President Obama used a speech at a memorial for those killed and wounded in the Arizona shootings last weekend to call for a different type of political debate in the future.
Acknowledging that no one can know exactly why this shooting rampage occurred, Mr. Obama said the goal should be a debate in America in the future that's not based "on the usual plane of politics and point scoring."
Invoking the name of 9 year-old Christina Taylor Green, the President said it was time to create a country that lived up to the dreams of all.
"I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it."
Here is the text of Mr. Obama's speech.
-
REMARKS BY THE
PRESIDENT
AT "TOGETHER WE
THRIVE: TUCSON AND AMERICA,"
A MEMORIAL SERVICE
FOR
THE VICTIMS OF THE
SHOOTING IN TUCSON, ARIZONA
McKale Memorial
Center
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
6:43 P.M. MST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank
you. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Please, please be
seated. (Applause.)
To the families of those we've
lost; to all who called them friends; to the students of this university, the
public servants who are gathered here, the people of Tucson and the people of
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. (Applause.)
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 will pull through. (Applause.)
Scripture tells us:
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.
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. (Applause.) They
were fulfilling a central tenet of the democracy envisioned by our founders --
representatives of the people answering questions to their constituents, so as
to carry their concerns back to our nation's capital. Gabby called it
"Congress on Your Corner" -- just an updated version of government of and by
and for the people. (Applause.)
And that quintessentially American
scene, that was the scene that was shattered by a gunman's bullets. And
the six people who lost their lives on Saturday -- they, too, represented what
is best in us, what is best in America. (Applause.)
Judge John Roll served our legal
system for nearly 40 years. (Applause.) A graduate of this university and
a graduate of this law school -- (applause) -- Judge Roll was recommended for
the federal bench by John McCain 20 years ago -- (applause) -- appointed by President
George H.W. Bush and rose to become Arizona's chief federal judge.
(Applause.)
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 beautiful grandchildren. (Applause.)
George and Dorothy Morris -- "Dot"
to her friends -- 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. (Applause.) Both were shot. Dot
passed away.
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 three children, her seven
grandchildren and 2-year-old great-granddaughter. A gifted quilter, she'd
often work under a favorite tree, or sometimes she'd sew aprons with the logos
of the Jets and the Giants -- (laughter) -- 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. (Applause.)
Dorwan and Mavy Stoddard grew up in
Tucson together -- about 70 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's daughters put it, "be boyfriend and girlfriend
again." (Laughter.)
When they weren't 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 his dog,
Tux. His final act of selflessness was to dive on top of his wife,
sacrificing his life for hers. (Applause.)
Everything -- everything -- Gabe
Zimmerman did, he did with passion. (Applause.) But his true
passion was helping people. As Gabby's outreach director, he made the
cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that seniors got
the Medicare benefits that they had earned, that veterans got the medals and
the care that they deserved, that government was working for ordinary
folks. He died doing what he loved -- talking with people and seeing how
he could help. And Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross and Emily, his
brother, Ben, and his fiancée, Kelly, who he planned to marry next year.
(Applause.)
And then there is nine-year-old
Christina Taylor Green. Christina was an A student; she was a dancer; she
was a gymnast; she was a swimmer. She decided 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. (Applause.)
She showed an appreciation for life
uncommon for a girl her age. She'd remind her mother, "We are so
blessed. We have the best life." And she'd pay those blessings back
by participating in a charity that helped children who were less fortunate.
Our hearts are broken by their
sudden passing. Our hearts are broken -- and yet, our hearts also have
reason for fullness.
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 want to tell you
-- her husband Mark is here and he allows me to share this with you -- right
after we went to visit, a few minutes after we left her room and some of her
colleagues in Congress were in the room, Gabby opened her eyes for the first
time. (Applause.) Gabby opened her eyes for the first time.
(Applause.)
Gabby opened her eyes. Gabby
opened her eyes, so I can tell you she knows we are here. She knows we
love her. And she knows that we are rooting for her through what is
undoubtedly going to be a difficult journey. We are there for her.
(Applause.)
Our hearts are full of thanks for
that good news, and our hearts are full of gratitude for those who saved
others. We are grateful to Daniel Hernandez -- (applause) -- a volunteer
in Gabby's office. (Applause.)
And, Daniel, I'm sorry, you may
deny it, but we've decided you are a hero because -- (applause) -- you ran
through the chaos to minister to your boss, and tended to her wounds and helped
keep her alive. (Applause.)
