[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 100 (Thursday, June 13, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H4048-H4053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
6/14/2017--A DAY OF INFAMY IN AMERICA
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup) is recognized
for the remainder of the hour as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I thank those that are here tonight to
speak on the experience from that day.
I thought it would be appropriate that we start with Mr. Duncan. Mr.
Duncan was one of the first to leave practice that day, and he will
share his experience at this time.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr.
Duncan).
Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for actually holding
this Special Order to talk about what happened in 2017.
One year ago tomorrow marks the day we had baseball practice right
before the game. It was the day before the game, and Ron DeSantis, now
Governor of Florida, the Representative from that State, rode to
practice with me.
That morning, we were on the field. I was starting shortstop. Ron was
starting third baseman. As we did at every practice, we had infield
practice and then we had batting practice. During batting practice,
many of us were out there shagging balls. Ron was standing at third, I
was standing at shortstop, and Ron said: ``When are you thinking about
leaving, Jeff?'' He said: ``I have got a meeting I can get to if we
could head on.'' I said: ``Well, you have done infield and batting
practice, and I have.''
Chairman Mike Conaway from Texas was in the batting cage batting, and
I said: ``Let's let Chairman Conaway finish, and then we can go.''
Conaway finished. We ran off the field. I ran around the pitcher's
mound. Steve Scalise was at second base. I fist-bumped Steve as I
went off the field and went to the dugout. Tom Rooney was at first
base. Tom said: ``Duncan, what time is it?''
I got my bag. I had a bag that I kept keys, phone and all that in. I
came out told him what time it was. Tom had to leave, so he left, and
he was the first one out of the gate.
Ron DeSantis went off the field, and then I went off the field. Out
in the parking lot, I was stopped by a gentleman who said: ``Excuse me.
Can you tell me who is practicing today, Republicans or Democrats?'' I
said: ``This is the Republican team practicing.'' He said: ``Thank
you.''
It turned out that was a shooter. I was face-to-face with him for a
brief interlude before he left the parking lot to go into his van by
the YMCA and load his weapons and get prepared to fire about 137 rounds
at my colleagues who I left on the baseball field that morning as I
drove back to the Capitol.
There were a lot of God winks in that event that morning. I can't
thank anyone but my Lord and Savior for getting me off that field and
away from danger. I would have been standing at shortstop. Ron DeSantis
would have been at third base. Trent Kelly was the third
[[Page H4049]]
baseman after Ron left. The first shot was fired at Trent and hit a
chain link fence. One-eighth of an inch definitely saved Trent's life.
It rattled the gentleman, and I think it made him erratic and start
shooting my colleagues, spraying bullets across the field that hit
Steve Scalise, Zack Barth, and Matt Mika, and others.
It turns out that the gentleman had come from Illinois to the
Washington area to assassinate Republicans. He had a list in his pocket
with six or eight names on it that he wanted to kill. My name was on
that list. I was face-to-face with him. Thank God he wasn't prepared at
that moment because he had targeted me specifically. He had my name, my
address, my age, my physical description, and a number of other things.
There were a lot of God winks on that field that day. We are just
thankful that no one died, especially our Majority Leader Steve
Scalise, my good friend, who the next year, after he recovered from his
wounds, came out on the baseball field and had the first pitch in a
live pitch baseball game off a bat hit directly to him. He was at
second base. I was at shortstop. I came around to back him up behind
the bag, and I was the first one there to take him in my arms and hug
him and just praise God that he was there for that moment.
As I wrap up here and give others a chance to share their memories, I
will give a special shout-out to some heroes of that day. That is David
Bailey and Crystal Griner, who were there as Steve's detail, who
actually fended off the shooter and kept, I think, much more harm from
being done if that shooter had been able to get on the field. Then the
Alexandria Police Department showed up 11 minutes, 12 minutes after the
shooting started. That is how quickly it happened. They dispatched the
assassin, who the FBI said was hoping to die by suicide by cop.
