[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 18, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E65]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING ARIZONA SHOOTING

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. GREGORY W. MEEKS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 12, 2011

  Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Resolution 
Honoring Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the victims of this 
weekend's horrific shooting.
  I have had the opportunity to serve with Congresswoman Giffords on 
the Foreign Affairs Committee. In our time serving together, I have 
witnessed a courageous, hardworking, admirable public servant, 
dedicated to her constituents and to this Nation.
  Most importantly, Gabby is highly regarded and a family person. Just 
a few months ago, Gabby's cousin, Elisa Giffords, told my wife how 
proud she and her family are of Congresswoman Giffords and that they 
all know how important she is to her constituents. Those who know Gabby 
best, her family, love and respect her.
  Gabby Giffords has developed a reputation as an astute public 
servant. The community meeting she organized in Arizona, last weekend--
an event she had called `Congress in your Corner,' which exemplifies 
the essence of our democracy. Americans with varied views gathered 
peaceably to discuss how they could work together to improve their 
community. We all now know how this public gathering that aimed for 
positive community action ended tragically. A mother of two and wife of 
fifty years, Dorothy Morris; Judge John M. Roll, a devoted husband, 
father and grandfather; Church volunteers, Phyllis Schneck and Dorwan 
Stoddard; Gabriel Matthew Zimmerman, a 30 year old Congressional 
staffer, engaged to be married; and Christina Taylor Green, a third 
grader, there to meet a role model--Congresswoman Giffords--were all 
senselessly taken from us.
  While shocking, this horrific event cannot be allowed to detract from 
our obligations to our constituents or the need to peaceably assemble, 
a right Gabby so eloquently conveyed to us earlier this month on the 
House floor.
  With courage, confidence, and the same grace Congresswoman Giffords 
has displayed, we must work with and for each other in these hard times 
and in the months and years ahead. In this time of great sadness, I 
offer all the victims, their families, friends, and neighbors my 
deepest and most heartfelt prayers and well wishes. God bless you and 
God bless America.

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