COLUMBINE ANNIVERSARY REMEMBRANCE -- (Senate - April 20, 2007)
Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, my wife Joan and I were horrified at the violence and bloodshed at Virginia Tech on Monday.
I was already preparing to come to the floor today to speak on another tragedy. Today marks the eighth anniversary of the Columbine murders. Next Thursday, it will be 7 months since the shooting at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, CO. April has become a month of awful memories, a month of terrible reminders of the presence of evil and the ability of lost souls to stray far into the darkness.
I stood on this floor in April 1999 to express my shock and dismay at what had happened in Littleton. I offered my condolences to all those who lost loved ones, and to those whose loved ones have been wounded, hurt, and terrified. Today I remember them again, but I also must add sympathy and support for those at Virginia Tech.
Words cannot adequately convey the deep sense of loss all of us are feeling over this tragedy. But words--these words, and the words of our prayers--are what we have to offer.
Yet again, America is in shock.
There are far too many of my colleagues who have had this experience--who have watched as news of school violence spread across our country. This week's tragedy was in Virginia, but it is obviously of nationwide concern.
Thirty-two lives, most of them young and from the best and brightest in our society, ended Monday by savage violence. Last year, one lost life in Bailey; thirteen lives lost in 1999 at Columbine in Littleton; and there are others lost around this Nation, and around the world, in similar tragedies: Dawson College in Montréal, Gutenberg School in Erfurt, Germany.
These are wounds, scars, that will not be removed, and for those who bear the worst of this burden my wife and I offer all our compassion, our sympathy and our prayers.
Our Nation continues to grieve with the families and friends of those killed and the injured students and teachers. Although we know exhaustive details of what happened at Columbine, and are learning more from Blacksburg, we are still attempting to understand why. People are trying to cope with the terror that keeps thrusting itself into our lives. It has become obvious at this point that there are no easy answers. We need to examine the problems facing our youth, but it is critical that we take time to carefully consider the solutions being offered.
In the coming months there will be time, and there will be a need, for us to commit ourselves to finding a way to attempt to prevent this from happening again. We must ask ourselves how this could happen, and what can be done to prevent it. There is, I am sure, no simple solution. But we must pledge ourselves to doing what we can. After Columbine, the Nation took a serious look at school safety. But Bailey--and the murders in Pennsylvania last year at Nickel Mines Amish School--showed us that it is not always troubled students. Virginia Tech showed us it is not just grade schools or high schools. We need to think about ways to provide a better, more secure future.
Watching the aftermath in Blacksburg, I am reminded of the healing Colorado undertook 8 Aprils ago. I remember the memorial service held the weekend after the Columbine murders. Tens of thousands of people attended the memorial service. Among those gathered in sorrow, Joan and I witnessed a strong belief in God. We prayed together and searched for answers. I hope the students, faculty and families of Virginia Tech can find their way to face this terrible time.
Again, I offer my deepest sympathy to those who are suffering. And I want to let my colleagues from Virginia, and their constituents, know the people of Colorado will be thinking of you today as we mark the eighth anniversary of Columbine.