He was an assassin. Let's call him what he was. He knew he would
probably die that day, but he wanted to take out as many Republicans as
he could. It was a tragic day that day, but it was special because no
one died. Everyone lived. There were so many God winks that were there.
Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, there clearly was a lot of divine
intervention. We titled this event tonight: ``6/14/2017--A Day of
Infamy in America.''
``Infamy'' means an evil act, and it truly was that.
I remember watching Jeff Duncan leave. I was out in the outfield, and
I was thinking to myself: I usually have to leave early. Today I don't.
I can stay longer.
There were so many things that were divine intervention.
I met the groundskeeper a couple months later. He said: ``I don't
know why, but I locked the third-base gate the night before.'' If that
gate was open, he could have walked right in. The fences are 20-feet
high. People can't just hop the fence and get out.
Thank goodness for Steve Scalise. He took a bullet for all of us.
The first shot rang out. It hit a link in the fence right by the
bullpen. It was our last practice, so our pitchers weren't in the
bullpen. That was another divine intervention.
Trent Kelly, a two-star general who did a couple tours overseas, was
at third base, and he immediately cries out: ``There is a shooter,''
and everyone started to disperse. Along the way, everybody was trying
to help one another.
A young man, Matt Mika, was hit severely in the side of his chest and
out the front of his chest. Steve went down, and he was crawling
towards the outfield. Then he came to a stop, and there he lay.
In the meantime, everyone else was running to try and get out on the
first-base side, diving into the dugout, which served as a bunker, as
the shooter eventually started shooting above the dugout. You can see
the bullet holes there today.
We were blessed that David and Crystal were there as well as the
Alexandria Police ultimately. They were both hit, actually, but they
were there and saved our lives.
I had changed my mind. For some reason, after I had batting practice,
I was on my way back to the outfield. I changed my mind and went down
to the batting cage, which is outside the fence of the field on the
first-base side.
{time} 1830
The shooter started on the third-base side.
A shot rang out at about 7 o'clock in the morning. I got down on the
ground.
I served as a combat surgeon in Iraq. My instincts kicked in, and I
am thinking: Who is doing the shooting? How many people are doing the
shooting?
God put me in a place where I could see the shooter, and I could see
the Capitol Police. I could see where everyone was, including Steve.
Thank God for that. I thank God for that. When they eventually took him
down, I was able to run out to Steve.
There were 136 rounds fired that day. Most people don't know that.
This went on for a while. Most people think a guy came along and fired
a shot. No, it was far more than that.
When I got to Steve, I was able to recognize that he was hurt worse
than people might have thought because he was bleeding internally. We
were able to slow down his bleeding. The rest is history, and he was
able to make it to the hospital. When he got to the hospital, he no
longer had blood pressure, but they were able to save his life.
A lot of miracles and a lot of sacrifices were made. I have always
said it is kind of interesting that it happened around a baseball game
because baseball is the only sport I know that has a play called a
sacrifice where you give of yourself to advance another. I saw so many
people on the field that day doing whatever they could to help those
who were hit.
Paul Ryan came on the floor that day and said: ``An attack on one of
us is an attack on all of us.''
I agree. We are fortunate to be here today, all of us. That is part
of what we want to talk about today is how grateful we are to God for
the divine intervention that occurred for so many as we tell our story.
It could have been far worse.
To think that if Steve Scalise wasn't there, there would have been
no Capitol Police, and this man could have walked onto that field and
killed up to 20 or 30 Members of Congress and staff, possibly changing
the balance of power in the House of Representatives in one morning.
I contend that is an insurrection. That is an insurrection, but we
survived. We are grateful. We stand here today grateful, and we don't
want this day to be pushed aside in the books of history. This is
bigger than that. God was on our side.
We did everything we could for each other on that day, and that is an
important message that we want to share with Americans.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to now introduce the manager of our
baseball team--after a very successful stewardship of the baseball game
last night. This is Representative Roger Williams of Texas, and I
shared with him how someone last night before the game asked me, when
this game comes around, do you think of the events of that day? I said
that I think of the events of that day every day of my life.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams).
