Recognizing a National Week of Hope in commemoration of the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding me time, and I certainly want to thank the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Istook) for offering this thoughtful and gracious and heartfelt resolution.

I want my remarks on the floor today to be spontaneous, just as the response to the bombing in Oklahoma City was by thousands of Oklahomans and millions of Americans.

There are some dates that one remembers in their life. If one is from my generation, they remember the day that President Kennedy was assassinated, with crystal clarity; and I think all Americans remember where they were and what they were doing when the awful tragedy of 9/11 unfolded; and certainly all Oklahomans, and I think many Americans, remember where they were on April 19, 1995.

I certainly remember where I was. I was walking into the West entrance of the State capitol through a tunnel just at 9 o'clock, and I felt the tremble, and I wondered what it was, walked on down the hall into my office. My secretary immediately came and said something awful has happened in downtown Oklahoma City; we do not know what, but something terrible has happened.

That was followed immediately by a call from my wife who at the time was three blocks away from the blast site, working in a law office in downtown Oklahoma City, fortunately on the 14th floor and fortunately out of harm's way. But she called to say, something terrible is occurring. She said, I can see through my windows there is smoke billowing up out of downtown, and there are hundreds of people in the streets, streaming away; something awful has happened.

I immediately left my office and walked upstairs to the governor's office. As I walked through the door, I looked to my right, which was where the press room was located in that suite of offices, and I saw Governor Keating and his chief of staff, Clinton Key, and they were watching on television, only 9 minutes into the disaster at that point, but already helicopters from local televisions stations were there and giving us an aerial view. There was a great deal of speculation on the television about what had occurred, people attributing this to a natural gas explosion.

Governor Keating, who was a former FBI agent and had investigated incidents of terrorism in the 1960s on the West Coast, knew immediately what it was. He said that is no natural gas explosion. That is a car bomb. That is some sort of explosive device that has been set off deliberately.

From that moment forward, I watched an extraordinary response from one of the great public leaders that I have ever been privileged to associate with, Governor Frank Keating, as he marshaled the State and moved it forward to deal with the tragedy in front of him.

I saw a marvelous response from his wife, to skip ahead just a moment, Cathy Keating, who organized the memorial service that moved most Americans. That was her idea on the second day of the tragedy.

We were meeting that night, still not knowing, frankly, how many people had died, whether or not survivors were there, still dealing with all the tragedy associated with the event. She came into the meeting we were having in the governor's mansion and said, We need to have a memorial service; people need to grieve.

I remember honestly thinking at the time, how in the world can we pull off something like this; we have more than we can handle in front of us. I made that sentiment known, and the first lady, to her enduring credit, said, You leave it to me. People want to be involved.

I watched that extraordinary thing come forward as volunteers pitched in, as thousands of people who could not help immediately wanted to do something to respond and to help and to assist the victims of the tragedy. She made that happen, and without her, frankly, it would have never occurred.

I remember many other people. There were so many heroes in those days, so many people. Ron Norick, the mayor of Oklahoma City, again I think one of the great public leaders in history, certainly in my State, the fire chiefs, the police officers, the responders, but most important, just average people, we could not ask for something and not get it. Frankly, we had more help pouring in than we could easily coordinate on the first few days.

I will tell my colleagues this, too. I am a very strong and very good Republican, and I certainly never voted for Bill Clinton, but I have got to tell my colleagues, he was a great President of the United States in that particular tragedy. I will always be grateful for what he did.

I remember the first day, again, of the incident, and President Clinton had called at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. By that point, the governor and his team had moved to the Civil Emergency Management Center, an underground location at the capitol complex in Oklahoma City, and President Clinton and Frank Keating were old friends. Frank Keating had been the student body president at Georgetown when President Clinton was the sophomore class president at Georgetown. So there was a familiarity and an ease of communication that was wonderful to have in a crisis like that.

I remember the President immediately offering all the aid at the disposal of the United States of America; and let me tell my colleagues, my fellow Americans, you do not know how lucky you are when you are in a crisis to be an American until that happens to you, because the response was overwhelming, and the President was generous and gracious and amazingly helpful.

