A Call for Change

Message to HPAE Members
From HPAE Officers and Staff

On Saturday, there was an assassination attempt on the life of Arizona CONGRESSWOMAN GABRIELLE GIFFORDS as she was meeting with constituents outside a local grocery store. A democrat, Congresswoman Giffords, like many in Congress, has been the political target of some right wing political organizations and had received prior threats particularly for her support of health care and immigration reform. She is now fighting for her life and if she survives, has a very long and difficult road ahead. The attempted assassin shot twenty people Saturday morning, killing six.

Some are saying that none but the gunman is responsible. But there is a difference between fault and responsibility. While only the gunman is at fault for the killing of six people, we all bear a responsibility. A responsibility to change the tone and tenor of our disagreements in this country. A responsibility to remember that we are all connected through family and neighborhood, work and some kind of faith. And a responsibility to repudiate the spokespeople who use threatening rhetoric e to score political points.

Our everyday lives are focused on our families, our work, our communities. We really don’t live at the level of anger that the radio and TV hosts would like us to – thank goodness. We go about our lives, focused on the well-being of our children and families, on whether our paychecks will pay the bills, and where is the time to do the laundry and housecleaning . Most of the victims of Saturday’s violence were these ordinary people - senior citizens and a child - in addition to a Congressional aide and a judge. They are also the ones who were working at democracy on Saturday, and they deserve our thoughts today – and our commitment to change tomorrow.

PHYLLIS SCHNECK, 79:
When Phyllis Schneck and her husband retired, they spent their winters in Tucson and summers in their native Rutherford, N.J. "They didn't want to ever have to deal with the snow again," said Schneck's daughter, B.J. Offutt of Colorado Springs, Colo. Schneck, who continued to return to Tucson in the winters even after her husband died in 2007, was a homemaker who raised her two daughters and one son and had a talent for cooking. In retirement, Schneck kept herself occupied by volunteering at her church. Her home in Tucson was less than four miles from the supermarket where the shooting took place. Offutt said her mother's appearance at the store was surprising, because she normally shopped at a different store and wasn't very political. Schneck is survived by her three children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

CHRISTINA TAYLOR GREEN, 9:
Christina Taylor Green was only 9, but the third-grader already was an aspiring politician. Her parents say Christina had just been elected to the student council at Mesa Verde Elementary School and had been interested in politics from a young age. She already had told her parents she wanted to attend Penn State and have a career that involved helping those less fortunate than her. The brown-eyed athletic girl loved to swim with her 11-year-old brother Dallas, her lone sibling. Her mother, Roxanna Green, said Christina also loved animals, singing, dancing and gymnastics. She also was the only girl on her Canyon del Oro Little League baseball team. Her grandfather, former major-league pitcher Dallas Green, managed the 1980 world champion Philadelphia Phillies. Christina's father, John Green, is a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Christina was born on the tragic day of Sept. 11, 2001

JOHN ROLL, 63:
Named Arizona's chief federal judge in 2006, U.S. District Judge John M. Roll won acclaim for a career as a respected jurist and leader who had pushed to beef up the court's strained bench to handle a growing number of border crime-related cases. Roll was appointed to the federal bench in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush. He previously served as a state trial judge and as a judge on the midlevel Arizona Court of appeals, and as a county and state prosecutor. Bishop Gerald Kicanas of the Roman Catholic Church's Tucson Diocese said Roll was an active parishioner. "He lived his faith as a servant of our nation for the cause of justice," Kicanas said. Roll was a Pennsylvania native who got his law degree from the University of Virginia. He is survived by his wife, Maureen, three sons, and five grandchildren.

GABE ZIMMERMAN, 30:
Gabe Zimmerman, the director of community outreach for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, handled thousands of issues raised by constituents out of the congresswoman's offices in Tucson and Sierra Vista. Zimmerman was one of the Giffords staffers who organized many public events where voters could meet Giffords and talk to her about issues. Co-workers say Zimmerman, who had a master's degree in social work, cared passionately about helping people. Zimmerman's mother, Emily Nottingham, said politics was a good fit for him because it combined policy and making a difference for others. "He had a real interest in helping people and had a real caring for social justice," Nottingham said. Zimmerman, who was engaged, had set a wedding date for 2012.

DORWIN STODDARD, 76:
Everyone who knew Dorwan Stoddard thought he would die of complications from one of his 17 heart stents, or during one his numerous construction projects at Mountain Avenue Church of Christ. During his latest project, he fell 20 feet when a ladder buckled, said his pastor and friend Michael Nowak. When the shooting started Saturday, he dove to the ground, covering his wife Mavy, who was shot in the leg three times. The couple had been grade school sweethearts growing up in Tucson. After their respective spouses died, they independently moved back to retire, became reacquainted and fell in love all over again. Mavy Stoddard talked to her husband, who was shot in the head, for 10 minutes while he breathed heavily. Then he stopped breathing. He had two sons from his first marriage, and Mavy has three daughters.

DOROTHY MORRIS, 76:
Dorothy Morris, known to her friends as "Dot," was a retired homemaker and secretary who lived north of Tucson in Oro Valley, Ariz. Dorothy died in the shooting. Her husband George, a former Marine and retired airline pilot, remains hospitalized after suffering two gunshot wounds. One of the couple's daughters said George Morris tried to protect his wife of 50 years by throwing her to the ground and trying to get on top of her to shield her. The couple both grew up in Reno, Nev.,and were high school sweethearts. They settled in Oro Valley around 1995. Sue Blinman, who lives next door in a retirement community, said the couple traveled extensively and escaped Tucson's summer heat by heading up to their home in the eastern Arizona mountain community of Pinetop. "They were always good neighbors," Blinman said.

Good neighbor. Those are the words that really caught us today. While the current economy does frighten many, most of the anger and hatred is coming from right-wing groups and spokespeople, who encourage their audiences to hate congress and the president, and hate those who advocate for health care reform, or for gun control, or for the rights of immigrants and labor.

The hatred is directed at leaders and groups who are forging solutions, and at people who insist on standing up for their rights, and the rights of others. That includes labor. The hatred and bullying directed at unions and their members is a part of a national political climate we must all work to change.

The need for change in this country goes on, as does our work. The House Leadership has postponed legislative action and so were protests and actions against health care reform in the face of Saturday’s violence. We welcome that, and hope it is in the spirit of moving forward together, as a country, as good neighbors and stewards of each other.