On the recordDecember 17, 2012
I thank my colleague, Congressman and Senator-elect from the State of Connecticut, Chris Murphy. There have been many magnificent and heart-rending tributes being paid this evening, and how appropriate it is that they are. On behalf of my constituents in the 14th Congressional District in California, I hope that our words and our prayers and also our future actions will be a source of comfort to the parents of the victims and to the community of Newtown, Connecticut. It is appropriate that we offer our prayers and our sympathy, but that's not enough. That is not enough. It is in this Chamber and in this Congress we're together. We can, indeed, make the changes that the American people, in their anguish, are looking for. I can't help but think of the words of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address when he said: The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to their great unfinished work. And so the massacre of these angels should really inspire us to take on the job of what really needs to be done in our country. Will we be able to resolve every last problem that this violence has brought about in our country? I doubt that. Can we take great steps to avoid what we know has taken place in public places, in shopping malls, in theaters, on college campuses, and now for where the little angels go to school?…
