what happened on that
particular day.
They called to my attention a memorandum in that file that was
written by an employee of the Parliamentarian's office, Mr. Joe
Metzger, whom I recall. Mr. Metzger apparently was given to making side
notes, separate and apart from the record, of occurrences in the House
of Representatives that were unusual in nature.
On a day or so following the event of March 1 in the House of
Representatives, Mr. Metzger wrote a narrative describing what occurred
on that occasion, which, quite frankly, is as good a report as I have
seen anywhere. He was here. He saw it all. I too, saw the event as it
occurred.
Mr. Speaker, I was the overseer of the Pages at the time on the
Democratic side of the House, so I had a very good view of the gallery
in which this incident occurred, but there was a difficulty at that
time getting ambulances and first aid to the Members who had been
wounded. Five Members had been wounded.
Pages were called upon to be stretcher bearers. When the ambulances
arrived, I exited the Chamber, having helped carry a couple of Members
to awaiting ambulances, and I was not here for the aftermath. Some of
the more interesting details of that day were in the aftermath of the
shooting, which appear in Mr. Metzger's account.
Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the account of Mr. Metzger of
the House shooting which he had prepared somewhere in the day or so
immediately following the incident on March 1, 1954. I think the
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Kanjorski] has reserved time for a
later period in the day, and I shall reserve the remainder of my
remarks and will join him on that occasion.
The account of Mr. Metzger is as follows:
On Monday, March 1, 1954 (83d Congress, 2d Session), the
House was considering a resolution from the Rules Committee,
H. Res. 450, to provide for the consideration of H.J. Res. 3,
a joint resolution amending the Act approved July 12, 1951,
relating to the supplying of agricultural workers from
Mexico. After the previous question was ordered on agreeing
to the resolution, a point of order was made that a quorum
was not present, and the Speaker determined that 243 Members
were present, a quorum. The question was put on agreeing to
the resolution, and a division being demanded, by Mr. Cooley
of N.C., the Speaker counted the Members rising in the
affirmative and announce that the ``Ayes'' would be seated
and the ``Noes'' should rise. At this moment, at
approximately 2:30 p.m., a fusillade came from the gallery of
the House. Four Puerto Rican terrorists, 1 woman and 3 men,
fired 20 to 30 pistol shots from Gallery 11, located in the
southwest corner of the chamber to the left and rear of the
Speaker. The woman fired several shots, some upward into the
ceiling and probably also some downward into the crowd of
Members on the floor. She waved a Puerto Rican flag and
shouted ``Viva Puerto Rico.'' The men fired wildly into and
among the Members, scattering bullets from one side of the
chamber to the other. Five Members were wounded. Other
bullets struck the table of the majority leader, unoccupied
seats, and also the side walls at the rear toward the
northeast corner of the chamber. The House was thrown into a
state of utter disorder, and the Speaker, on his own
initiative and without request from the floor, at 2:32 p.m.
declared the House in recess subject to the call of the
Chair. Members wounded were: Mr. Bentley of Michigan, Mr.
Jensen of Iowa, Mr. Davis of Tennessee, Mr. Fallon of
Maryland, and Mr. Roberts of Alabama.
Other Members, including three who were physicians, Dr.
Judd of Minnesota, Dr. Miller of Nebraska, and Dr. Fenton of
Pennsylvania, assisted and gave first aid to the wounded.
After a recess of about ten minutes the Speaker called the
House to order, and on motion of the Majority Leader, Mr.
Halleck of Indiana, the House adjourned at 2:42 p.m.
Ambulances had been called and in a short time after the
shooting the wounded Members were taken to hospitals.
Meanwhile, the Puerto Ricans who fired the shots had left
the gallery. The woman, Lolita Lebron, and two of the men,
Rafael Miranda and Andres Cordero, were captured and disarmed
before they were more than a few feet beyond the gallery
door. The other man, Irving Flores Rodriguez, escaped from
the Capitol, but he was arrested in a Washington bus station
later in the day.
Injuries sustained by the Members were as follows:
Mr. Bentley of Michigan was struck high in the chest. The
bullet perforated the right lung; drove through the
diaphragm; tore through the liver, which was virtually
shattered, and went through the stomach. At the outset Mr.
Bentley's condition was regarded as critical, and he was said
to have on a 50-50 chance to survive.
Mr. Jensen of Iowa, was struck in the right shoulder. The
bullet passed across to the left side and lodged under his
left shoulder blade.
Mr. Davis of Tennessee, was hit by a bullet which passed
through the calf of the right leg.
Mr. Fallon of Maryland, was wounded in the fleshy part of
the upper thigh on the right side, and the bullet passed all
the way through.