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding. It is special to be here tonight, and I thank my friend for
calling us together to remember this day.
To me, it is like it was yesterday. I got up that morning just like
we all did, got ready, and went to practice. My situation was that I
was hitting ground balls to Trent Kelly. I finished with Trent and went
around and started hitting balls. I said to Scalise: ``I am coming at
you.''
I remember I threw the ball up, and as soon as I hit it with the bat
to Scalise, a shot went off. Little did I know that the shooter was
probably 30 feet or 20 feet behind me. I did not know that. A shot went
off, and Trent Kelly yelled: ``He has got a gun. Head for cover:
When he said that, my instincts told me to get to the dugout.
Fortunately for all of us, the dugouts were dugouts. They were dug into
the ground, not like today where they are flat.
I remember I ran to the dugout and jumped, and it was like jumping
into a swimming pool with no water. I remember as I was in the air
heading into the dugout, what went through my mind was: I am not
surprised because of the anger we have up here.
[[Page H4050]]
When I hit the dugout, I slid all the way on the concrete to the
dugout and slid into the arms of two of my teammates, Jeff Flake and Mo
Brooks. We three were in the corner, and as Brad said, this guy was
firing. There were actually some shells going into the dugout.
Two of the coaches, Larry Hardy and Donnie Watson, were in that
dugout. We were all trying to stay away from the action.
Out of nowhere came my aide who worked for me and who came with me to
every batting practice, Zach Barth, and Zach had been in center field
shagging balls.
When the shooting started, he ran to the right-field foul pole to get
as far away as he could from the shooter, but the shooter followed him
and shot at him 10 times and missed him. Zach decided the only way he
was going to stay alive was to get to the dugout, and he ran to the
dugout.
During that running from the right-field line to the dugout, he got
shot in the leg. He dove into the dugout, as I did, not knowing I was
there. He dove into the dugout and dove right into my arms. At that
moment, you had a bonding of a 67-year-old man and a 24-year-old kid. I
held him in my arms, and he was saying: ``I'm hit, I'm hit.''
Mo Brooks, Jeff Flake, and I were there. We didn't know what to do.
We didn't have the experience that Dr. Wenstrup and others had had, but
God kicked in. Mo Brooks removed his belt, and we tightened it around
his leg to stop the bleeding. We all hunkered down.
Then we heard that Scalise was down. We couldn't see it. We were in
the dugout, but we heard that Steve had been hit.
These shots were going off, and we didn't hear anything from the
Capitol Police. In our situation, we thought they had probably been
killed. We decided if this guy came around where we were, we were going
to charge him. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn't, but we had made
that commitment to each other that we would do that.
Then, we heard the sirens, and we were praying for sirens. When you
are praying for sirens, Mr. Speaker, it takes a long time, but we heard
the sirens, which told us people knew we were in trouble. It was the
Arlington Police. When they got there, we heard shooting. It was not
just an AK-47 going off. We heard 9 millimeters that were going off.
We praised God for Crystal Griner and David Bailey. I remember being
in the dugout and looking up, and David Bailey was down in the dugout
and shooting like this at the perpetrator to keep him from coming
around to the rest of us.
Finally, it ended. I remember somebody started yelling: ``Everybody
out of the dugout. Everybody out of the dugout.''
I told the guys I was with: ``I'm not getting out of the dugout. I
don't know who that is. I am staying here.''
About that time, we saw the police, and we got out of the dugout. A
helicopter, I think, had come to get Steve, if I remember. There was a
lot of chaos. People gathered around together. Dr. Wenstrup saw me, and
I had been injured in the ankle, and he called an ambulance for me and
said: ``Get him to the hospital.''
It was the first time I had ever been in an ambulance, and they took
me to the hospital. That night I was in the hospital, and Brad came to
see me. I will never forget that. President Trump called me, and Vice
President Pence called me. He said: ``Should we play the game
tomorrow?'' I said: ``Absolutely. We can't let this end like this.''