As we moved forward in that discussion, President Clinton asked Governor Keating the obvious and most important question in some ways: Do you have any idea who is responsible for this terrible event? I remember there was lots of speculation about who might be responsible. There is still some speculation today, I suppose, but Governor Keating was nothing if not cautious and careful as a law enforcement official; and he said, We have no earthly idea and we need to be very careful here that blame not be placed on communities or things that did not happen.

The President very thoughtfully said, Well, I certainly hope it was not a foreign national, because if it was, we will be at war someplace in the world in 6 months. I thought about that a lot after 9/11 and what unfolded there and how prophetic he was, indeed, in that particular vision.

The day went on and it was a remarkable day, it was an intense day, but I suppose my most enduring memory of the day is leaving the capitol at 3:00 in the morning and driving down Lincoln Boulevard to get home and looking out the window and seeing this incredible line of people standing outside of a blood center at 3:00 in the morning, still wanting to do something to help. Amazing.

My role in that particular crisis, as it unfolded, was to do what Governor Keating told me to do; and that was to work with the Federal Government on the rebuilding process, and I focused my energy on that. We got a study and figured out how much damage there had been, and we began to understand how many lives and how terrifically awful it would be. And then I turned to the person that I knew would be the most helpful in that crisis at the Federal level and that was my good friend, Congressman Lucas. He represented that area of Oklahoma City at that point. And let me tell you, he was a tyrant, a Trojan in working on behalf of Oklahoma City and the victims. He did everything you could ask him to do and more, just simply a magnificent response on the part of my dear and good friend.

In that crisis, there was a lot of praise, and I think justifiably for Oklahomans, but I also think a vein of speculation, Well, only Oklahomans would respond this way. It is kind of a frontier community, it is relatively homogeneous, it is very conservative, it is very family oriented, has a strong basis of faith, and only in a place like that would a response like that occur.

I did not think that was true, but I have to tell you, on 9/11, when I watched a very diverse and very secular and very different New York City respond in exactly the same way as Oklahomans had responded, I had confirmed in an awful moment what I knew then, that the Oklahoman response was fundamentally an American response. That is the way Americans behave toward one another when things do not go well. So I will always remember this particular day.

Obviously, it is seared in my memory very, very deeply, and I remember the tragedies that unfolded afterwards and, frankly, remember the response to those tragedies even more profoundly.

But in closing, I would like to say, in reflecting on Oklahoma City, and I think it is clearly the lessons of 9/11 as well, that out of evil, grace comes; and I saw enormous grace on April 19, 1995, in Oklahoma City. And out of terror, courage comes; and I saw great courage, from the first responders to the average person that went in.

I remember Rebecca Anderson, who was the one first responder and nurse whom we lost, because she went back into a dangerous building. And I remember my good friend Tim Giblet, who was working downtown at the time, who saved a number of people, again going into a building, doing what he had no training to do. He was not an emergency worker, he just knew people needed help. So the courage was there.

And out of despair, hope, because there is a great deal of hope that comes when you see how your country and your fellow human beings respond in a

crisis. And, finally, out of adversity, as my good friend, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Istook) mentioned, triumph. Because if you went to Oklahoma City today and you went to that exact spot, you would find a magnificent memorial. You would find, more importantly, a museum that not only tells the story, but puts the awful nature of terrorism in a broader context; and you would find a city that believes in itself and its future, probably more profoundly today than it did on April 18 of 1995.

That is a lesson I think all of us as Americans ought to remember. We all believe in our country, but when you have a particular crisis, that is when America is at its very best. Certainly, on this particular day that is when Oklahoma was at its very best. And I will always be grateful to Governor Keating, the First Lady, Cathy Keating; to my good friend Frank Lucas, who was there when we needed him; to the other members of our delegation, Senator Nickles, Senator Inhofe, who were also magnificent; but first and foremost to the people of Oklahoma City, who showed when you are challenged what you can do; and then to our fellow Americans, who at every level, at every moment, responded in the most helpful, the most thoughtful, and in the most supportive of ways.

