\nRemarks of President Barack Obama \u2013 As Prepared for Delivery
At a Memorial Service for the Victims of the Shooting in Tucson, Arizona
University of Arizona, McKale Memorial Center
Tucson, Arizona
January 12, 2011<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Prepared for Delivery\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To the families of those we\u2019ve lost; to all who called them friends; to the students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief. And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy pull through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Scripture tells us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Saturday morning, Gabby, her staff, and many of her constituents gathered outside a supermarket to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and free speech. They were fulfilling a central tenet of the democracy envisioned by our founders \u2013 representatives of the people answering to their constituents, so as to carry their concerns to our nation\u2019s capital. Gabby called it \u201cCongress on Your Corner??? \u2013 just an updated version of government of and by and for the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is the quintessentially American scene that was shattered by a gunman\u2019s bullets. And the six people who lost their lives on Saturday \u2013 they too represented what is best in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judge John Roll served our legal system for nearly 40 years. A graduate of this university and its law school, Judge Roll was recommended for the federal bench by John McCain twenty years ago, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and rose to become Arizona\u2019s chief federal judge. His colleagues described him as the hardest-working judge within the Ninth Circuit. He was on his way back from attending Mass, as he did every day, when he decided to stop by and say hi to his Representative. John is survived by his loving wife, Maureen, his three sons, and his five grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
George and Dorothy Morris \u2013 \u201cDot??? to her friends \u2013 were high school sweethearts who got married and had two daughters. They did everything together, traveling the open road in their RV, enjoying what their friends called a 50-year honeymoon. Saturday morning, they went by the Safeway to hear what their Congresswoman had to say. When gunfire rang out, George, a former Marine, instinctively tried to shield his wife. Both were shot. Dot passed away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A New Jersey native, Phyllis Schneck retired to Tucson to beat the snow. But in the summer, she would return East, where her world revolved around her 3 children, 7 grandchildren, and 2 year-old great-granddaughter. A gifted quilter, she\u2019d often work under her favorite tree, or sometimes sew aprons with the logos of the Jets and the Giants to give out at the church where she volunteered. A Republican, she took a liking to Gabby, and wanted to get to know her better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dorwan and Mavy Stoddard grew up in Tucson together \u2013 about seventy years ago. They moved apart and started their own respective families, but after both were widowed they found their way back here, to, as one of Mavy\u2019s daughters put it, \u201cbe boyfriend and girlfriend again.??? When they weren\u2019t out on the road in their motor home, you could find them just up the road, helping folks in need at the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ. A retired construction worker, Dorwan spent his spare time fixing up the church along with their dog, Tux. His final act of selflessness was to dive on top of his wife, sacrificing his life for hers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everything Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion \u2013 but his true passion was people. As Gabby\u2019s outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that seniors got the Medicare benefits they had earned, that veterans got the medals and care they deserved, that government was working for ordinary folks. He died doing what he loved \u2013 talking with people and seeing how he could help. Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross and Emily, his brother, Ben, and his fianc\u00e9e, Kelly, who he planned to marry next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then there is nine year-old Christina Taylor Green. Christina was an A student, a dancer, a gymnast, and a swimmer. She often proclaimed that she wanted to be the first woman to play in the major leagues, and as the only girl on her Little League team, no one put it past her. She showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age, and would remind her mother, \u201cWe are so blessed. We have the best life.??? And she\u2019d pay those blessings back by participating in a charity that helped children who were less fortunate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. Our hearts are broken \u2013 and yet, our hearts also have reason for fullness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our hearts are full of hope and thanks for the 13 Americans who survived the shooting, including the congresswoman many of them went to see on Saturday. I have just come from the University Medical Center, just a mile from here, where our friend Gabby courageously fights to recover even as we speak. And I can tell you this \u2013 she knows we\u2019re here and she knows we love her and she knows that we will be rooting for her throughout what will be a difficult journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And our hearts are full of gratitude for those who saved others. We are grateful for Daniel Hernandez, a volunteer in Gabby\u2019s office who ran through the chaos to minister to his boss, tending to her wounds to keep her alive. We are grateful for the men who tackled the gunman as he stopped to reload. We are grateful for a petite 61 year-old, Patricia Maisch, who wrestled away the killer\u2019s ammunition, undoubtedly saving some lives. And we are grateful for the doctors and nurses and emergency medics who worked wonders to heal those who\u2019d been hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These men and women remind us that heroism is found not only on the fields of battle. They remind us that heroism does not require special training or physical strength. Heroism is here, all around us, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, just waiting to be summoned \u2013 as it was on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their actions, their selflessness, also pose a challenge to each of us. It raises the question of what, beyond the prayers and expressions of concern, is required of us going forward. How can we honor the fallen? How can we be true to their memory?