- 3 days ago
On the Senate floor, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) remembered the late Melissa and Mark Hortman, who were killed in what appears to have been a politically-motivated shooting.
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00:00Mr. President, I rise today with my colleague from Minnesota, Senator Smith, to honor two Minnesotans, who were friends of ours, who were taken from us this weekend in a shocking act of political violence.
00:16Representative Melissa Hortman, our former Speaker of the House, and her husband, Mark Hortman.
00:22I'm also continuing to pray for State Senator John Hortman and his wife, Yvette, who survived a brutal assassination attempt.
00:32John took nine bullets and Yvette took eight, and they are continuing to recover in the hospital.
00:40I've been in touch with Yvette, and she is grateful for the outpouring of support from all over the country for their family.
00:47And I want to extend my enormous gratitude to the hundreds and hundreds of local, state, and federal law enforcement who worked tirelessly over the course of a 43-hour manhunt to apprehend the suspect.
01:03They ran toward the danger.
01:05They risked their lives.
01:06And because of their bravery and diligence, our state was able to breathe a sigh of relief Sunday night, knowing that this man was no longer at large.
01:13The local officers from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, also stopped further assassinations, along with other officers, in the moment, by going over to check on legislators after learning about what had happened at Senator Hoffman's house.
01:29We now know that the assassin went to two other legislators' home in between the two shootings that night, and in one case sped off after being spotted by the police.
01:39While it was too late to save Melissa and Mark, the officers' decision to check on their house allowed them to spot the assassin, separate him from his vehicle, and begin the manhunt.
01:53But right now, we want to focus on who Melissa and Mark were as people.
02:00They were great neighbors, wonderful friends, and great parents to their beloved children, Sophie and Colin.
02:06Melissa is someone that I wish the whole Senate and the whole nation knew.
02:13We treasured her in Minnesota.
02:15She was the epitome of what you want in a public servant.
02:19She went into it for all the right reasons.
02:21She grew up in Spring Lake Park and Andover, Minnesota, working at her family's used auto parts company in Blaine in the summers.
02:30After leaving for college, she came back to Minnesota for law school and began her career in our state.
02:36She was always devoted to her community.
02:40She was a Girl Scout leader and taught Sunday school at her local Catholic church.
02:46And she was always one of the first to raise her hand when someone needed a volunteer for, well, just about anything, including training service dogs for veterans.
02:56One of them, Gilbert, was just too friendly for service, because he couldn't just focus on one person.
03:04And so their family adopted him and loved him very much.
03:09Sadly, he was shot that night, and the two children had to make the decision to put him down this weekend.
03:16How they loved that dog.
03:17Melissa and I first ran for public office around the same time, both with little kids.
03:24Me for county attorney's office, her for the state legislature.
03:28That's how I got to know her.
03:30I was the county attorney.
03:31She was running for legislature.
03:33We went door to door together, and it seemed like she knew everyone in the district already.
03:37She was elected in 2004 and served in the Minnesota House for 20 years, and she left a lasting impact.
03:46As a legislator, she authored legislation that created Minnesota's solar energy standard.
03:51As a minority leader, she guided her caucus with conviction and a sense of humor, and she wasn't afraid to call out the all-male card game taking place during debates.
04:01When her colleagues chose to make her the speaker, her first order of business was getting rid of the speaker's mute button.
04:08As she said at the time, I have a gavel, and a gavel is good enough for me.
04:14Melissa was one of the most consequential speakers in the history of our state.
04:19She knew no limits in terms of trying to get people together, trying to get things done.
04:25And while I cannot believe she is gone, Minnesotans will be feeling the impact of her leadership forever.
04:32When a Minnesota student gets a free school lunch, that's Melissa.
04:37When a Minnesota parent is able to take paid leave to spend those early, precious moments with a newborn, that's Melissa.
04:45When a Minnesota voter casts a ballot without facing unfair discrimination, that's Melissa.
04:51When a woman is able to access reproductive care in our state, that's Melissa.
04:57And when our state achieves 100% clean energy by 2040, that will be because of Melissa.
05:04And when we had a tied statehouse this year, it was Melissa who forged a power-sharing agreement and a budget with her Republican counterpart.
05:15She was a generational leader, and she led with integrity and with courage.
05:25She, like her husband, Mark, who you see here, who also was accomplished in business and a kind, kind person.
05:35They were compassionate, and they were smart, and they were just nice to everyone.
05:40And I can't believe they are gone.
05:43Here they are with their kids.
05:45The polarization in our country, the divisions, the online hate, needs to stop.
05:51Violence has absolutely no place in our democracy.
05:54We need to come together and bring down the rhetoric we must be united in the face of this attack.
06:01It was simply un-American.
06:03That's why the entire Minnesota delegation, Democrats and Republicans, including Senator Smith, including Congressman Emmer, came together over the weekend to call this violence out.
06:16We spoke with one voice to condemn it.
06:19And in our state, Melissa's colleagues on both sides of the aisle have done the same.
06:24We need to recognize the reality that there are unbalanced people out there, read things online, they believe them, they act on them.
06:32We have seen this too many times.
06:34There are many things we can do as a body to fix this problem, and I'm sure in the days to come we will offer legislation on security and all kinds of things.