In my situation, I had got hit with shrapnel, and Dr. Wenstrup knows
exactly what I had, but I had a lot of treatment. There was a decision
made that if I didn't get better in 2 weeks that I might lose my leg.
It was a life-changer for all of us. Steve Scalise and Brad
Wenstrup showed courage like I have never seen. Even today, they show
that courage. We have--what?--25 guys and gals. We all have our story,
and everybody did their thing.
There were angels that day, the angel that my friend talked about,
and the angel was as small as something as David Bailey's cell phone.
David reached to get his cell phone and moved it up. Because David
thought we were surrounded by ISIS, which would have been another whole
story, he reached for it and called for help and got hit. He got hit in
the phone.
If it hadn't hit his phone, it might have hit him in the side, and it
might have been a whole different story. He may not have made it.
I think that was an angel. I think the lock was an angel. It reminded
me God was in charge. It could have been just the opposite.
I remember in the dugout, as the shooting was going on, two things
went through my mind. First of all, people asked me: ``Roger, are you
afraid to die.'' I was not afraid of dying, but I did hope that my wife
remembered I want the song, ``Put me in, coach, I'm ready to play
today'' at my funeral, and I wanted to make sure I made it because I
had a granddaughter coming in October.
God was in charge. He took care of us. The perpetrator paid for his
act. The Arlington Police saved us; David Bailey saved us; and Crystal
Griner saved us. For that, we are all owing to them for the rest of our
lives.
It is not often you get to hug somebody who saved your life and be
able to thank him like we were able to.
It is a day I will never forgot, but like Brad and the others said,
it just doesn't come along on this day, you wake up every morning
thinking about it. Every time we have baseball practice, you think
about it.
Those of us who were there wear bracelets. We wear bracelets today
that have the date of the shooting and say, ``In God We Trust.''
It is a day I will never forget. I am thankful to God for letting us
have another chance.
As Brad said, there were several articles written about the shooting.
One article I read talked about if it had gone just the opposite,
things politically and things in the world would have been much
different. But they weren't.
Because of people like David Bailey, Crystal Griner, Brad, and
others, and the Arlington Police, I get to see my granddaughter. I get
to still coach the baseball team. I get to still be in Congress. I get
to still love my wife. For that, I am grateful.
At the end of the day, we can do better than this. People should not
be that angry, and that is a goal we should have as we are in Congress,
to agree to disagree and not go out and kill people.
I will just end this with the way I end all of my speeches: In God we
trust. Praise the Lord, and God bless America.
Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I thank Roger for his words. I greatly
appreciate them.
Now, we will hear from Barry Loudermilk, who was there that day and
was one of several who not only was there and survived but participated
in helping others throughout that entire time.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Loudermilk).
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for this moment.
Mr. Speaker, I think back to that day. At noon, when we gathered in
this Chamber, I sat right over here in the front row. Speaker Paul Ryan
went to the podium, and as was said already, he said that an attack on
one of us is an attack on all of us.
As I look around the Chamber, not much has changed from that day to
today. The carpet is the same. The chairs are the same. Some of the
people are the same, but none of us who were on the field that day are
the same. It has had an impact on all of us.
As you just heard Coach Williams tell his story, Mr. Speaker, we all
have the same story but different perspectives. Some of it is that,
physically, we were in different locations, as I was in a different
location than Representative Wenstrup, who was in a different location
than our coach, but we all experienced the same thing.
One thing that you will hear, Mr. Speaker, that is consistent are the
miracles that happened that day. One of the things that this has had an
impact on me, as we have all dealt with some level of traumatic stress
afterward, but this has built my faith.
Hebrews 11:1 says that ``faith is the substance of things hoped for
and the evidence of things unseen.''
[[Page H4051]]
{time} 1845
None of us saw angels on the field deflecting bullets that day. None
of us were there when an angel spoke to the groundskeeper the night
before and impressed upon him to lock the gate on the third-base side
of that field. Had he not called a groundskeeper at 9 o'clock the
evening before our practice and had not chain-locked that gate, that
shooter would have gotten on the field, and it would have been a
different story. We didn't see the angels conducting the miracles, but
the evidence was there.
