Condemning, in the strongest possible terms, the heinous atrocities that occurred in Aurora, Colorado.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of July 25, 2012, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 134) condemning, in the strongest possible terms, the heinous atrocities that occurred in Aurora, Colorado, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity the other day for us to have a moment of silence. I know it was important to the members of our delegation as well as to the people of our community in Aurora, Colorado, and the whole metropolitan area.

I had a chance to speak on Tuesday. I have a number of things to say, but I know each of us in our delegation bears a heavy heart as a result of all this, and I would like others to be able to share some of their thoughts.

With that, I yield 2 minutes to my friend from Boulder, Mr. Polis.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to yield 3 minutes to Diana DeGette, my friend from Denver, who had a number of constituents in the movie theater that evening.

I thank my friend Doug for describing in detail one of these injuries.

I'd like to introduce, Mr. Speaker, if I could, for the Record some brief biographical information of each of the victims who was killed: John Blunk, Alexander Jonathan ``AJ'' Boik, Jesse Childress, Gordon Cowden, Jessica Ghawi, John Larimer, Micayla Medek, Veronica Moser, Alex Sullivan, Alex Teves, and Rebecca Wingo, because I want our Record in this Congress to have their names and some information about them. And I appreciate you talking about somebody specifically.

These are hard moments for all of us. These are good people, and some very bad things happened to some very good people. But I want to talk about some of the positive aspects that came out of this dreadful night.

Thirteen years ago--Diana DeGette mentioned Columbine--on the southwest side of my district I have Columbine, on the northeast side of my

district I have this theater. Colorado is a good place. I mean, all of us love where we come from. We've had some violent incidents that have taken our innocence, as Mr. Polis has said. We heal from these things, but you're never quite the same. You're never quite the same. But one of the positive aspects of that terrible incident 13 years ago at Columbine High School was that our law enforcement, our first responders, our police, our firefighters, our medical teams learned some real lessons.

We have, in the Aurora area, a community college called Aurora Community College, where we have gone through a number of exercises to deal with a mass casualty incident such as this, where the police, the fire, law enforcement agencies from across our communities--Denver, Adams, Arapahoe Counties--work together with the CU Medical School to address these kinds of incidents, and the chief of police, Dan Oates, who deserves a higher place in heaven for the way he has managed this terrible time on behalf of law enforcement. They've prepared and prepared and prepared. Unbelievably, this terrible tragedy happened, but because of that preparation, because of what we had gone through before and the terrible lessons we learned, lives were saved. There's no question about it; lives were saved that otherwise would have been lost.

I want to applaud, again, the Aurora police, the Aurora firefighters, the medical teams--casualties were taken to six or seven different hospitals in our area--but they all did an outstanding job. The dispatchers, can you imagine all the 911 calls that came in that night. We want to thank them.

We want to thank the FBI. Jim Yacone, who is our bureau chief, was outstanding on behalf of the Federal response to deal both with the shootings that occurred in the theater and the elaborate booby trap that was set in this apartment--that I drive by at least once a week-- right across from the University of Colorado. This is something that we will heal from, but we will never be the same.

And I just want to thank the Aurora schools, which provided a place of safety for all of these individuals to go at the time of this incident.

I want to thank the ministerial alliance. As Mr. Coffman said, this is a community of great faith, and our churches and our synagogues have responded in a tremendous fashion to the sorrow that we all feel.

There are many stories, some beautiful ones. The President shared one.

Before I go further, Mr. Speaker, can I inquire as to the time on both sides, because I know I have a couple of other speakers that would like to speak.

I would just mention the story, and this is one that I'm so proud of people from Colorado. There were two young women in the back of the theater when the gentleman came in and threw a tear gas canister across the theater. And the taller of the two noticed that it really was something other than a smoke bomb and a stunt, and she stood up to warn people, and she was shot in the neck immediately.

Blood started to spurt out. Her smaller friend pulled her down, compressed that wound, and the older one said something, or the one who'd been shot said something like you need to leave, you need to get out of here. And her friend said, I'm not leaving without you, and continued to press.

The police responded very quickly, but it probably seemed like an eternity. But the young lady who was shot in the neck is on the mend and is going to recover fully, and her friend, basically, saved her life, and the quick actions of the police and the fire department.

