Obama praises those who ended violence
By: Philip Elliott
The Associated Press
November 8, 2009
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| President Barack Obama speaks about the shooting at Fort Hood during an event at the Interior Department in Washington on Thursday. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) |
President Barack Obama said Saturday that the training designed to keep U.S. forces safe abroad prevented further deaths and ended the rampage at Fort Hood.
He praised those who serve or have served in uniform and reminded the American public of their diversity — a move designed to calm tensions around the suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.
“They are Americans of every race, faith and station. They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers,” Obama said in his radio and Internet address, airing the weekend before Veterans Day.
“They are descendants of immigrants and immigrants themselves. They reflect the diversity that makes this America. But what they share is a patriotism like no other.”
After the address aired, Obama talked about the Fort Hood shootings with Democratic House members. On Capitol Hill Saturday for a closed-door meeting on health care reform legislation, Obama opened his remarks by speaking about Fort Hood, participants said.
He told lawmakers that the hardships members of the military endure for the country “is what sacrifice really is,” according to Rep. Robert Andrews, a New Jersey Democrat, as opposed to “casting a vote that might lose an election for you.”