We are grateful to the men who
tackled the gunman as he stopped to reload. (Applause.) Right over
there. (Applause.) We are grateful for petite Patricia Maisch, who
wrestled away the killer's ammunition, and undoubtedly saved some lives.
(Applause.) And we are grateful for the doctors and nurses and first
responders who worked wonders to heal those who'd been hurt. We are
grateful to them. (Applause.)
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, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, all around us, just
waiting to be summoned -- as it was on Saturday morning. Their actions, their
selflessness poses a challenge to each of us. It raises a question of
what, beyond 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?
You see, when a tragedy like this
strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations -- to try and pose
some order on the chaos and make sense out of that which seems senseless.
Already we've 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 system. And 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.
But at a time when our discourse
has become so sharply polarized -- 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 happen to think
differently than we do -- it's important for us to pause for a moment and make
sure that we're talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that
wounds. (Applause.)
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, "When I looked for light, then came
darkness." Bad things happen, and we have to guard against simple
explanations in the aftermath.
For the truth is none of us can
know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with
any certainty what might have stopped these shots from being fired, or what
thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man's mind. Yes, we
have to 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 such violence in
the future. (Applause.) But what we cannot do is use this tragedy
as one more occasion to turn on each other. (Applause.) That we
cannot do. (Applause.) That we cannot do.
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's 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 that our hopes and dreams are
bound together. (Applause.)
After all, that's what most of us
do when we lose somebody in our family -- especially if the loss is
unexpected. We're shaken out of our routines. We're 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 that they made for us? Did we tell a spouse just how
desperately we loved them, not just once in a while but every single day?
So sudden loss causes us to look
backward -- 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. (Applause.)
We may ask ourselves if we've shown
enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives.
Perhaps we question whether we're doing right by our children, or our
community, whether our priorities are in order.
We recognize our own mortality, and
we are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters
is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame -- but rather, how well we have
loved -- (applause)-- and what small part we have played in making the lives of
other people better. (Applause.)
And that process -- that process of
reflection, of making sure we align our values with our actions -- that, I
believe, is what a tragedy like this requires.
For those who were harmed, those
who were killed -- they are part of our family, an American family 300 million
strong. (Applause.) We may not have known them personally, but surely we
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 -- she's our mom or our grandma; Gabe our brother or
son. (Applause.) 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's
fidelity to the law. (Applause.)
And in Gabby -- 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. (Applause.)
And in Christina -- in Christina we
see all of our children. So curious, so trusting, so energetic, so full of
magic. So deserving of our love. And so deserving of our good
example.
If this tragedy prompts reflection
and debate -- as it should -- let's make sure it's worthy of those we have
lost. (Applause.) Let's make sure it's not on the usual plane of
politics and point-scoring and pettiness that drifts away in the next news
cycle.
The loss of these wonderful people
should make every one of us strive to be better. To be better in our
private lives, to be better friends and neighbors and coworkers and
parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their death helps
usher in more civility in our public discourse, let us remember it is not because
a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy -- it did not -- but rather
because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to
the challenges of our nation in a way that would make them proud.
(Applause.)
We should be civil 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's ideas without questioning each other's 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. (Applause.)
They believed -- they believed, and
I believe that we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved
life here -- 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, that's entirely up to
us. (Applause.)
And 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. (Applause.)
That's what I believe, in part
because that's what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed.
(Applause.)
Imagine -- imagine for a moment,
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 some day she, too, might play a part in shaping her
nation's future. She had been elected to her student council. She
saw public service as something exciting and 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.
I want to live up to her
expectations. (Applause.) I want our democracy to be as good as
Christina imagined it. I want America to be as good as she imagined
it. (Applause.) All of us -- we should do everything we can to make
sure this country lives up to our children's expectations. (Applause.)
As has already been mentioned,
Christina was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that
day to be pictured in a book called "Faces of Hope." On either side of
her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child's life. "I hope you
help those in need," read one. "I hope you know all the words to the
National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart." (Applause.)
"I hope you jump in rain puddles."
If there are rain puddles in
Heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. (Applause.) And here on
this Earth -- here on this Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and we
commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of
her gentle, happy spirit.
May God bless and keep those we've
lost in restful and eternal peace. May He love and watch over the
survivors. And may He bless the United States of America.
(Applause.)
President Obama used a speech at a memorial for those killed and wounded in the Arizona shootings last weekend to call for a different type of political debate in the future. Acknowledging that no one can know exactly why this shooting rampage occurred, Mr. Obama said the goal should be ...