Establishing the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump
Floor Speech
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Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Texas for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, tonight, I rise in support of my resolution, H. Res. 1367, which would establish a task force on the attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump.
First, I will recognize and honor the life of a true hero, Corey Comperatore, who was tragically killed shielding his family from gunfire during former President Trump's campaign rally in my hometown of Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
I also will take a moment to offer our thoughts and prayers for two Pennsylvanians who were also injured during the shooting and continue to recover, Mr. David Dutch of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and Mr. James Copenhaver of Moon Township, Pennsylvania.
I, of course, offer thoughts and prayers to former President Trump and his recovery. He showed incredible strength in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
First of all, Corey Comperatore was a constituent of mine from Sarver, Pennsylvania.
Corey graduated in 1992 from Freeport High School and went on to serve his country as a dedicated 10-year veteran of the United States Army Reserves.
Corey's passion for his community and his Christian faith led him to serve as an active member at the Cabot Church and a member of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Department, where he served as chief in the early 2000s.
Above all, Corey was a loving husband and father. His obituary reads, ``the quintessential family man and the best girl dad.''
Together, his love for his wife, Helen, and his daughters, Allyson and Kaylee Comperatore, will carry on. We offer our thoughts and prayers to the friends and family of Corey Comperatore.
Mr. Speaker, on July 13, 2024, the Nation watched in horror as a gunman attempted to assassinate the Republican Party's nominee for President, former President Donald J. Trump.
This day will go down in infamy in American history, but nowhere more so than in my hometown of Butler, Pennsylvania, where it will always be remembered that the assassination of former President Donald Trump took place.
I have lived in Butler literally my whole life. I went to high school there. My wife and I have raised our family there. I have coached Little League football and Little League baseball, and our family business is there. Now, I am fortunate enough to represent my town right here in the United States House of Representatives. I can tell you that my community is grieving. They are shocked by what happened in our backyard.
The people of Butler and the people of the United States deserve answers. I am proud to introduce this bill to establish a task force to get to the bottom of how this unthinkable tragedy could ever have occurred.
This bipartisan task force will have investigative authority, including subpoena power, to thoroughly analyze the circumstances surrounding the assassination attempt and ensure that these failures that occurred that day never happen again.
I thank Speaker Johnson, Leader Scalise, Chairman Burgess, and our colleagues on the other side of the aisle for working with us to stand up this task force.
When the American people lose faith, trust, and confidence in their government, then the question is going to be who will fix it. The answer is we are. We are.
In this House, we are the ones that are going to fix it. The American people deserve to know, and we have the responsibility to find the answers for them.
President Trump deserves answers, the Comperatore family deserves answers, and the American people deserve answers. I will not rest until we get these answers for all of our constituents and fellow Americans.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
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Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Burgess for this opportunity to finish up as well as Mr. McGovern on the other side of the aisle.
I think, at this point, this is not about Republicans or Democrats. This is about a tragedy that happened in a small town in western Pennsylvania, which never should have occurred.
I think it is really important, as the American people watched this whole scenario, to answer: How could that possibly have happened? What didn't we know, or what did we know that we didn't react to? Why, at the end of the day, are there more questions than there are answers?
We can't get answers that, I think, are very simple.
For a person who grew up there, and I know that site so well, I was concerned when that site was picked because I thought it would be a very difficult place to have a rally of that size.
This is not a criticism of law enforcement. This isn't a criticism of whoever it is that picked that site. This is an opportunity for this House to work together to settle the doubts that the American people have, the faith, trust, and confidence that they need to have in us that we can work together, both sides of the aisle, when we have a crisis like this.
It goes far beyond politics, and it goes far beyond policies. It is truly American in every sense.
Mr. McGovern is present with us today, and I thank Chairman Burgess so much, and I think this more than anything else can demonstrate to the American people that we can work together. We can work together as Republicans and Democrats to get answers for the American people, answers that they deserve and answers that they have been wondering about since July 13.
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