[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13768-13769]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        MOMENT OF SILENT PRAYER FOR ALISON PARKER AND ADAM WARD

  (Mr. GRIFFITH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. GRIFFITH. Madam Speaker, I would ask that members of the Virginia 
congregation join me here in the well.
  Madam Speaker, colleagues, along with my fellow members of the 
delegation from the Commonwealth of Virginia, I rise today with a heavy 
heart.
  On the morning of August 26, we were shaken by a tragic incident 
during which WDBJ7 journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward were killed 
in an act of senseless, heartbreaking violence. Vicki Gardner, head of 
the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, was seriously 
injured in the shooting. She has recently been discharged from the 
hospital and continues her recovery.
  Alison Parker was 24 years old. She graduated from Martinsville High 
School, attended Patrick Henry Community College, and went on to James 
Madison University's School of Media Arts and Design. After she 
graduated, Alison joined the news team at WCTI 12 in North Carolina 
before, last year, landing a job reporting for the Mornin' Show at WDBJ 
in Roanoke, where she worked on the news team with Adam. It is a TV 
station that broadcasts into her hometown and into Adam's hometown.
  Adam Ward was 27. He grew up in Botetourt, but was described as 
``truly a Salem Spartan, born and bred.'' He started attending school 
at Andrew Lewis Middle School in the seventh grade, later playing 
football for Salem High. Adam fulfilled another dream by attending 
Virginia Tech and becoming a proud member of the Hokie Nation.
  Alison and Adam were cheerful, hardworking, exuberant, and much-loved 
members of the WDBJ family who are and will continue to be missed.
  Our community is grieving and coping. We are asking for comfort and 
healing. We are reflecting on Alison's and Adam's lives while also 
praying for Vicki's ongoing recovery.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me, my colleagues from the 
Commonwealth, and our community in a moment of silent prayer.

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