[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 162 (Monday, October 1, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S6410]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                          CINCINNATI SHOOTING

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, last month, we were reminded again of the 
important work journalists do in our communities, bringing Ohioans, 
Oklahomans, people from Kansas, or wherever the information they need 
in an unfolding crisis.
  In September, we got one of the worst news alerts any of us can 
imagine. There was an active shooter in Cincinnati. We hugged our loved 
ones a little tighter that night as we prayed for everyone affected by 
the latest senseless shooting that took the lives of three innocent 
Ohioans.
  We thank the first responders who rushed to the scene. We thank the 
law enforcement officers who have spent the week investigating. We 
thank everyone caring for the injured. We also thank the local 
reporters who rushed to the scene, doing their job to keep our 
community informed in a crisis.
  Reporters gave Ohioans real-time information online and on TV, 
immediately getting the word out to warn people to avoid the area where 
the shooter was active. They talked to law enforcement, and they talked 
to witnesses on the scene. From firsthand accounts, they established 
the first shots were heard just before 9:11 a.m.
  One reporter talked to a witness who told of the heroism of the 
Cincinnati police officer, saying he saw a lady down. A Cincinnati 
police officer dragged her out of the bank. She was talking. She was 
bleeding. Her shirt was red.
  It is yet another horrific scene among far too many we have endured 
in this country. At every one of these tragedies--every single one--
courageous journalists and citizens of our country, not enemies of the 
people, are among the first on the scene. They tell us the stories 
behind the victims, and they help us honor the memories of those we 
have lost.
  After the incident is over, after the immediate danger has passed, 
reporters keep working, interviewing loved ones, giving us a full 
picture of what yet another shooting has cost our country. They 
reported that Cincinnati lost a father, a grandfather, and a son. They 
brought us stories of a young programmer just getting started in his 
career whose life was cut short, of a father of two teenagers who will 
forever have to live with the scars of losing a parent, and of a 
grandfather of eight who helped build the Queen City as a construction 
supervisor.
  It is despicable that Congress refuses to pass commonsense gun safety 
laws to protect Americans from yet more gun violence. As these 
tragedies keep happening, we keep pressing for change. We will keep 
thanking law enforcement and our medical professionals who deal with 
the unthinkable of a mass shooting. We will keep thanking the reporters 
who are just doing their jobs--newspaper, radio, television, online--to 
bring us the facts and who deserve our respect no matter the comments 
of some people in elected office.

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