Resolution to Condemn Attack in Strongest Possible Terms
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will bring up a bipartisan resolution Wednesday that “condemns in the strongest possible terms” the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 19 others in Tucson over the weekend.
Boehner will formally introduce the measure at 10 a.m.; it will specifically name the victims of the shooting, including those who died: Christina Taylor Green, Dorothy Morris, John Roll, Phyllis Schneck, Dorwan Stoddard and Gabriel Zimmerman.
In addition to condemning the attack, the resolution reaffirms “the bedrock principle of American democracy and representative government, which is memorialized in the First Amendment of the Constitution and which Representative Gabrielle Giffords herself read in the Hall of the House of Representatives on January 6, 2011.”
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) will follow Boehner in speaking on the floor about Saturday’s mass shooting. Starting around 10:25 a.m., other Members will be allowed to speak. A GOP aide said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) will manage the resolution on the floor.
At 1 p.m. Wednesday the House will recess for a closed-door prayer service for Members and their spouses. At 2 p.m., lawmakers will again be allowed to speak on the resolution before it is adopted by unanimous consent later in the day.