Condolence books placed on Capitol Hill

Capitol Hill Community Mourns Another Loss
Yahoo! Buzz Congressional Democrats are mourning the loss of another close colleague: Ashley Turton , a former Chief of Staff to Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro and the wife of a senior White House aide. “Ashley and her husband Dan are part of the Capitol Hill family; Ashley’s loss is tragic and is grieved by all of us,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D, Calif.) said in a statement released by her office Monday evening. Ms. Turton, 37 years old, was a Lobbyist for Progress Ener...

Pelosi, Boehner invite Congress to bipartisan prayer service (Daily Caller)
Read more stories from The Daily Caller TheDC Exclusive: A secret $6 billion Bailout for Puerto Rico? Campus Progress reports on for-profit schools issue while coordinating with liberal coalition to push regs Author of 'Anti-American Manifesto', Ted Rall, says Loughner's violent attack not part of coming revolution Despite GOP's best efforts, specter of Steele Second Term hangs around Ask Matt Labash Vol. XLVI: Torturing a dog-torture lover, and defending John Boehner's tan Speaker of the Hous...

Capitol Hill Happenings: Today in Congress
The Capitol continues to reflect on the weekend's tragic events in Tucson, Arizona. Visitors and staff will continue to have the chance to sign a book of well wishes and condolences in the Rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., plans to address the Giffords incident at an 11:00 a.m. ET address on his panel's priorities in the 112th Congress. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., delivers an address at the Center for American Progress, a Washing...

Congress Stands in Solidarity for Rep. Giffords
Members of Congress are still in shock over the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., this weekend. For some, the emotions were hard to restrain. "You know, by every indication that -- I'm sorry," said a shaken Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Fla. "By every indication, the fighter that, that Gabby Giffords is, is showing full strength." Is political vitriol creating an unhealthy environment for the nation's lawmakers? Peter S. Sprigg, a senior fellow for policy studies at the Family R...

Labash Advises Reader to Never Read his Column Again
The Daily Caller‘s advice columnist Matt Labash gets scrappy today. He orders a reader named “Barb” who trashes Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson to never read his column again. It’s not so much another defense of Tucker (as he offered last week) as much as it’s an obvious dislike for Barb. “Why would anyone care about what happens to pit bulls?!?” Barb asks and proceeds to describe the dogs as “beady-eyed beasts.” As an afterthought she adds,&#...

Rep. King smarting over subcomittee snub
AP Photo/Susan Walsh In happier times, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio re-enacts the swearing in of Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, on Jan. 5 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, once the heir-apparent for the chairmanship of the House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, is now taking second chair to another immigration hawk with a lower profile, Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif. King did not mince words about being passed up for the post that he had very publicly had predicted wa...

Missing From Loughner Debate: Soul Searching
Jared Loughner (Credit: Personal Photo) There's been quite a bit of back and forth this week about who should share the blame for the actions of alleged Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner. Some on the left have pointed to incendiary Rhetoric from Sarah Palin and others on the right, while some on the right have sought to tie Loughner to the beliefs of the left. Palin was blamed in part for using of a bullseye icon to identify political targets - including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords - before the ...

Politico gets it exactly backward in calling for a more civil tone
In the aftermath of the Tucson massacre, Politico's Glenn Thrush and Carol E. Lee write one of the most inane responses imaginable: Of all the unfulfilled campaign promises President Barack Obama made in 2008, the one that bothers the president most isn’t any squandered policy priority - it’s his failure to re-civilize what he views as an increasingly savage partisan climate. His failure? The president who reached out to the Republicans on the stimulus, who allowed Republican...

Newsweek Blames Boehner And Other Conservatives For Tucson Attack, Says They Killed Napolitanos War On Right Wing Extremism Whic
The man behind the Leftist machine Newsweek: Two years before the Tucson massacre, the Department of Homeland Security warned in a report that right-wing Extremism was on the rise and could prompt “lone wolves” to launch attacks. But the agency backed away from the report amid intense criticism from Republicans, including future House Speaker John Boehner. The report, which warned that the crippled economy and the election of the first black president were “unique drivers for ri...

Missing From Loughner Debate: Soul Searching
Jared Loughner (Credit: Personal Photo) There's been quite a bit of back and forth this week about who should share the blame for the actions of alleged Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner. Some on the left have pointed to incendiary Rhetoric from Sarah Palin and others on the right, while some on the right have sought to tie Loughner to the beliefs of the left. Palin was blamed in part for using of a bullseye icon to identify political targets - including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords - before the ...

Boehner: Shootings wont sway GOP agenda
House Speaker John Boehner says that the shooting of an Arizona congresswoman won’t stop representatives in Washington from their duties. In a brief statement Sunday morning, the newly sworn speaker said flags on the House side of the Capitol in Washington will be flown at half staff to honor Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ slain aide, Gabe Zimmerman. Thirty-year-old Zimmerman was among six killed Saturday in a Tucson, Ariz., shooting rampage that left the Democratic congresswoman among 13 ...

