Schiff Statement on Shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue
Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, released the following statement:
“I join the Jewish community, my community, in expressing my horror at the mass murder at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, my condolences, and my gratitude to those who responded. We pray for the full recovery of those injured and for solace for the families of those who were lost.
“America is a great and beautiful country filled with magnificent people. Many of the generations of immigrants who have come to this country and helped build it were inspired by the idea that it was a land of opportunity, for all those brave enough to make the passage, of every religion, creed and color.
“That very idea of America is being challenged by those who preach hatred, who stoke division and accentuate our differences not our common humanity. We must overcome these new purveyors of hate. And we shall.
“The gunman alone is responsible for murder. He alone pulls the trigger. But we, all of us, have a role in creating the atmosphere in which he operates. We can decide whether to create an America in which old hatreds are rekindled and new ones are given life.
“No one sets the tone more than the President of the United States. Because no one has a bigger bully pulpit. No one’s words matter more.
“The constitution contemplates that our president will endeavor to make us a more perfect union, but this president has a constitution of his own, that makes him incapable of that. It is in vain to think that this will change, that he will change. He cannot. It’s who he is.
“So it falls on all the rest of us, together, to repudiate the violence and hatred, to change the tone, to make us a more perfect union, to bury our dead and to make a new beginning.”
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