Washington, D.C. – Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ) made the following remarks at a press conference Wednesday honoring fallen Gabrielle Giffords staff member, Gabriel Zimmerman. Rep.Schweikert and Rep. Wasserman-Schultz introduced a resolution today that would designate the HVC-215 room in the Capitol Visitor’s Center as the ‘Gabriel Zimmerman Meeting Room’:

“This is one of those moments when you get in front of the microphones and you’re hoping you have the words that are appropriate to say.  How do you honor a young man who was a part of our congressional family?

“For many of us, these are much more than just employees or people we work with, these are the people that keep an eye out for us, who advocate for our constituents, who solve problems. Gabe had an amazing reputation of being one of the most caring individuals you could possibly have as a staffer, and yet he lost his life doing that.

“And we stand here today to try and honor his gift, honor the wonderful things he did for the community, but also honor our entire congressional family, to say that we care and that we do love you. It is a right thing to do, naming something as simple as this room for the wonderful things he did for Arizona, for his district, but also for the Congressional family.”

BACKGROUND:

Gabriel Zimmerman was killed during the Tucson shooting of January 8th, 2011, that injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed 5 others. Zimmerman was the first Congressional staffer to be murdered in the line of duty.