So despite these terrible losses that we've suffered, and there are so many heartbreaking stories, there are some heartwarming stories as well.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

July 20, 2012 Aurora Theater Shooting Victims

Rebecca Wingo, 32

Steve Hernandez wrote, ``I lost my daughter yesterday to a

mad man, my grief right now is inconsolable, I hear she died

instantly, without pain, however the pain is unbearable.''

Friends said Saturday that Wingo's parents also posted a

message about Wingo's death on Wingo's own Facebook page.

That page shows a picture of two young girls. A friend, Gail

Riffle, brought two teddy bears, one pink and one white, to

the memorial site near the movie theater for Wingo's

daughters, as well as roses for Wingo's parents. ``Everybody

is hurting right now,'' Riffle said. ``She was a gentle,

sweet, beautiful soul.'' Rebecca Wingo listed Joe's Crab

Shack as her employer on Facebook, and a manager at the

restaurant in Aurora confirmed Wingo worked there. He

deferred comment to the restaurant's corporate office, which

is closed on Saturday. Rebecca Wingo had been enrolled at the

Community College of Aurora since fall 2009 and had been

working toward an associate of arts degree.

Memorial Service Information

Funeral: Friday, July 27, 2012--TBD.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the leader, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).

Mr. Speaker, I again inquire about the balance of time.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

I would just like to end, Mr. Speaker, by thanking my friends--and they are my friends--and colleagues from Colorado.

From all of us, Aurora and everybody who has been so affected by this senseless act, we are praying for you. We love you.

This act actually affected people from one coast to the other. A lot of people from all over the Nation were there. In fact, at the time, from a nearby military base, there were 53 members of our military-- Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines--who were in that theater that night. This is something that touches us all, something that we will all remember. We will heal. Let's hope and pray something like this doesn't happen again.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

The Sense To Find . . .

(By Albert Carey Caswell)

The . . .

The sense to find . . .

As now we so ask why?

So ask why?

All in our hearts and minds . . .

Hearts and minds!

As the tears we find . . .

We find!

All because of this most evil crime . . .

For all of those most precious lost lives . . .

Lost lives!

And for all of those injured who must now so rebuild their

lives!

The tears we find!

As all of those smiles so come to mind . . .

And all of that pain these families must now so carry until

the end of time!

Of all of those lost loved ones and their most precious lost

lives!

Precious lives!

As it's here we so ask why?

Ask why?

For where does the answer lie?

So lie!

All in that old age question, that rhyme!

Of Good versus Evil, as old as mankind!

Goodness . . . Evil . . . Darkness . . . Light!

This battle, this endless fight!

To bring the light!

As we so ask why?

Ask why?

All in your hearts this night!

Take these words of hope to but bring the light!

That still, the darkness is but no match for The Light!

For The Light!

For hope and love, will ever so rise above all of this

blight!

This blight!

Let not all in your pain and heartache, let not escape!

The strength to so find!

For hate is hard!

It makes me cry!

When, I see those tears in your families' eyes!

As we so try to the sense to find . . .

To find!

But, take comfort all in your hearts and minds . . .

Hearts and minds!

All in your souls now so very deep down inside!

As up to Heaven, all of these twelve innocent souls have now

so taken flight!

Taken flight!

To Heaven find, to become Angels with our Lord on high!

As all in our Lord's arms they now so lie!

This very night!

As from your most swollen eyes the tears you now so wipe!

So wipe!

So find the sense to find!

And say a prayer for all of them,

and all of those, and their loved ones who now so cry!

So cry!

Whose pain shall not so die!

So die!

And somehow find the strength,

all in what their short lives so meant!

All in the hope and light,

that over evil . . . the goodness so burns bright!

Burns bright!

To the sense to find,

upon this very night!

The sense to find!

As we lay their sacred bodies so down to rest!

Amen!

Mr. Speaker, we can never explain nor fully comprehend evil, but last Friday we were reminded of its existence. The face of evil emerged when a cold blooded, calculating mass murderer trapped unsuspecting movie patrons packed in a darkened theater in my hometown of Aurora, Colorado.

Today, on the floor of the United States House of Representatives, we pause to again remember the victims of this horrendous crime and to honor the courage of so many who put their own lives at risk to limit the carnage.