I was standing at home plate. I had just put on a batting helmet, and
I was waiting on my turn to step into the batter's box and take some
live pitching. Rodney Davis was there ahead of us, and he was hitting.
As I was standing there, I heard the distinct sound of the report of a
firearm.
Now, where I live in Georgia, that is not unusual. When I am working
in the backyard, I hear shots all the time of people sighting in their
rifles, doing target practicing. I didn't think much about it at the
moment, but then I realized I am not at home in Georgia, but I am in
Alexandria, Virginia. Why am I hearing a gunshot? The next sound I
heard was our third baseman, Trent Kelly, holler: ``He's got a gun.
Run.''
At that moment, I started running up the first baseline. Many of my
colleagues, as you heard, went into the dugout, but, as one of the
veterans, immediately my training kicked in, and I thought: This is not
a great place to go in case the shooter gets on the field. However, to
get off the field would expose me longer, but I decided to head past
the dugout and go out the gate.
As I am running, I see the ground erupting on each side of me, and I
realized that the shooter was targeting me at that moment. As I reached
the gate, I turned to go out of the field, and I heard the sound of a
round hitting the fence post next to me.
Right outside the gate, about 20 feet outside the gate, is a wooden
shed. My training started coming back to me: When you are under
assault, seek concealment. Find the aggressor. If you have a means to
fight back, fight back. If not, plan an escape route and get to safety.
Those things were running through my mind. I saw the shed. I went
behind the shed, but I couldn't see where the shooter was because he
was down the first baseline. I needed to get to where I could see the
shooter.
As I rounded the corner of the shed where I am looking back down
toward the backstop, that is when I saw one of their staff members,
Matt Mika, walk around the other side of the shed, already covered in
blood, and lay down next to the Capitol Police SUV.
At that moment, I realized: I can't escape now. I have a colleague
who is down. I have to stay and help him.
I jumped up and started to run to him when Brian Kelly, another staff
member who had gone around the side of the shed with me, hollered:
``Barry, get down. Get down.''
As I went down to my knees, I heard the sound of a bullet go right
past my head and hit the shed next to me. I didn't realize it, but the
shooter had come around the back of the backstop and had targeted where
I was and Brian Kelly.
As I went down, I saw David Bailey and Crystal Griner come around the
back of the SUV, both of them trying to engage with the shooter. Within
a couple of moments, the shooter came around the backstop, was next to
a concrete building, and started shooting underneath the SUV. One of
the rounds hit Crystal Griner in the ankle, and I saw her immediately
go down.
David Bailey then would walk out and expose himself so the shooter
would turn and start targeting him to give us an opportunity to
hopefully get to Matt Mika and Crystal Griner. However, every time we
would start to try to move up to help them, he would turn and start
shooting back at us again. What seemed like an eternity, the gunfire
was going over and over again. Bullets would run the ground right next
to us, but we stayed there. Brian Kelly and I stayed there because I
wasn't going to leave Matt alone.
Finally, I saw David Bailey's pants flutter, and he started to limp,
and I realized he had just taken a round in the leg. As we found out
later, he had actually taken some shrapnel where a bullet ricocheted
off of a car's wheel.
I realized that, if David Bailey goes down, the shooter is coming
directly to us. Within a few moments, we heard another distinct sound
of a different type of firearm. The Alexandria Police had arrived, but,
as I stood there and I looked, David Bailey fully exposed himself as
the shooter came around the other side of this concrete building and
was standing there shooting at David Bailey as he was returning fire
saying: ``Drop the weapon. Drop the weapon. Drop the weapon.''
It was about that moment the Alexandria Police then took down the
shooter.
My immediate reaction was to go to Matt Mika and help him. With a
gaping hole in his chest, I thought I could do more damage than good
trying to put pressure on it, but I knew one thing I could do: I could
pray for him. I laid my hands on Matt, and we prayed. I don't remember
what I said that day.