It is a day to remember not only in terms of what is worst in humanity but what is best about America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 184, a resolution recognizing a National Week of Hope in commemoration of the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City. I also would like to commend my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Oklahoma, Mr. Istook, for his efforts in bringing such a meaningful bill before the House for consideration.

April 19, 1995, will always be seared in my memory as a day on which I see the worst and the best of human nature. As the then acting Secretary of State for Oklahoma, it was not just the facts of that fateful day alone that cut quick to my heart. It was the realization that what happened in Oklahoma City would impact all of Oklahoma, all of America, and all of the world in the weeks ahead.

But, Mr. Speaker, as the world witnessed this tragedy, and as Americans sought answers to untold numbers of questions--the most compelling being why--there came an unexpected response: it was clear that Americans did not need an answer in order to move forward. Mr. Speaker, Oklahomans responded immediately, and that response began at the exact same place of the tragedy the base of the Murrah Federal Building itself, only moments after 9:02 AM. Amazingly, this reply sent a shockwave that was not only felt for just a few miles radius, but one that resonated all over the world.

On April 19, 1995 terrorism struck the heartland of America. But, if 168 lives taken, 850 individuals injured, families ripped forever of loved ones, and lives changed forever represented America's loss, then 12,384 volunteers and rescue workers, 190,000 estimated Oklahomans attending funerals for bombing victims, and an unprecedented outpouring of love, aid, and hope from across the country represented America's spirit. And Americans response America's heart may have suffered a terrible blow, but America's spirit only grew stronger.

This bill commemorates the 10 year anniversary of a terrible tragedy and I am proud as an Oklahoman to stand in this chamber to offer my full support of its passage. This anniversary is not only an opportunity to remember, but an opportunity to celebrate the American spirit that unifies and buoys her citizens in their most challenging times of need.

Mr. Speaker, I again praise the gentleman from Oklahoma for this timely legislation and urge support for the passage of H. Res. 184.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.

House Resolution 184 recognizes a National Week of Hope. Some people might be surprised to think that we are commemorating an incident that took 168 lives, and we are talking not in terms of the lives taken, but we are talking in terms of the hope that has been generated.

It was 10 years ago yesterday that, intentionally, domestic terrorists exploded a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. One hundred sixty-eight lives were lost, including 19 children. Eight hundred fifty people were injured; hundreds of buildings were damaged in addition to the destruction of the Murrah Building. Thirty children were orphaned; 219 children lost at least one parent. And yet despite all this, all this, we talk about hope because the response of Oklahoma City has shown that not only are we not deterred by acts of terrorism, but the best qualities of our community in Oklahoma City are brought to the forefront by that.

We are grateful for the thousands of people who came from across America to assist in the disaster relief efforts, but we are more grateful for the thousands of Oklahomans who since that time have pitched in to remember what happened there and to use it as a foundation for making better lives.

The children of those who were killed, all through private donations, have college funds guaranteed to them. We have now the national memorial built on the site of the former Murrah Building where yesterday we had services with Vice President Cheney, former President Bill Clinton, the governor and former governor of Oklahoma, myself and many others, speaking to commemorate and remember the lives lost and the lives changed forever in that building.

The Murrah Building housed regional offices for a number of Federal agencies: Secret Service; Social Security; Drug Enforcement Agency; Housing and Urban Development; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Armed Services Recruiting and many others. But where once it was a symbol of the Federal Government, now it is a symbol of people who, because of tragedy, turned to their faith, turned to caring for one another, caring for the victims, caring for the survivors, caring for the rescue workers.

We want to commemorate that with a National Week of Hope, to know not only will we not be deterred by terrorist acts, but also we are resolved to make it known that even among hate there is a people and a community of faith in the United States of America. That is the community of Oklahoma City, and hope can exist in the midst of violence.

God endures in the world, even when bad acts are committed, and there is a way to resolve differences other than by resorting to terrorism or violence. Because of that, a museum was established that promotes hope. The Murrah National Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism has been established, and we are grateful to the entire Nation, not only for the outreach of people that came for rescue operations and have helped in the rebuilding, but for the thoughts and the prayers, and we want to remember that with the National Week of Hope.