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You see, when a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations \u2013 to try to impose some order on the chaos, and make sense out of that which seems senseless. Already we\u2019ve seen a national conversation commence, not only about the motivations behind these killings, but about everything from the merits of gun safety laws to the adequacy of our mental health systems. Much of this process, of debating what might be done to prevent such tragedies in the future, is an essential ingredient in our exercise of self-government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized \u2013 at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do \u2013 it\u2019s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world, and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, \u201cwhen I looked for light, then came darkness.??? Bad things happen, and we must guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped those shots from being fired, or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yes, we must examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of violence in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what we can\u2019t do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another. As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all, that\u2019s what most of us do when we lose someone in our family \u2013 especially if the loss is unexpected. We\u2019re shaken from our routines, and forced to look inward. We reflect on the past. Did we spend enough time with an aging parent, we wonder. Did we express our gratitude for all the sacrifices they made for us? Did we tell a spouse just how desperately we loved them, not just once in awhile but every single day?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sudden loss causes us to look backward \u2013 but it also forces us to look forward, to reflect on the present and the future, on the manner in which we live our lives and nurture our relationships with those who are still with us. We may ask ourselves if we\u2019ve shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we are doing right by our children, or our community, and whether our priorities are in order. We recognize our own mortality, and are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame \u2013 but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That process of reflection, of making sure we align our values with our actions \u2013 that, I believe, is what a tragedy like this requires. For those who were harmed, those who were killed \u2013 they are part of our family, an American family 300 million strong. We may not have known them personally, but we surely see ourselves in them. In George and Dot, in Dorwan and Mavy, we sense the abiding love we have for our own husbands, our own wives, our own life partners. Phyllis \u2013 she\u2019s our mom or grandma; Gabe our brother or son. In Judge Roll, we recognize not only a man who prized his family and doing his job well, but also a man who embodied America\u2019s fidelity to the law. In Gabby, we see a reflection of our public spiritedness, that desire to participate in that sometimes frustrating, sometimes contentious, but always necessary and never-ending process to form a more perfect union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in Christina\u2026in Christina we see all of our children. So curious, so trusting, so energetic and full of magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So deserving of our love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so deserving of our good example. If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let\u2019s make sure it\u2019s worthy of those we have lost. Let\u2019s make sure it\u2019s not on the usual plane of politics and point scoring and pettiness that drifts away with the next news cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives \u2013 to be better friends and neighbors, co-workers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let\u2019s remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud. It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other\u2019s ideas without questioning each other\u2019s love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here \u2013 they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s what I believe, in part because that\u2019s what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed. Imagine: here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she too might play a part in shaping her nation\u2019s future. She had been elected to her student council; she saw public service as something exciting, something hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us \u2013 we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christina was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called \u201cFaces of Hope.??? On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child\u2019s life. \u201cI hope you help those in need,??? read one. \u201cI hope you know all of the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart. I hope you jump in rain puddles.???<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If there are rain puddles in heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. And here on Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May God bless and keep those we\u2019ve lost in restful and eternal peace. May He love and watch over the survivors. And may He bless the United States of America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
###<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Son momentos como estos donde los seres humanos muestran su humanidad. Y Son momentos como estos que hacen que resalte la humanidad del Presidente Obama. Qu\u00e9 declaraciones m\u00e1s conmovedoras del Presidente con respecto al tiroteo en Arizona donde resultaron seis personas muertas y m\u00e1s de diez heridas. El Presidente Obama habl\u00f3 como padre de familia, como ciudadano y como l\u00edder de la naci\u00f3n. No cabe duda que tenemos suerte de tener un l\u00edder como \u00e9l para ayudarnos a encaminar al pa\u00eds hacia la meta de perfeccionar la uni\u00f3n. Mis condolencias para todas las familias afectadas por esta tragedia y mis respetos para el Presidente. Ac\u00e1 unas cuantas citas de sus declaraciones: “En un momento en el que nuestro discurso se ha polarizado tan dr\u00e1sticamente, cuando estamos demasiado dispuestos a echar la culpa de todo lo malo en el mundo a quienes piensan de modo diferente, es importante que paremos un momento y nos aseguremos de que nos hablamos los unos a los otros de manera que cure, no que hiera” “Lo que no podemos hacer es usar esta tragedia como una ocasi\u00f3n m\u00e1s para volvernos los unos contra los otros”. “En lugar de apuntarnos con el dedo o echar la culpa, usemos esta oportunidad para ampliar nuestra imaginaci\u00f3n moral, para escucharnos los unos a los otros m\u00e1s cuidadosamente, para agudizar nuestros instintos de empat\u00eda, y recordemos todos los modos en que se enlazan nuestros sue\u00f1os y esperanzas”. Ac\u00e1 est\u00e1 el v\u00eddeo completo; les recomiendo que lo vean o lean el texto: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[195,23,1221,106,1069,1737,1444],"class_list":["post-11247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miscellaneous","tag-arizona","tag-barack-obama","tag-declaraciones","tag-los-eeuu","tag-memorial-service","tag-tragedia","tag-tucson"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lamaravilla.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lamaravilla.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lamaravilla.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lamaravilla.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lamaravilla.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11247"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lamaravilla.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80358,"href":"https:\/\/lamaravilla.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11247\/revisions\/80358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lamaravilla.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lamaravilla.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lamaravilla.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lamaravilla.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}