Bob Menendez: “Mr. Speaker, we have gathered in these hallowed Chambers to pay tribute to two fallen heroes, Officer Jacob Chestnut and…”

“Mr. Speaker, we have gathered in these hallowed Chambers to pay tribute to two fallen heroes, Officer Jacob Chestnut and Special Agent John Gibson. When tragedy strikes, we are often left groping for answers. Over the past couple of days, we have all asked ourselves the same haunting questions: Why has this tragedy occurred? Why have people of such valor suddenly been taken from our lives? Why have these devoted husbands and fathers been taken from their families? We may never have adequate answers to these questions, but we must work to ensure that they did not die in vain. Mr. Speaker, that means that after paying our respects and mourning we must remember that it was a man not alone but with a gun who committed this tragedy. Ensuring that they did not die in vain means that we recommit ourselves to the freedom and values they sought to defend. It can be said that they defended a Capitol, a building, a national landmark. It can be said that they defended those who work and visit here, and that would be true as well. But in my mind what they were really defending is our most precious gift as Americans, the freedom to come to the seat of our government, the most open and democratic of the entire world, and see it, speak to it, or even peacefully protest against it.”