House members honor Tucson victims

WASHINGTON - Speaking from her own tragic experience with an unexpected and unfathomable spray of bullets from the gun of a disturbed man, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) Wednesday offered some comfort to the survivors and victims' families of the Tucson rampage: "Time will heal you."

Comparing the shooting in Arizona on Saturday with the massacre on the Long Island Railroad in 1993 that left her husband dead and her son wounded, McCarthy said she empathized with the pain of the victims and their families, and counseled, "You'll never forget, but time will make you smile again."

McCarthy and Rep. Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills) joined hundreds of other grief-stricken members of Congress in speaking on the House floor to honor the victims of the shootings Saturday that left six dead and 13 wounded, including one of their own - Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).

Shaken by the violence at a routine congressional curbside constituent meeting, House Speaker John Boehner fought tears as he spoke of Giffords' battle to recover from a head wound and choked up mentioning the death of her outreach director Gabe Zimmerman. But he also offered defiance.

"Our hearts are broken, but our spirit is not," Boehner said before the House paused for a private prayer service.

"We will have the last word."

Boehner postponed a debate and vote on repealing President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, and replaced it with a resolution to salute rampage victims.

It said the House "stands firm in its belief in a democracy in which all can participate and in which intimidation and threats of violence cannot silence the voices of any American."

Like many speakers, Israel offered a personal story about Giffords, relating how their political work in New York one day three years ago was interrupted by astronaut Mark Kelly, so he could propose to her at the Merchant Marine Academy in King's Point.

Israel also urged colleagues to continue meeting with constituents and expressing opinions, "but do it without vilifying one another."

Meanwhile, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Roslyn Heights) Wednesday said he would introduce legislation to close the "fire sale loophole" that allows gun dealers with revoked licenses to sell firearms without background checks in unregulated inventory clearance sales.

Boehner has indicated he will reject gun-control legislation. A Boehner aide said he would not support a proposal offered Rep. Pete King (R-Seaford) to create a 1,000-foot gun-free zone around federal officials at public events.