[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 9, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1742]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE DAILY 45: MENTALLY ILL ASSAILANT KILLS SIX

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                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 9, 2008

  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, the Department of Justice tells us that, 
everyday, 45 people, on average, are fatally shot in the United States, 
a significant number of those deaths stem from a lethal weapon wielded 
by a mentally ill assailant. Such was the case, last week, in a small 
town in Washington state where reports say that a 28-year-old young man 
killed Skagit County Deputy Sheriff Anne Jackson, and five other men 
and women who were also in the line of fire.
  How did this happen? The assailant's grieving mother, Dennise Zamora, 
said her son had refused treatment for mental illness for years and, 
for much of that time, he had been living, literally, in isolation in 
the woods of the town of Alger where the rampage took place. Mrs. 
Zamora called police that day in a desperate cry for help as she'd 
noticed her son invading her neighbors' homes. The responding officer, 
Sheriff Jackson, was someone who had even tried to help Zamora's son 
obtain treatment.
  My condolences are extended to these victims, this community and the 
Zamora family in the wake of these senseless deaths.
  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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