House Resolution to Reaffirm Democratic Principles
With all of Capitol Hill’s legislative business postponed in response to the shooting rampage in Arizona, the House will reconvene on Wednesday to approve a resolution honoring the dead and the wounded, praising the Bravery of those who responded to the attack and reaffirming “the bedrock principal of American Democracy and representative government” - the right to peaceable assembly enshrined in the First Amendment. The resolution is being offered by the House Speaker, John A. Boeh

Boehner Officially Invites Obama To Deliver SOTU
It's official: Pres. Obama has been invited to deliver his State of the Union address on Jan. 25. And this year, the invitation to the Capitol came from the other side of the aisle. On Tuesday, new House Speaker John Boehner formally asked the president to his chamber. Boehner made reference to the shooting in Arizona last weekend in the letter to Obama. "Recent events have reminded us of the imperfect nature of our representative Democracy, but also how much we cherish the ideal that our gove...

Report from the Hill
REPORT FROM THE HILL.... I traded emails today with a Capitol Hill Staffer with whom I speak regularly, and I think the aide's perspective is worth passing along. (I'm republishing the staffer's note in its entirety with permission.) To say hill staff is shook up after the weekend's events would be an understatement. We are family up here and I know I'm not the only who has already gotten requests from family to find another line of work. We have had this in the back of our minds for quite som...

Closed for Business: Members, aides undeterred
When we left the Capitol on Friday of last week, we were prepping for the coverage of the bickering that was going to ensue on the House floor this week. The GOP had decided on seven hours of debate on the "Repeal the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act" starting today and ending with a vote to repeal the bill tomorrow. It was going to be, as one Democratic congresswoman repeated multiple times, "political theater." And Journalists were already stocking up on Popcorn and Dr. Pepper to watch the fire...

Congressional staffs weigh security concerns after Gabrielle Giffords shooting
On Monday, as they signed condolence and well-wishes books in the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building for the Victims of the Arizona shooting rampage, congressional aides reflected on a reality that had so violently shifted. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) is battling for her life, and six others are dead - including Giffords's community outreach director, Gabriel Zimmerman. Two more Giffords aides are among the 14 people wounded by a gunman who authorities say appeared to target th...

Giffords shooting: Does Capitol Hill need more security? (Video)
Giffords shooting: Does Capitol Hill need more security? (Video)...

Louisville lawmaker wants parents to know guns are at Capitol
FRANKFORT — A Louisville lawmaker wants parents to sign a permission slip acknowledging that they know that people carry guns at the Capitol before sending their Children to Frankfort. Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, said this week that she plans to file a bill that would require parents to sign a form acknowledging that they are aware that people in the Capitol are armed. Marzian said that she realizes that the bill and other bills that she plans to file that would limit who can car...

The Giffords Resolution
House Republicans have unveiled the text of their resolution addressing the shooting in Tuscon, AZ over the weekend that left six people dead and wounded many others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords [D, AZ-8] who remains in critical condition. The resolution, which is offered by Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner [R, OH-8], will be voted on by the House Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. The full text of the resolution is below. Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect t...

Shock, anger and finger-pointing in Washington
On opposite sides of the political spectrum, President Barack Obama and new House Speaker John Boehner suddenly face the same challenge: rise above the anger, suspicion and hostility of their liberal and conservative bases to help a rattled nation deal with the deadly outburst of violence in Arizona. But what comes after the easy moment of silence? For now, both men are stepping past the question of what role, if any, the vitriol of the past election campaign played in Saturday’s shooting ...

After Arizona Attack, a Leadership Test for Obama, Boehner
WASHINGTON — On opposite sides of the political spectrum, President Barack Obama and new House Speaker John Boehner suddenly face the same challenge: rise above the anger, suspicion and hostility of their liberal and conservative bases to help a rattled nation deal with the deadly outburst of violence in Arizona. [Photo Gallery: Gabrielle Giffords Shooting in Arizona.] But what comes after the easy moment of silence? For now, both men are stepping past the question of what role, if any, ...

Boehner asks Obama to Jan. 25 State of the Union (AP)
WASHINGTON – House Speaker John Boehner (BAY'-nur) has invited President Barack Obama to deliver the State of the Union Speech on Jan. 25 to a joint session of Congress. In a letter to Obama obtained by The Associated Press, Boehner mentions the Arizona shooting that left six dead and 14 injured. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically wounded. Boehner writes that in the wake of tragedy, "we must never waiver from our obligation." The address will be Obama's second State of the Union spee...

Boehner asks Obama to Jan. 25 State of the Union
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner (BAY’-nur) has invited President Barack Obama to deliver the State of the Union Speech on Jan. 25 to a joint session of Congress. In a letter to Obama obtained by The Associated Press, Boehner mentions the Arizona shooting that left six dead and 14 injured. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically wounded. Boehner writes that in the wake of tragedy, “we must never waiver from our obligation.” The address will be Obama’s sec...

Klein Receives Office Held By Libous
Sen. Jeff Klein, leader of the independent Democratic conference, is holding up in the Capitol office held by Sen. Tom Libous, the former deputy Minority Leader. It’s unclear if Klein, who broke away from the Senate Democratic conference, will remain in that office or move to the more drab confines of the Legislative Office Building across the street from the Capitol. Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Klein’s independent conference, said Klein and Libous switched when the Binghamton ...

The Media Is Also Responsible for Heated Political Rhetoric
President Obama pledged to raise the level of dialogue in Washington and ease the bitter Partisanship that has crippled the work of Congress. He has been unable to do so, and it’s not entirely his fault, since the president cannot control the behavior of Congress any more than teachers can control what Students do after school. Speaker John Boehner now has a chance to lessen the vitriol on the Hill, and he’s made at least one gesture of decency so far: Delaying the meaningless vote...