HCAN PA / Penn ACTION statement on the shootings in Arizona

The shootings yesterday in Arizona are a personal tragedy for Congresswoman Giffords and her staff, for Judge Roll, for the other six people killed and for the many people injured. We pray today for them.

The shootings are also a tragedy for our political process. Democratic government is the means by which we resolve our disputes, and come to some agreement about the common good, without a resort to violence. Any time violence disrupts our democracy, we all lose.

It seems that the man who fired the bullets suffers from a serious mental illness. He and any accomplices are responsible for their actions. But these shootings, like many acts of property violence against Congressional offices over the last two years, have taken place in the context of a long right wing campaign against health care reform that has been characterized by ideological extremism, an intolerance for progressive views; a willing disregard for the facts and, far too often, an appalling degree of angry and violent language.

Those of us who have worked for two years in support of health care reform saw this at the Constitution Center in August 2009 and at many events all over the Commonwealth since. Robin Stelly, the Penn ACTION organizer in Bucks County said today that:

“When I did the series of Health Care Reform own halls in Bucks, I was concerned for my own safety.  I had to force myself to keep doing them after the first one.  I had to give pep talks to participants so they wouldn’t be afraid and would continue to participate on panels.  I had to call the police at one event and encourage people to leave at another by threatening to call the police.”

In light of this history, and in the wake of this terrible tragedy, it is time for all of us, on both sides, to step away from the increasingly bitter, ideologically divided politics of the last few years. We should instead focus on the problems we all see around us—unemployment, slow economic growth, and, in health care, the large number of people in our country who do not have health insurance they can count on when they most need it or do not have it at all. We should lower our voices as we talk with each other seriously about these problems, without rancor or anger, and try to find some common ground between us.

We may not always agree, but a real debate on the issues will allow all Americans to finally come to an honest understanding of the problems we face and the solutions we and others have proposed to resolve them.

That kind of debate is the best way to take our country back from the violence that afflicted it yesterday, and from the rancor that has afflicted it for the last few years. And it is the best way to honor Representative Giffords, who has been not only a stalwart defender of health care reform but also a member of Congress who has always reached across the aisle and has earned the respect of both Democrats and Republicans.