[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 55 (Wednesday, April 21, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H2207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      ASKING AMERICANS TO PRAY FOR FAMILIES IN LITTLETON, COLORADO

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, 15 years ago a childhood friend of mine 
from Athens, Georgia, Ross Fox, moved out to Denver to start his career 
and raise his family.

                              {time}  1015

  Yesterday, as I heard, as did millions of other Americans, about the 
tragedy that went on in Littleton, I thought immediately of Ross and 
17-year-old Richard Fox and 15-year-old David Fox. I did not know if 
they went to Columbine or not, so I called Ross. His wife Paloma 
answered the phone and said they did not go there, that Ross wanted to 
talk to me.
  Ross, who is a successful stockbroker out there, had come home 
earlier to hug his children and to meet them in the driveway as they 
went rushing out to see their dad and embrace. They did not go to 
Columbine, but their friends did. As recently as Sunday, David had been 
playing basketball with kids from Columbine.
  As I called them last night, they did not know if their friends were 
victims or survivors. The sadness, the confusion, the overwhelming 
frustration and anguish, was just too much for them. As we talked on 
the phone last night, I think both of us had tears in our eyes.
  We do not know the easy solutions, the quick answers. The tendency in 
society is to rush out and say we need to change this law or pass this 
bill, or maybe get this off TV. We do not really know what would be the 
one panacea that would end this sort of strange, bizarre, peculiar, 
repugnant type behavior and incidents.
  One thing we do know: Right now this country is united with the 
families of the victims; that they have our sympathy and they have our 
prayers. As the Speaker called for prayer today, we ask other Americans 
to pray, and perhaps we should remember that unlike high school kids 
throughout the country, at least this institution can openly say a 
prayer for them.

                          ____________________