Richard Gilmore, the chairman of the Rosenthal fellowship board, said he had no interest in pushing for an amendment to the resolution to include a reference to Rosenthal, or to say that Zimmerman was not the only Congressional staffer to be killed on duty.
“We thought it was an interesting footnote, and that maybe we could leverage that to at least a reference to our fellowship, because it does serve Harold’s memory,” Gilmore said.
Beeton told Roll Call that it was nobody’s intention to draw focus on Zimmerman away from others who had befallen tragic ends.
“Any loss of life is unfortunate and sad,” Beeton said. “Our resolution was introduced to honor the life and service of Gabe Zimmerman, who clearly was murdered while helping the people of Southern Arizona interact with their local Congresswoman.
“While all of the research we’ve seen clearly indicates that he was the first person to have been intentionally killed while working for a Member of Congress, that is really beside the point,” he continued.
Rep. Bill Cassidy has his blood drawn by Alesha Barbour during a free hepatitis screening in the Rayburn House Office Building hosted by the Congressional Viral Hepatitis Caucus to recognize "National Viral Hepatitis Testing Day."
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