[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 118 (Thursday, July 17, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1490]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1490]]
          THE DAILY 45: MAY EBONY AND HER MOTHER REST IN PEACE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 17, 2008

  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, the Department of Justice tells us that, 
every day, 45 people, on average, are fatally shot in the United 
States. The indiscriminate level of violence knows no bounds as I mark 
the passing of Miss Ebony Jefferson, 31, who was shot to death 48 hours 
ago.
   Ebony's death violates all standards of human decency. She was, 
literally, on the porch of her aunt's home, in a quiet Cleveland 
neighborhood, where she and her family were grieving the death of her 
mother, 55-year-old Lorena Jefferson, who died last Sunday of breast 
cancer.
   In a brief moment of respite, while sharing a laugh and playing 
cards to fight back the tears, early Tuesday evening a man dressed in 
black, carrying a gun, threatened Ebony and her family, telling them to 
lay on the floor. Bravely, some of her family members told the 
assailant to leave and, briefly, he did. But, in a senseless instant, 
he turned around and fired nine shots, one of which struck Ebony. She 
died a short time later at a local hospital.
   Ebony was a caring health care worker who was grieving the loss of 
her mother. She and her mother will now be buried, together, this 
Saturday while the gunman remains at large.
   Americans of conscience must come together to stop the senseless 
death of ``The Daily 45.'' When will we say ``enough is enough, stop 
the killing!''

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