Mr. Speaker, as is evident a great many people responded to this situation. Over 12,000 emergency workers, rescue workers and volunteer workers, were at the site within a matter of only a couple of days. They came from all over America, for which we are grateful and will always remember.

I want to add some additional thanks to some people that have not been mentioned that I, as someone who shared representation of Oklahoma City with Congressman Lucas at the time, and as someone who now represents that specific building site, I want to express appreciation for those with whom we also worked.

As a member of the Committee on Appropriations, I worked directly with former Chairman Bob Livingston, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, and former Infrastructure Chairman Bud Shuster in making sure that we fashioned the correct Federal response. And, in fact, something in the neighborhood of $200 million flowed in to reimburse law enforcement and safety expenses, to pay the cost of rebuilding hundreds of damaged properties, to establish a permanent revolving loan fund for the redevelopment of the area, the area that surrounds the former Murrah site, to build the new Federal building and campus, which was opened just over a year ago, and of course to establish the national memorial, museum, and the antiterrorism institute in Oklahoma City.

We are grateful for how the country reached out to our community and to our State, and as has been made clear by everyone who has spoken, we are most grateful of all for the wonderful nature, character and spirit of the people of Oklahoma that have taken disaster and used it as something to build upon and make a stronger America, with stronger faith and a stronger Oklahoma.

Comments by Congressman Ernest Istook at April 19, 2005, 10-Year Anniversary Commemoration of Murrah Building Bombing, Oklahoma City,

Oklahoma

Today we gather to remember and renew our strength and our

bonds as Americans and as Oklahomans.

Tomorrow, the U.S. House will designate this week as a

National Week of Hope, to carry across the Nation the message

of hope that we share today.

In this resolution, we state that we join with this

community in hope and prayer in a national week of hope and

ask the Nation to join us in the wish that we will all learn

these 3 lessons stated in the resolution: that hope can exist

in the midst of political violence, that good endures in the

world even among those who commit bad acts, and that there is

a way to resolve our differences other than by resorting to

terrorism and violence.

The resolution states that the Congress congratulates the

people of Oklahoma City for making tremendous progress over

the past decade and for demonstrating their steadfast

commitment to these three lessons. It applauds the people of

Oklahoma City for standing as a beacon to the Nation, and a

beacon to the world, attesting to the strength of goodness in

overcoming evil. How proper it is that it says that Oklahoma

City stands as a beacon.

So often I heard the words of former President Ronald

Reagan saying America needs to be a shining city on a hill.

Those looking for a shining city need look no farther than

Oklahoma City. We will adopt the resolution because America

has learned from what has happened here. America has learned

from our actions, not from our words, that have touched the

soul of the Nation. I want to mention 2 symbols; one not far

away from here sits atop the dome of the state Capitol. It is

a special symbol, a statue crafted by Enoch Kelly Haney

called `The Guardian,' an Indian brave with a tall spear, its

end planted in the earth.

That statue is a way of saying `Here we stand. We shall not

be moved.' That thought says a lot about the spirit of

Oklahoma, and the spirit of Oklahoma City, and our refusal to

be deterred by the obscenity of terrorism.

But being steadfast and immobile, we recognize here is only

a virtue if we are already in the right place and doing the

right thing. If we send a message that we will not be moved,

then we must make sure we are standing firm for what is good

and for what is virtuous. Fortunately, this is a place that

aspires to stand for the good, and we have fertile soil for

virtue.

Oklahomans know that it is not enough to inherit great

blessings; blessings have to be shared. We have to make this

a better community and a better land than we found it, better

for our children, better for our grandchildren.

And the key is to this found in the other symbol the

enduring emblem of this memorial, an American elm know as the

survivor tree.

