Mourning the Passing of Senator Lombardo

Floor Speech

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Madam Speaker, I rise today, along with Representative Amo, to honor Rhode Island State Senator Frank Lombardo III, a devoted public servant who passed away this month following his battle with cancer.

Starting with his election to the State senate in 2010, Senator Lombardo was a champion in that body for the working people of Johnston. A successful small business owner with his own HVAC company, Lombardo & Sons, Senator Lombardo was a fierce advocate for the small businesses across our State that are the backbone of our economy.

Moreover, the values that guided his work were rooted in the town of Johnston. He championed legislation to improve public health by guaranteeing insurance coverage for pain treatments, worked to expand programming to combat climate change, and increased transparency in Rhode Island's State tax credit program.

Senator Lombardo was also deeply involved in the community, particularly in the Boy Scouts of America. He was an Eagle Scout with Troop 4 in Greenville and was also a camp counselor for 2 years at Yawgoog Boy Scout Camp.

He was a passionate and hardworking public servant who will be deeply missed by all who knew him. I join Frank's friends, family, and the entire State of Rhode Island in mourning this loss.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Amo).

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Madam Speaker, we stand united with the Shiloh Gospel Temple congregation and Rhode Island's Black community in the face of this heinous attack. Churches are more than just a place of worship. They are a place of refuge and community. They are safe spaces and sacred spaces, and no one should fear going to their place of worship or anywhere for that matter and in particular because of their race.

Let me be clear. This attack on Rhode Island's Black community is an attack on all of us and an attack on the principles and values that we believe in as Rhode Islanders.

I am thankful that a suspect was apprehended quickly and charged. Nonetheless, we must recognize that this is a part of a larger trend and an alarming rise of white supremacist violence across the Nation. We have seen too many racially motivated attacks across the country in recent years from Buffalo to Jacksonville to Charleston.

As ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, I am committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do everything we can to root our domestic violent extremism in Rhode Island and across the country.

Our hearts are with Pastor Perry and the entire Shiloh Gospel Temple congregation. There is no place for hate in Rhode Island or anywhere.

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