On the recordDecember 19, 2012
Mr. President, I rise today with a heavy heart. When we first heard of the horrific shooting in Newtown, CT, on Friday, it was impossible for me not to react, not just as a Senator but as a parent, as a father. And as my wife and I spent the weekend reflecting on the heartbreaking loss of 20 innocent children and 6 of their teachers and faculty, as we talked to our own 3 young children about what had happened, we thought about the grief and the anguish for a whole range of different parents deeply touched by this tragic incident. The first, of course, are the parents who lost their precious innocent children, their 6- and 7-year-olds in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday. Joel and JoAnn Bacon lost their precocious, outgoing, red-haired daughter Charlotte, just 6 years old. JoAnn had recently bought Charlotte a new holiday dress in her favorite color--pink--and a pair of white boots. Charlotte had begged and begged to wear her new outfit early, and on Friday, December 14, the last day of Charlotte's young life, her mother JoAnn agreed. Steve and Rebecca Kowalski lost their active and athletic 7-year-old son Chase. Just 2 days before the shooting, Chase's next-door neighbor had asked him what he wanted for Christmas, and I understand he pointed to his two missing front teeth.…





