[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 71 (Tuesday, May 2, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H4446]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



[[Page H4446]]

                 THE NATIONAL TRAGEDY IN OKLAHOMA CITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 1995, the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Pelosi] is 
recognized for 2 minutes.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to join some of my colleagues this 
morning who have extended the sympathies of their constituents to our 
colleagues from Oklahoma, to their constituents and, most importantly, 
to the families of those who lost their lives in the Federal building 
there. We have a natural political governmental connection to those 
folks because they carry out the work of public policy whether it is 
helping a child get a Social Security number at birth or whether it is 
the senior citizen applying for Social Security benefits at the end of 
life, housing in between and the rest, and they indeed were great 
public servants and will be sorely missed.
  At this time of national tragedy, Mr. Speaker, of course we must 
focus on the personal heartbreak, and I hope it is some source of 
consolation to the people of Oklahoma City that the world grieves with 
them, that more than anything in life we wish that would never have 
happened, that the innocent victims, that would be all people involved 
there, would not have had to pay the price that they are paying.
  For as long as I can remember, Mr. Speaker, the word ``Oklahoma'' was 
fraught with a spirit of the greatest optimism whether it was on the 
musical stage or whether it was on the football field, and that spirit 
once again is very conspicuous in the activities in Oklahoma City as 
people unselfishly and tirelessly fight the battle of time to try to 
save lives and try to save dignity. I hope again, as this source of 
some consolation to those who lost their family members in Oklahoma 
City, that this should engender a spirit of national reconciliation. 
Many colleagues have talked about the tone of remarks and what was 
intended and what was not. Let us remove all doubt that in our public 
debate and in our rhetoric that we will take the high road, that we 
will not use words that hurt or can endanger, and that we know a better 
way, and that when we proceed to have our differences discussed, we 
will have absolutely no doubt in our mind that none of our words could 
have contributed to an act of violence.
  Once again I want to extend the condolences of the people of San 
Francisco. We have suffered our share of natural disasters. It is 
impossible to fathom a criminal act that would take life, and we send 
our deepest, deepest sympathy.


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