On the recordMay 5, 2010
House Resolution 1272 commemorates the 40th anniversary of the May 4, 1970, Kent State University shootings. On May 4, 1970, people gathered at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, protesting American involvement in Vietnam. Hostilities escalated and four students, Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer, and William Schroeder, were shot, and nine others were injured. This year, 2010, marks the 40th anniversary of this tragic event. The event will always be remembered and has been commemorated in several ways. The site of the shooting, as has been mentioned, has been entered in the National Register of Historic Places. Kent State University has established memorial markers, scholarships in memory of the students, a collegiate course on the events and effects of the shootings, and an annual commemoration. Kent State has also begun to design a visitors center to help people explore and understand the event. The death and injuries that resulted from the May 4 shootings at Kent State are no doubt tragic. Kent State University, the National Guard, and this Nation have learned from the events, and have worked to ensure it does not happen again. The shootings evoked a national response and had far-reaching effects. It is important that we commemorate the students who were at Kent State University that day, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution.
