[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 165 (Thursday, December 20, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8296-S8297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT TRAGEDY

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise today with a heavy heart to 
express my deepest sympathy to the families of the 28 people who were 
murdered last week at Sandy Hook Elementary. These last few days have 
been immensely painful as our nation has mourned the loss of life and 
desperately searched for answers that might somehow explain such a 
senseless act of violence.
  Like all Americans, my thoughts and prayers have been and continue to 
be with the students, teachers, and families. But my heart especially 
goes out to those mothers and fathers who lost their children. As a 
mother, I cannot even begin to fathom the depth of their anguish.
  The murder of a child is the most heinous of crimes. But the mass 
murder of 20 children trapped in an elementary school is an act of 
unspeakable

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evil. There are simply no words to describe the shock, horror, and 
grief. There is nothing we can say to undo the horrific events of that 
day or to numb the wounds of the families who are grieving. The best we 
can hope for is that our words and prayers might somehow bring them 
comfort and to show them they are not alone in their sorrow.
  At moments like these, the weight of despair falls heavy upon us. But 
we cannot forget that, even amidst the horror and sadness, there have 
been remarkable acts of decency. And for that, we have hope.
  I think of the brave law enforcement officers and first responders 
who answered the call to serve and protect that day, just as they do 
every day. I think of the incredible outpouring of support we have seen 
from people across the country, most of whom have never met the victims 
or their families but have come forward anyway with checks, with 
flowers, with stuffed animals, and messages of sympathy. And of course, 
I think of those heroic teachers who risked, and in some cases gave 
their lives to save their students.
  We will always remember the names and faces of people like Dawn 
Hochsprung and Mary Sherlach, the principal and school psychologist who 
died trying to disarm and dissuade gunman. They didn't think twice. 
They did what they knew was right.
  And we will always remember 27-year-old Victoria Soto, the teacher 
who hid her students in closets and cabinets before bravely approaching 
the gunman and pointing him in the other direction. She had her whole 
life ahead of her, but she laid it down to save those kids.
  These are the stories that keep us going. They remind us that, even 
in the wake of senseless violence, no individual act of evil can match 
the overwhelming goodness of our people. We are a resilient and 
fundamentally decent country, and my hope is that in the coming weeks 
and months we will find a way to come together to ease the pain of the 
families and to make some sense out of this tragedy.

                          ____________________