The victims who lost their lives in the early morning hours of last Friday are: Veronica Moser, age 6; Alex Teves, age 24; Jessica Ghawi, age 24; Alex Sullivan, age 27; Matt McQuinn, age 27; Micayla Medek, age 23; John Larimer, age 27; A.J. Boik, age 18; Rebecca Wingo, age 32; John Blunk, age 26; Jesse Childress, age 29; Gordon Cowden, age 51.

Aurora is a proud suburban community, mostly of working class and middle class families, who share basic American values, the values of hard work, and of faith in God, and of family.

My family came to Aurora, Colorado, in 1964 when my father, a career soldier, was sent to Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center for his last assignment in the U.S. Army. Back then, Aurora was just a small town surrounded by three military bases. In the 1970s, Aurora transitioned away from being a military town, although it still has an Air Force base. Aurora has grown to become the third-largest city in the State of Colorado, with a population of over 300,000 residents. Aurora has also grown to become the most racially and ethnically diverse city in the State of Colorado.

Aurora has received the ``All-American City Award'' by the National League of Cities in recognition of being a community whose citizens work together to identify and tackle community-wide challenges and for having achieved uncommon results. A couple of weeks ago, I was at a meeting with the Aurora Board of Realtors where Mayor Steve Hogan was speaking. He proudly informed the audience that Aurora was ranked as the eighth-safest city of its size in the country.

No doubt we are still in shock and trying to understand why this happened to our community.

The theater where so many lost their lives and where so many were injured lies in the heart of our city. The vacant ground beside the theater has been designated by our city's planners to be the future site of the City Center.

Aurora will never be the same after this horrific act of evil that occurred last week, but the citizens of Aurora are caring and resilient, and a long process of healing has already begun. We will stand together and come back stronger than before this attack.

When I think of all the victims of this tragedy and how much our community has suffered, I am reminded by a refrain from a hymn that I have often sung in church:

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,

Bear you on the breath of dawn,

Make you to shine like the sun,

And hold you in the palm of His hand.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn).

Mr. Speaker, I too rise in support of Mr. Perlmutter's comments in relationship to our own Aurora Police Department, as well as all the other law enforcement entities that have helped in this terrible tragedy.

I now yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Gardner).

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on House Concurrent Resolution 134.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Perlmutter for yielding, and I'm very sad to join my colleagues in expressing the deepest sympathies of the House of Representatives to the families and loved ones of the victims in Aurora, Colorado, and to the entire community as it grapples with its grief.

My colleagues have spoken very movingly from the standpoint of faith; and, hopefully, that faith will be a comfort to those who are affected.

As you know, Mr. Speaker, when we learned of this tragedy, the President ordered flags to be flown at half staff for 1 week to commemorate the tragedy that Aurora, these individual families, and our country had suffered. That was done as a mark of respect for the 12 innocent victims of the senseless violence and for all who were affected.

Of the victims who were murdered, and that's just the word that day, the vast majority were very young people. The one, Gordon Cowden, was a father in his fifties--well, that seems young to me; the others were very young--whose last words to his daughters were to tell them he loved them.

Each of them has a story that deserves to be told. Each was beloved. Each left home with a different expectation of what would happen that evening, and so did the rest of the country.

Several died protecting their loved ones, including John Blunk, Alex Teves and Matt McQuinn. Alex Sullivan was about to celebrate his 1-year wedding anniversary, and that was the celebration, going out to the movies.

A.J. Boik had just graduated from high school. Jessica Ghawi dreamed of being a sports journalist. Micayla Medek and Rebecca Wingo were pursuing their futures at community college.

Two victims, Jesse Childress and John Larimer, were Active Duty military personnel. They signed up to risk their lives for our country to protect our freedom. Who could have ever thought that they would lose their lives going to the movies?

And as a child, Veronica Moser will now forever be remembered as the 6-year-old. What a sad tragedy.

Most of us here in this body are parents and grandparents, and in Steny's case, a great-grandparent, and every person knows the feeling of sending a child off to a movie with their friends, the excitement of an opening night, and then the worry when the minutes tick by and someone hasn't come home.

It is with heavy hearts that we send our thoughts and prayers to the many grieving today, and we continue to pray--thank you for taking us down that path; we continue to pray for the healing of those who survived, both their physical pain and their emotional scars. That's probably the hardest.

We send our gratitude to our first responders. Within minutes, when minutes counted, when seconds counted, they responded with bravery and with professionalism.