Then I realized the SUV has to have a medical kit in it, so I asked
Crystal Griner: ``Do you have a medical bag?''
She said: ``Yes. It's in the back.''
I got up, and I ran around. By the time I pulled the medical bag out,
I was astonished. When I came back around the SUV, the paramedics were
already there with Matt Mika. I was surprised they were there that
fast.
I didn't realize Steve Scalise had been shot at that moment, but I
looked, and there was a crowd gathered out on the field, and someone
told me he was there.
I ran out to the field, and I dropped the bag off to Brad and the
others who were on the field. I looked, and I don't know how he got
there, but David Bailey was there checking on Steve Scalise. He still
didn't realize he had been hit in the leg, and he was trying to walk
off the field by himself, so I helped David walk off the field. That
was one of the most memorable moments.
As others have said, if it had not been for the heroism of David
Bailey and Crystal Griner, we would not be here today. If it wasn't for
the brotherhood and the camaraderie of all of us supporting each other,
things would be a lot different here today, as well.
I think it is interesting that we are discussing this just a few days
after the 80th anniversary of D-day. My father was a medic in World War
II, and he landed at D-day. One of the things that he used to tell me
as child was: ``Friends who share a foxhole are brothers for life.''
There is a bond between all of us here that cannot be broken and
cannot be shaken. Did that day change me? Yes. I had the choice to let
it negatively affect me or to positively affect my future. I chose the
positive. Look for the positive. Make positive change.
I believe that we have done that. We are stronger because of it. I
think we are wiser for it, but we are also more dedicated to one
another to see each other through these things. Regardless of when some
of us leave this great institution, we will never spiritually leave one
another.
God bless all of you and thank you.
Mr. WENSTRUP. Thank you very much, Barry. I am grateful for you
bringing that bag of medical supplies from the Capitol Police van
because there were things in there I needed, and we were able to put a
clotting bandage on, use a better tourniquet than a belt, and we
started supplying liquids to Steve to help sustain him.
Also helping me right there was Mr. Gary Palmer. Next, we are going
to hear from Mr. Palmer.
Mr. PALMER. Thank you, Brad, for giving us this opportunity to
reflect on the events of June 14, 2017. Regardless of what we do the
rest of our lives, that day will bind us together, those who were there
that day.
The interesting thing is, the day before, I saw the man who attacked
us. He was sitting in the bleachers behind the backstop looking, in my
opinion, very distressed. I thought about going over and talking with
him, but we were trying to get to practice and get practice started, so
I didn't see him again until later.
As Congressman Duncan related, I was actually over at second base
with Scalise when Duncan and Ron DeSantis left. Trent Kelly was already
over at third base, so I moved over to shortstop.
Our practices are a lot of banter back and forth at each other. It is
a lot of fun, a lot of ragging each other. All that was going on, and
then I heard a sharp crack. I immediately recognized it as a gunshot.
[[Page H4052]]
I yelled at Trent Kelly that it was a gunshot, and Trent said: ``I
know.''
The bullet had whizzed by him. By the providence of God and by an act
of God, that bullet had struck a link in the chain link fence.
The shooter, after he had asked Duncan if we were Republicans or
Democrats, walked over to his van. He had been living in his van for
about 3 months and parked in the parking lot of the YMCA across the
street from the field. They were doing some construction. There were
some little containers there that blocked our view of anyone
approaching from that side. He came up on the outfield end of the
third-base dugout and, maybe about 4 feet, 5 feet from the fence, fired
that first shot.
There was a few seconds of hesitation before anything else happened.
It was almost like it was just a single shot. When I yelled out at
Trent, Trent turned around and saw him, and he yelled out: ``He's got a
gun. Get off the field.''
