[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7270]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              EXTENDING SYMPATHY TO THE PEOPLE OF OKLAHOMA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Pelosi).
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, it's with great sadness that I rise today to 
extend sympathy to the people of Oklahoma, and especially to our 
colleague, Congressman Cole, and his constituents who have been 
affected by the tornado. We just heard our President talk about how our 
prayers and our deeds are with the people of the community. We also 
just heard Mr. Larson talk about our acting immediately to provide the 
assistance to the people there; and to the extent that Congress can act 
quickly upon that, we should.
  We've seen natural disasters come and go. They're all terrible. The 
loss of life is tragic, as well as the loss of homes and belongings. 
It's very hard to see how people can be made whole, but we are always 
hopeful that they will be. People say, Where do you find hope in a 
situation like that? It sits there comfortably between faith--we 
believe, and therefore we have hope--and the charity of others, that we 
can work together to come through this.
  Whether it's earthquakes in California, storms in the Northeast, or 
hurricanes in the South, like Katrina, it's always tragic. There's 
something especially deeply saddening about what happened in Oklahoma 
City. It reminded me immediately of something that I carry in my heart.
  I went to Italy as a representative of President Carter in 1980. It 
was a congressional delegation to deliver U.S. assistance following an 
earthquake in southern Italy. In one small town in the mountains that 
we visited, the roof of the church collapsed. And what was tragic about 
it that resembles what happened in Oklahoma is that in that church that 
day was the first grade. They were practicing for First Holy Communion. 
So every 7-year-old child in that village was a casualty. Every one 
died.
  And so when there's loss of life, of course, it's always tragic. 
Everyone is a valuable life. But when every 7-year-old in the village 
dies, it just does something to your psyche. It's so sad. You grieve so 
deeply. It's so hard to console people. And it's sad to see what 
happened to the school in Oklahoma City. Twenty little children lost 
their lives, each one of them precious, all of them the future of the 
community. How deep the grief must be there. We must try to help wipe 
the tears away from that community. So many little children.
  It was a beautiful sight to see the first responders trying to dig 
people out--and successfully. There was a picture today of a little boy 
pulled out from the rubble. Teachers made a valiant effort to cover 
children so that falling debris did not harm those who were still 
alive. And so whether it was first responders or teachers or families, 
it was a community coming together. This community has suffered a great 
loss of lives, a horrible loss of homes. What was a home became debris 
in a matter of minutes.
  And so I hope that we all know what our responsibility is, because 
these children are America's children. Those that died have such an 
impact on the community. We must all appreciate the depth of the grief, 
the depth of the tragedy that has befallen. I'll never, ever forget the 
desperate look in the eyes of the people in the village of the 
mountains of Italy. As I said, we're always hopeful through prayer, 
which gives us strength; faith, which gives us hope; and the charity of 
others, which helps us to go forward.
  So I hope it is a comfort to the people of the region that their loss 
is one that is shared and mourned by our entire country, definitely in 
this Congress of the United States, and across the world. Whatever is 
in our power to be helpful to them, we will do--and we will do it 
quickly. Most importantly, they will always and ever be in our prayers.

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