The survivor tree was damaged. It was scarred. It was

denuded. Almost, but not quite, it was killed. Why did the

survivor tree withstand the blast and the shock? The answer

is quite simple, as President Clinton mentioned, it is the

roots; the roots preserved it. Despite all that it suffered,

its roots were deep, and they preserved it. And that is why

this city endures and prospers, despite the blast, the

deaths, the injuries. Here we stand, and the reason we shall

not be moved is because our roots go deep, and they are

planted in the proper soil. And that is the soil of faith the

eye that sees the foliage gradually return concealing some of

the scars as we see in the lives of so many survivors. Those

scars and the progress may be visible but what is not visible

is the roots. The roots were not created by any public

official, not any organization of survivors, not by the many

who so willingly came here to give aid. The roots of the

survivor tree were made by God, and this city's roots are

planted deeply in the faith in God. It is God who has

inspired the enduring faith that has mended hearts, sparked

outpourings of generosity, and provided sheltering arms for

people to shed their tears in that embrace. As one person

expressed it to me, `our faith is greater than their sin.'

So often, we invoke the words, `God bless America.' We need

to remember, God has already blessed America. God has already

blessed Oklahoma. God has already blessed Oklahoma City.

Instead of only asking for God's blessings, maybe we need to

spend more time with us blessing God, and praising him for

our lives and our land, and praising him for the faith that

sustains the city.

Without God, this city, this state, and this Nation have no

roots. With Him, our roots are solid and they nourish us. We

have many great symbols here in the city and in the memorial,

but it is God who has provided the greatest symbol of all--

the Survivor Tree. We could never do that, for only God can

make a tree.

Thank you for being the people of faith, and may America

bless God.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 184, a bill recognizing a National Week of Hope in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago, on April 19, 1995, an act of unimaginable death and destruction occurred in Oklahoma City when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was blown up in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil, killing 168 of our friends and family, 19 of them children. In that instance, America's heartland lost its innocence. It shocked our Nation. It changed our lives forever.

Few events in the past quarter century have rocked Americans' perceptions of themselves and their institutions and brought together the people of our Nation with greater intensity than this heinous act. My primary district office was a block and a half away from the Murrah Building. I will never forget, I will never forget being in Dallas with the rest of the Oklahoma Federal delegation at a BRAC hearing when a news station radio reporter tapped me on the shoulder and said, Congressman, we have a report that the Federal building in Oklahoma City has been bombed. They say the building is gone. Where is your office? The thoughts that went through my mind in that instant about my loyal staffers.

The delegation came rushing back. As I walked through my damaged office, a block and a half away, on the opposite side of the Murrah Building, looking at the destruction, and being thankful I had lost none of my people, but knowing the heartbreak, the helplessness we all felt looking at that terror, that devastation that transpired on that day.

Now, the bombing was a cowardly act of tragic proportions, and 10 years after the bombing, many of those affected are still trying to make sense of it. But what we know for certain is that on that day we came together as a State and as a Nation in the face of adversity. We comforted those afflicted, we rebuilt our devastated city, we did not let the terrorists win.

I want to take this time to honor and remember not only those who lost their lives, but also those who survived. We honor those who lost loved ones, those who upon hearing of the devastation rushed to the city to offer what help they could, the firemen, the policemen, the nurses, the structural engineers, even the community members who brought food and water for

the rescuers. They are heroes to all Oklahomans.

Like so many other people in Oklahoma, this event has shaped my life, and as the U.S. Congressman representing downtown Oklahoma City at the time of the bombing, I have had the privilege and the opportunity to work these past 10 years to help ease the burden on Oklahoma City as a result of that devastating tragedy. From requesting Federal money to assisting in the rebuilding efforts, to introducing to the House the legislation that established the national memorial, I am honored to have had the chance to help in some small way.

Mr. Speaker, I close today the way I closed a speech I made on this very House floor on May 2, 1995, just 13 days after the attack. As you remember, a spontaneous memorial formed around the perimeter of the Murrah Building, just as one did years later in New York City, a mound of wreaths, bouquets, teddy bears, tear-stained poems laid out, paying tribute to those who perished.

One particular offering spoke, I believe, for all Oklahomans. It consisted of a teddy bear with a paper heart attached, bearing a crayon

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois for yielding time. I want to thank the Members of the Oklahoma delegation, the gentlemen from Oklahoma (Mr. Istook, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Cole), for coming together to support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today and join my colleagues in voicing support for House Resolution 184. Just over 24 hours ago marked the 10th anniversary of the Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City. We should never forget the lives lost and forever changed by the events of this day.

