Jack Kingston: “What I wanted to do, Mr. Speaker, is kind of maybe draw a picture of that tragic night of September 5 when the athletes…”

“What I wanted to do, Mr. Speaker, is kind of maybe draw a picture of that tragic night of September 5 when the athletes were all bedding down for the evening and a young Andre Spitzer had called his wife, Ankie. They had only been married about 15 months at the time, and they had a new daughter 2 months old, Anouk. They were very happy. They talked a little bit about the games to come up, about his role as fencing coach, and then they talked about the new daughter and how happy they were. And that night as they hung up the phone, Andre said to Ankie, I love you. Then he, along with 10 other athletes, went to bed that night, and they had come so far for their own talents of wrestling, fencing, shooting, track, and weightlifting. As they put their head on the pillow, their hearts were inspired, their minds maybe a bit anxious, their emotions certainly somewhat eager. As they went to bed they were confident that with the morning light they would have a daytime opportunity to realize a dream that they had indeed had all their life, but instead they were awakened to darkness and awakened in a nightmare.”