In the words of this resolution, the Congress ``honors the resilience of the community of the City of Aurora and the State of Colorado in the face of such adversity.''

May you feel the support and love and prayers of our Nation. May those tragically taken from us be honored and remembered. May time heal our grief.

I hope it is a comfort to those who are affected by this tragedy, who lost loved ones, or have injuries in their families, that so many people throughout the world mourn their loss and are praying for them at this sad time.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank my dear friend and colleague, Ed Perlmutter, for yielding to me.

This is a difficult week for all of us in Colorado.

There were two movie theaters in the Denver metro area that were showing this premiere at midnight last Thursday night. So there were people from all over the community in that theater there with their families and their friends, almost the entire employees of a restaurant in Colorado. They went to have a fun evening on a summer night. And tragedy, of course, struck that night unexpectedly to everybody.

I've been overwhelmed, as we all have in the delegation, by the support of the community for all of the victims of the shooting and their families.

The way the communities have come together--Aurora and Denver and Inglewood and all of the communities--has been a blessed thing to see for all of us.

No one can make sense of a tragedy like this, and the stories of heroism are still coming out every day. The stories of miracles--babies born just a day or two after in the same hospital where the father lies in a coma. Yet while we hear all of these stories of heroism and while we hear all of the stories of first responders rushing to the scene and helping within 90 seconds, in our heart we say: How can this happen and what can we do?

I did have a number of constituents in that theater, some who were just injured, some who were in the nearby theaters who will be scarred psychologically forever by this, a close friend of my daughter, and others. I had at least three constituents who were killed by this terrible crime. The little girl, Veronica Moser, age 6--whose mother, Ashley, lies in critical condition--Jessica Ghawi and Alex Teves. Our prayers and thoughts go out to all of them and their families.

It's wonderful to see my friends from the delegation here, the entire House delegation from Colorado. We consider ourselves to be close allies, although we often disagree on different issues.

I just want to say something to all of my colleagues and to everyone in this House, Mr. Speaker. We have now had, as of today, 25 moments of silence as respects victims of gun violence since the Columbine shooting. I was here for that too. We had two moments of silence just the other day, one for Aurora and one for the anniversary of the Capitol police officer who was killed 10 years ago today.

So we can have our debates, we can have our discussions, we can mourn for the victims, which is appropriate this week; but it is our challenge, as leaders of our State and leaders of our country, to go on from today and to say: What can we seriously do as a Nation to make sure that no tragedy of this scope or horror ever happens in this country again?

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Representative Mike Coffman and Representative Ed Perlmutter for leading this time this morning.

Mr. Speaker, the fact that the entire delegation--bipartisan delegation--is here is just a small reflection of how the people of Colorado are coming together and the people of Aurora are coming together after this senseless tragedy.

We've heard a lot of stories of bravery, both on the parts of the first responders and the parts of everyday citizens. I want to tell a story of one of the victims.

I'd like to share the story of Caleb Medley. Caleb is from the small town of Florence, just south of Colorado Springs. Today, Caleb lies in a medically induced coma after being shot in the face. In the days since that horrific shooting, his wife, Katie, has given birth to their first child, Hugo.

Caleb spent his teen years in Florence; and after graduating from high school, he married his high school sweetheart, Katie. He went to work at a local grocery store. Like most people, he and Katie have big plans and dreams for their lives. From the time he was in eighth grade, Caleb has wanted to be a standup comedian. Katie wants to work in veterinarian medicine. The young couple moved to the Denver suburb of Aurora to pursue their dreams.

On July 18, just 2 days before the shooting, Caleb appeared at the Comedy Works and did well enough to advance to the next round. And he and his wife, Katie, were looking forward to their baby's birth a few days later. But before little Hugo could be born, Caleb and Katie made the fateful decision to go out one last night before becoming parents. According to a Web site that Caleb's family has posted, the two stood anxiously in line that night. They spent too much on popcorn and soda. They endured the movie trailers, and they watched the beginning of the movie. That's when evil struck. Evil came to them through a man that opened fire in that movie theater.

Katie and baby Hugo made it out uninjured, but Caleb was struck in the face by gunfire. Caleb has lost his right eye, has some brain damage, and doctors have put him in a medically induced coma.

So, Mr. Speaker, I ask that the people of America would be praying for Caleb and his family. We are pulling for you, Caleb, and for all the victims of this senseless tragedy.