Everyone was kind of stunned. Things just kind of froze for a moment
until the gunfire erupted. Thank God the third-base gate was closed,
but the only open gate was on the first-base side, and so we were all
running in that direction. I remember seeing General Jack Bergman lying
flat on the ground up by home plate along with Mike Bishop from
Michigan, others scrambling to get into the dugout.
I saw Scalise get hit. I knew he was hit low. I didn't know where,
but I knew he was hit low because of the way he fell. As I was running
across the infield trying to get off the field, I had two thoughts that
went through my mind. One was: If today is the day, I am ready. Then I
thought: I wonder what it will feel like.
As I got off the field, I took cover behind a big oak tree that was
really between where the little building where Barry Loudermilk and the
other guys had taken shelter and that concrete block building where the
shooter had taken a position.
I saw Crystal Griner on the ground. From the blood on her leg, I
thought she was shot in the leg. It turned out she was shot through the
ankle. She was trying to pull herself up toward the front wheel well of
the SUV to, I think, try to get in a position to return fire.
Behind the oak tree was Trent Kelly and John Moolenaar from
Michigan. I don't know who said it, but someone said we needed to pull
back to a concrete block building behind us, where the concession
stands were and where the restrooms were. When I pulled back, got back
there, I took a position beside Brad Wenstrup.
Brad and I were at that corner, and Scalise had dragged himself with
his hands and arms out of the infield out in the outfield. When he
started doing that, when I was still by the oak trees, he kept raising
up trying to look. I think he was trying to see where he was shot.
I started yelling at him to get down, get down, because bullets were
flying everywhere. When he got out in the outfield, he just lay
quietly, and Brad would yell out at him: ``Raise your hand,'' for a
show of life. Steve would raise his hand. We were praying that this
would end so that we could get to Steve in time to give aid.
{time} 1900
Thankfully, someone yelled out, ``He's down. He's down.'' There were
about--what, Brad?--five or six of us who got out there.
When I saw where he was shot, I knew he was in trouble. I knew there
would be bone fragments. I knew there would be lead fragments. I also
knew that I had no clue what to do other than put pressure on the
wound.
Barry Loudermilk brought the first aid kit out and gave it to me, and
I opened it up and was providing Brad with whatever materials that we
could find in the bag. Brad fashioned a lower-body tourniquet by
getting Scalise's baseball belt off, and Brian Kelly took his shirt off
and was able to make that tourniquet.
When the EMT showed up, they actually had one. It was my
understanding that Brad was the only one who knew how to put it on
expertly, and he got it on. That is, in my opinion, what saved Steve's
life.
These are individual actions that I think were guided by the hand of
God because there is not another explanation for why 136 rounds were
fired at people congregated like we were and five people were hit, five
victims, but none of them died. The only person who died that day was
the shooter.
The other thing that struck me was the Members' reaction. There was
nobody screaming, nobody panicked. Now, you hear a lot of times what
people talk about in combat or in these types of situations--police
officers talk about this--that time slows down. It just seemed like
everything was so focused. As soon as the shooter was down, our Members
sprang into action, helping each other.
I was so proud of how our guys responded and didn't panic because it
was certainly a situation where I think most people would have
panicked.
Congressman Loudermilk mentioned David Bailey being wounded. When
Bailey came out to be by the side of Steve Scalise, I offered to try to
tend to his wound, and he refused treatment. He would not leave the
side of Steve Scalise.
The epilogue, I guess, of this is how it has affected us, and I think
it has made our bond even stronger. As I said at the very beginning, we
are bound together for life. It is a wonderful relationship that we
have with each other as Members of Congress, as members of the
Republican baseball team, but this is an event that defines us in many
respects.
I will never forget it, but the epilogue is the disappointing part of
the story. There is no doubt in my mind this was an act of political
violence. It was clearly an attempt, a planned attempt, to kill
Republican Members of Congress.
We had a briefing by the FBI. When Steve Scalise had gotten out of
rehab--that was several months after the shooting--they gathered us in
a room to have the FBI give us the report, and they told us that this
was an act of an individual attempting to commit suicide by police.