On April 19, 1995, at 9:02 a.m. while the building employees worked at their desks, the visitors walked the halls and the children played in the day care center, a massive explosion caused by a terrorist bomb leveled the entire north side of the building. In the end, 168 innocent men, women and children senselessly lost their lives as they were carrying on with their daily schedules.

The devastation does not end, however, with the sons and daughters, the husbands and wives, and the brothers and sisters that lost their lives on that day. Left in the aftermath were 30 orphaned children and 219 children who lost at least one parent. These, too, are victims of this horrific act. In total, 850 people were physically injured by the bombing.

In addition to the human loss, there was damage to over 300 buildings. This damage caused over 7,000 Oklahomans to be left without a place to work and left 462 residents homeless. With this in mind, my heartfelt sympathy goes out to all the families in my State of Oklahoma and around the Nation who suffered a loss during this tragedy.

I tell my colleagues that during the 10 years since the bombing, the healing process has been taking place in Oklahoma City, and the scars are healing in a remarkable fashion. The healing is attributable to the people of the city and the State who have shown their strong will and perseverance over the past decade by rebuilding. Out of the rubble and the heartbreak, they have built a beautiful memorial for all to visit.

Rather than allowing fear to keep them away from the downtown area, the people of Oklahoma City have continued the city's growth beyond the memorial. The area surrounding the memorial is now flourishing with businesses, restaurants and family entertainment. Oklahoma City and the State of Oklahoma could have given up during this tragedy, but instead, they became emboldened as they faced the difficult challenges placed before them.

This growth in Oklahoma City shows the strength that can be accomplished through the power of hope. My colleague, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Istook) mentioned that earlier. It shows Oklahomans' hope for a safe place to work, our hope for a safe place to take our families, and above all, our hope for normalcy after such a tragic event.

The great accomplishments that have been demonstrated by my fellow Oklahomans since April 19, 1995, should be an example to all those in our Nation and around the world who face adversity in their own lives.

The people of Oklahoma City deserve the recognition and remembrance that this resolution provides them. I am honored to give my support to this resolution which recognizes a National Week of Hope and commemoration of not only the loss in Oklahoma City, but the resilience of its residents.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Boren), a new Member of the House and a cosponsor of this resolution from the 2nd District of Oklahoma.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the United States was forever changed on April 19, 1995, at 9:02 a.m. Central time. What began as a perfect spring day in Oklahoma City, quickly turned into a nightmare when a bomb exploded in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people and injuring more than 850.

Today, as we reflect on that horrific event, I am proud to stand before you in support of H. Res. 184, recognizing a National Week of Hope in commemoration of the 10th-year anniversary of the terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City. So much has changed since that fateful day. No longer do we as American citizens believe that we are isolated from terror. We know that the threat of another terrorist attack is very real. In the face of this threat, however, we have chosen to face our fears and to work together to keep our country safe.

Immediately following the explosion on April 19, the true character of Americans emerged. Law enforcement personnel, bystanders, and those who had narrowly escaped harm rushed toward danger to attend to those who were injured by the explosion. Because of their heroism, many lives that otherwise would have been lost were saved that day.

In Oklahoma City today, where the Alfred Murrah Building once stood, stands a poignant memorial that reminds us of each cherished life that was lost that tragic day. It also serves as an important reminder to all of us that each day is truly a blessing.

Mr. Speaker, I want to state my emphatic support for this bill. The National Week of Hope will provide all Americans with the opportunity to reflect on the importance and value of human life. The National Week of Hope will include a day of faith, a day of understanding, a day of remembrance, a day of sharing, a day of tolerance, a day of caring, and a day of inspiration. Each day represents a core value that reflects the strength of our Nation.

I want to thank the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Istook) for introducing this meaningful legislation. I pray that all Americans will take cognizance of it and continue to demonstrate the bravery and compassion that were exhibited that tragic day in Oklahoma.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.