Roger Marshall: “what is truly a humble moment standing here with my senior Senator from Kansas and a couple gentlemen Senators from…”

“what is truly a humble moment standing here with my senior Senator from Kansas and a couple gentlemen Senators from Virginia. I wish we weren't having to stand here together. It has been more than a week since that horrific night, but it feels as if it just happened hours ago. It doesn't seem possible. It doesn't seem possible. Yet, in the blink of an eye, we lost 67 brave souls. Each morning, I wake up hoping it was all just a nightmare, that somehow it wasn't real, but we all know it was and it is. Psalm 34:18 reminds us: The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. ``The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.'' It is times like these, when grief is overwhelming, that we hold on to the promise of Scripture and the faith passed down from generation to generation, a faith that has carried Kansans through hardship and loss. We remember 1955, a tornado leveled the little city of Udall, and 75 Kansans lost their lives; another horrific plane crash in 1970 carrying the Wichita State University football team, and 31 souls were lost. The tornadoes and storms, the floods, the wildfires--all these disasters have taken too many lives and left so many hearts shattered. Yet, through it all, one thing has remained: our faith and the love and support of our families and our communities. That is what has carried us before, and that is what will carry us now. But I do feel the hurt.…”