*Administration of Barack Obama, 2015 *

**Remarks Following a Meeting With Families of the Victims of the Shootings in Roseburg, Oregon **

*October 9, 2015 *

I'm going to be very brief here. I just want to first of all say thank you to Mayor Rich. I want to thank Governor Brown. Most importantly, I want to thank the entire community and the entire State of Oregon for coming together at this terrible time to support the families.

I just had a chance to talk to them. Obviously, in moments like these, words aren't going to bring their loved ones back. But the one thing that they shared is how much they appreciate the entire UCC community coming together, how much they appreciate all their neighbors, all their friends, and people all across the country who have offered to help, sent their thoughts and their prayers.

What I just told the mayor is that if there's anything that we can do at the Federal level to help the community heal from this loss, obviously, we're going to be there. And I know that flying out here with some of the members of the Oregon delegation, they feel the same way. And the Governor, obviously, has been paying a lot of attention to how we can be most helpful to the families.

So—but there are going to be, I think, moments as we go forward where we're going to have to come together and figure out how do we stop things like this from happening. And I've got some very strong feelings about this, because when you talk to these families, you're reminded that this could be happening to your child or your mom or your dad or your relative or your friend. And so we're going to have to come together as a country to see how we can prevent these issues from taking place.

But today, it's about the families and their grief and the love we feel for them. And they surely do appreciate all the support that they've received.

*Governor Kate Brown of Oregon.* Thank you.

*The President.* Thank you.

*Mayor Larry Rich of Roseburg, OR.* Thanks very much. [*Inaudible*]

*The President.* Thank you again. No problem. God bless you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 1:41 p.m. at Roseburg High School. In his remarks, he referred to Sens. Ronald L. Wyden and Jeff Merkley; and Rep. Peter DeFazio.

*Categories:* Addresses and Remarks : Roseburg, OR, shootings :: Meeting with victims' families in Roseburg, OR*.*

*Locations: *Roseburg, OR*. *

*Names:* Brown, Kate; DeFazio, Peter; Merkley, Jeff; Rich, Larry; Wyden, Ronald L.

*Subjects:* Law enforcement and crime : Gun violence, prevention efforts; Oregon : Governor; Oregon : President's visit; Oregon : Roseburg :: Shootings; Oregon : Roseburg :: Umpqua Community College. *DCPD Number:* DCPD201500710.