On the recordNovember 30, 2011
I want to commend Representative Wasserman Schultz and the 367 bipartisan cosponsors of House Resolution 364. I recognize, Madam Speaker, that this is an unprecedented bill, but the bill commemorates an unprecedented act, the sacrifice of the life of a staffer of the one of our Members who, herself, is still recovering from that tragedy, Representative Gabrielle Giffords. We do not often have opportunities to speak on the floor of the House of our staff, whose duties are performed almost entirely behind the scenes. The tragedy in Arizona, however, does remind us that staffers are often exposed as much as Members to harm and are in harm's way. Therefore, I think it entirely appropriate that we commemorate this loss of life, first in the history of the Congress, by naming a room after Gabriel Zimmerman in our Visitors Center. I rise in support of House Resolution 364 and am pleased today to speak in support of a bill that designates a room in the Capitol Visitor Center as the ``Gabriel Zimmerman Meeting Room''. Gabriel ``Gabe'' Zimmerman was a Congressional staffer who was killed along with five others, at a community meeting at a local grocery store sponsored by Representative Gabrielle Giffords on January 8th, 2011 while 13 other individuals were wounded, including Representative Giffords and two other Congressional staffers.…
