[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 159 (Wednesday, October 4, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S6303]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Remembering Gerard Grandzol

  Madam President, today I am here to honor the memory of Gerard 
Grandzol, a resident of Philadelphia who lost his life to gun violence 
last month as he protected his 2-year-old daughter from carjackers. 
This was truly a senseless tragedy, one that took a father from his 
wife and two young daughters, one that robbed the Spring Garden 
neighborhood in Philadelphia of a man who was a beloved member of the 
community, and I think that is an understatement.
  Gerard was known as Gerry. His wife Kristin and their 2-year-old 
daughter had welcomed a second baby girl into their family this past 
July.
  In addition to raising his family and working at a legal recruiting 
firm, Gerry dedicated his time and energy to making his community a 
better place. As a member of the Spring Garden Civic Association, he 
was the go-to guy in his community, in the words of Philadelphia City 
Council president Darrell Clarke. Gerry was an avid hockey player, the 
neighborhood handyman, and the person who would man the grill at block 
parties and repair bikes for kids in the neighborhood. His neighbors 
and friends have spoken of his happy, magnetic personality and his 
willingness to help others.
  You can tell how important Gerry was to his family, friends, and 
community. You can tell what an impact he had on the people he met 
because thousands of people lined up at the Cathedral Basilica of 
Saints Peter and Paul a few weeks ago to pay their respects to Gerry 
and to celebrate his life. The people who knew him are keeping his 
memory alive on his Facebook page, where they shared pictures of Gerry 
hiking, painting, playing hockey, full of life and surrounded by 
friends and family.
  This is a man who became yet another victim of gun violence last 
month after he refused to give a pair of robbers his car keys because 
his 2-year-old daughter was in the back seat. This was a truly 
senseless act of violence that has shaken his family, friends, and his 
community. Two suspects in this terrible crime are now in custody, and 
I hope that proceedings in the justice system in Philadelphia can 
provide some measure of relief, some measure of comfort, and, we pray, 
even closure to the Grandzol family. Whatever relief it might provide, 
justice can't heal every wound. It can't bring Gerry back to Kristin, 
their daughters, and their family, friends, and neighbors. But we can 
make sure his memory lives on in the way we treat each other, and I 
hope we can honor Gerry's life by dedicating ourselves to improving the 
lives of our neighbors and working together to solve problems.
  One thing I hope we can do here on the specific issue of gun violence 
is to work on legislation and policy that will at least--at least--
reduce the likelihood that someone like Gerry will lose his life. It is 
part of a longer conversation. I won't get into the list of issues we 
should be working on--some of those I have outlined already--but we 
can't simply, as we often do, express condolence and pay tribute that 
is appropriate to those whose lives have been lost and those who may 
have been injured in Las Vegas and so many other places around the 
country. We have to do more than that. We can't stop with those 
expressions--those appropriate and essential expressions of sympathy 
and solidarity and commendation for the great work of law enforcement 
and emergency personnel. We have to do more than that.
  Today, as we remember Gerry, we offer not only condolences but we 
offer prayers to his wife Kristin, to their daughters, and to the 
family and friends of the Spring Garden neighborhood in Philadelphia.
  Once again, stopping there is not enough. There are plenty of 
examples of people who have lost their lives in a city like 
Philadelphia or in cities around the country that may not add up to the 
58 deaths, may not add up to 500-plus injured, but when you take just 
one life--in this case, the life that we highlight today, Gerry's 
life--it is reason enough to come together to work on new approaches, 
commonsense approaches to, as I said before, reduce the likelihood. No 
one is suggesting that we can pass something that will be a magic wand 
to take away all of these acts of violence, but we shouldn't throw up 
our hands and say there is absolutely nothing we can do to reduce the 
likelihood that people will lose their lives due to an act of gun 
violence. I refuse to accept that as an American, that there is nothing 
we can do legislatively to reduce that likelihood or even, God willing, 
to substantially reduce the likelihood.
  So when we are thinking about Gerry today, I hope we can commit 
ourselves to action and debate and maybe even reach consensus on 
legislation and policy to move forward in the right direction.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.