Mr. Roberts of Alabama, was struck in the left leg, the
bullet entering the fleshy area just above the knee and
passing downward and all the way through.
Mr. Bentley, Mr. Fallon, and Mr. Roberts were taken to
Casualty Hospital, and Mr. Jensen and Mr. Davis were taken to
Bethesda Naval Medical Center.
The Puerto Ricans involved in the shooting were identified
by police as belonging to the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party.
Two other members of that party had tried to assassinate
President Truman in 1950, at Blair House on Pennsylvania
Avenue, N.W., which was being used as the temporary Executive
Mansion at that time. The four terrorists were all residents
of New York City. The woman, Lolita Lebron, a divorcee 34
years old, boasted that the shooting was planned on February
22d, and was staged to draw attention to the question of
independence for Puerto Rico. Accordingly to police, the
incident was timed to coincide with the opening of the Tenth
Inter-American Conference in Caracas, Venezuela.
According to the District of Columbia Police, the guns used
by the Puerto Ricans and later taken from them were four
automatic pistols of German make, 3 9-millimeter Lugers (one
with an 8-inch barrel and two with 4-inch barrels) and a 9-
millimeter ``P-38'' Walther with a 4-inch barrel.
The shooting came as a complete surprise. Many Members who
were present on the floor of the House at the time later
stated they thought a series of fire-crackers had been set
off. Even after seeing the pistols in the hands of people in
the gallery, some Members thought blank cartridges were being
fired. Only after seeing that some Members were wounded and
seeing holes in the furniture did many Members realize that
real bullets were being fired at the House in session. All
found it almost incredible that such a thing was actually
happening.
After the wounded were taken to hospitals, conferences were
held by the leaders of both parties regarding security
measures which might be necessary for the protection of the
House and its Members.
All outstanding gallery cards were cancelled, effective the
day following the shooting. New cards were printed for
distribution the following day, with a request being made to
all Members by the Speaker that gallery cards be issued only
to persons who could be vouched for by each Member issuing
the new cards.
A Congressional Reception which had been scheduled at the
White House for the evening of March 2, 1954, was cancelled
by the White House.
Expressions of indignation at the shooting and
communications expressing sympathy to the wounded Members
were received by the Speaker from far and wide. Thousands of
letters and telegrams of this nature were received. Many of
the letters and telegrams came from people in Puerto Rico.
The Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico made a stirring
speech in the House the day following the shooting
(Congressional Record, March 2, 1954, delivered during recess
but not in Record) to the effect that the people of Puerto
Rico were as disturbed over the matter as were the people of
the United States. The Governor of Puerto Rico sent his best
wishes to the Speaker on the day of the shooting, and on the
following day flew from Puerto Rico and called in person upon
the Speaker to denounce the shooting and convey the
sympathies of Puerto Rico. The House took a brief recess on
March 2, 1954, for greeting the Governor of Puerto Rico
informally in the House Chamber.
Resolutions and bills proposing security measures of
various kinds were introduced in the House for several days
following the shooting. The House on March 4, 1954, adopted a
resolution (H. Res. 456) authorizing that necessary medical
expenses for Members injured by the shooting on March 1st be
paid from the Contingent Fund of the House.
All five of the wounded Members had been discharged from
the hospitals by the end of May, 1954. Mr. Roberts, the last
to return to his duties, was walking on crutches and spent a
lot of his time in a wheel chair at the time of his return to
the House on May 25, 1954. It was expected that Mr. Roberts
would require medical treatment for at least a year after his
release from the hospital, owing to the injured nerves in his
leg. Mr. Bentley also continued to require medical attention
at the end of the 2d Session of the 83d Congress.
The four Puerto Ricans were brought to trial in the U.S.
District Court for the District of Columbia. They were
convicted and given the maximum sentences for their crimes.
Mrs. Lolita Lebron was convicted on 5 counts of assault with
a dangerous weapon, but was given a verdict of not guilty on
the counts of assault with intent to kill. She was sentenced
to serve 3 years and 4 months to 10 years on each of the
counts for which convicted, sentences to run consecutively.
Thus her total sentence was to serve from 16 years 8 months
to 50 years.
Each of the three men, Rafael Concel Miranda, Irving Flores
Rodriguez, and Andres Figueroa Cordero was convicted of 5
counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and 5 counts of
assault with intent to kill. They were each sentenced to
serve 5 to 15 years on each of the counts of assault with
intent to kill, sentences to run consecutively. Thus, each
received a sentence to serve from 25 to 75 years. Each of the
men also received the same sentence as did Mrs. Lebron, but
the latter being for the same act of assault were to run
concurrently with the former. Thus, each of the men was
sentenced to serve a total of from 25 to 75 years.
____________________