I want you to remember that both the Capitol Police officers were
shot. When the Alexandria police showed up and fired on him initially,
he returned fire on them. If this was his intention to commit suicide
by cop, he wouldn't have been firing on them. He came there to kill
Republicans.
It was one of the most shameful days, in my opinion, for the FBI to
come before us, with Steve Scalise sitting in a scooter because he was
still not able to walk, sitting right in front of him to read a report
to us that wanted to describe this, categorize this, as an attempted
suicide.
I am so grateful to Brad Wenstrup, who has refused to accept that and
has continued to pursue the truth and to get the FBI to classify this
as what it was. The truth needs to be told, but there is also more to
the story.
There is another part of this story, too. When the ambulance arrived
to take Scalise to George Washington Hospital, there was so much
traffic that it became evident that because, as Brad pointed out,
Steve's blood pressure was basically zero, he had minutes, not hours.
It was evident they were not going to get there. A helicopter flew
over. I believe it was a Department of the Interior helicopter. They
radioed the helicopter to land at the baseball field, and it did. They
took Steve out of the ambulance and put him in the helicopter. The only
place that had a pad for the helicopter to land was MedStar Hospital.
They took him there, and it just so happened--again, I believe the
providence of God--one of the top trauma surgeons in the country was on
call. Still, for 2 days, we didn't know if Steve was going to make it.
When he did his rehab--Steve is a huge LSU fan--some of us even went
to great lengths to encourage him by putting on an LSU cap. As someone
who, in my case, played football at Alabama, that was a one-time event.
I told Steve I would never do that again, but I knew how much LSU
football meant to him.
It happened that that fall, LSU was playing at the University of
Alabama, so I called the University and asked them to invite Steve
Scalise to be our guest at that game because Steve is the kind of guy
who you give him an objective, and he will achieve it.
I had the honor of hand-delivering a letter of invitation from Coach
Nick Saban to Steve in the hospital. Coach
[[Page H4053]]
Saban and Steve knew each other from the time when Saban was the head
coach at LSU.
I sat there as he ripped open the envelope and read the letter, and
Steve Scalise was at the University of Alabama for the LSU-Alabama
football game. We beat them, which we usually do.
It was one of the great moments for me to go through this tragic
event, see this guy fight for his life, achieve an objective, come back
on this floor, stand at this microphone, and give one of the greatest
speeches I have ever heard on the floor of the House of
Representatives.
I think we all understand what happened that day. We understand the
condition of our country right now, the anger, the division, that could
potentially tear us apart. I don't think we need to be reminded of
the responsibility we have in conducting the affairs of the governance
of this country in a way that not only allows us to continue to
function as a nation, but restores respect for the Chamber, restores
respect for the separation of powers, restores respect for our ability
to disagree but still live together.
Tomorrow, as we said, is the 7-year anniversary of that event. I
know, as my colleagues have all said, it is a day we will never forget,
but I hope, as tragic as that day was, that it will serve as a reminder
to every Member of this body, Democrat and Republican, that we have a
responsibility in how we conduct our business and how we present our
arguments and that we dedicate ourselves to trying to bring unity back
to a country that right now is just stricken with anger and malice
that, if we don't deal with it properly, is going to do enormous harm
to our ability to live together, to govern together, and to give those
who follow us an opportunity to live in what is the greatest country in
the history of the world.
Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Palmer, and I thank all of my
colleagues who participated in this event tonight. People ask me what
my greatest memory of my time in Congress is. I tell people, it is the
day that Steve Scalise walked back on this floor. It truly is.
I thank those who are watching and listening tonight. I encourage
people to read Steve's book. Maybe I shouldn't say this on the floor, I
don't know, but it is a great book. It really sums up all the miracles
of the day. It is called ``Back in the Game.''
Look, you have heard from a lot of people tonight very touching
stories, sentimental to all of us, a lot of lessons learned, but it is
pretty interesting if you listen to everybody, you recognize that we
went to a baseball practice and, as a result, carved out our chapter in
history and affirmed our faith in God.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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