06:44But we don't need to pass a law for people to turn down the rhetoric, to treat each other with decency and respect, to act a little more like Melissa and Mark.
06:54Mr. President, Melissa and Mark Hortman were the best of us.
06:58I am shattered to have lost them, but eternally grateful to have known them.
07:04I want to end by sharing a message from their beloved kids, Sophie and Colin.
07:09They wrote this just last night.
07:12This tragedy must become a moment for us to come together.
07:17Hold your loved ones a little closer.
07:19Love your neighbors.
07:21Treat each other with kindness and respect.
07:24The best way to honor our parents' memory, they said, is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else.
07:36I urge my colleagues to hear that message, and I'm honored to be here with my wonderful colleague, Senator Smith.
07:44Thank you, and I yield the floor.
07:48Senator from Minnesota.
07:50Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, many thanks to my colleague, Senator Klobuchar, for her heartfelt words.
08:00So I rise today because my friend, Melissa Hortman, Speaker Emerita of the Minnesota State House, incredible person and strong leader,
08:09was shot and killed Saturday morning along with her husband, Mark, in a tragic, politically motivated attack.
08:17Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot a total of 17 times, and Yvette incredibly and selflessly used her own body to shield their daughter from the attacker.
08:30I thank God that they are expected to recover.
08:32I am filled with gratitude for the state and local and federal law enforcement that marshaled all of their resources to keep Minnesota safe after this horrendous attack
08:45and to mount the largest manhunt in the history of our state to capture this shooter late on Sunday evening.
08:54This was an unspeakable act of political violence, an act and an attack on our democracy, as well as a personal tragedy.
09:04And there will be a time and a place to discuss the evilness of Speaker Emerita Hortman's assassination,
09:10the forces that drove her assassination to violence, and how we as leaders must rise to this moment
09:16and speak with one voice to condemn violent political attacks.
09:21But today, I want my colleagues and America and everybody back home in Minnesota
09:26to know the kind of person and leader that Melissa was.
09:30And I want to think especially of Colin and Sophie, who have lost their parents, their mom and dad,
09:36and understand that they will not be forgotten by me or Senator Klobuchar or many, many thousands of people.
09:43I hope that everyone will be able to understand a little bit more keenly the depth of our grief,
09:48the human cost to the loss of Melissa and Mark's family and their friends and their community
09:54and to Minnesota and to our nation.
09:57So, Mr. President, I don't know about you, but I need a little inspiration right now.
10:02And Melissa was inspirational.
10:05The first thing you need to know about Melissa was that she was a middle-class girl from the north metro of the Twin Cities.
10:10She was funny, she was straightforward, and she was kind.
10:15She was smart and driven and determined, and she did well because she worked hard at everything that she did,
10:21from her first job making burritos to her last job leading her caucus through a deeply divided legislative session.
10:29Nothing was handed to her, and she earned it through her work.
10:32And that is the inspiration of the American dream.
10:35The second thing that I want you to know about Melissa is that she believed and acted on one of our most American of values,
10:43the conviction that we all have a responsibility to one another.
10:47We have a responsibility to contribute to our communities,
10:50and we have this unshakable belief that our country is great because we feel that connection and that obligation to one another.
10:58Service to and respect for others was the guiding principle in Melissa's life.
11:05Over the last few days, there have been so many beautiful tributes written to Melissa's life and work,
11:11and I see a common thread in all of these remembrances that even in the rough business of politics,
11:17she was someone who never lost focus on our shared humanity, those shared values,
11:23and that shared goal that we should all have in public service, which is improving life for Americans.
11:30And her gift for focusing on that shared humanity helped her not only to earn the deep loyalty of the members of her own caucus,
11:37but also the trust and respect of Republicans on the other side of the aisle.
11:42Current House Speaker, Republican Lisa Damath, recently recalled how Melissa reached out to her at the start of Lisa's leadership.
11:53Melissa was the Speaker of the House, and Lisa was coming into leadership,
11:56and how she came to view Melissa as a mentor to her leadership.
12:01Many disagreements on policy, but Melissa was a mentor to her because she brought such clarity and honesty and compassion to their working relationship.
12:09And former Senate Majority Leader, Republican Paul Gazelka, reflected on his years of working closely with Melissa,
12:17and he noted that they had built a deep trust with one another because of her honesty,
12:22because of her even-keeled temperament, even though she was a very tough negotiator.
12:28He remembered their moment of human connection as they shared a hug after the passage of a landmark public safety bill
12:35in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd.
12:39And in recognition of, that hug was in recognition of how they had worked so hard coming from different places
12:45in such a difficult moment for Minnesota.
12:49So Melissa always approached her work by leading with compassion and respect for our shared humanity,
12:55and of course, she was unafraid to demand that respect in return, both for herself and for others.
13:02I mean, she was fearless.
13:04One of the most famous anecdotes of her speakership is, Amy was referring to this,
13:09one night, it was a long night, colleagues in this room can relate to it,
13:12it was a long night, the debate was going on and on,
13:15but there were members of the House that were making important speeches,
13:20making personal speeches about the impact of a bill that would have increased criminal penalties in certain protests.
13:26And meanwhile, there was a group of male legislators in the back room that were playing cards.
13:29And Melissa called them out on this, and these legislators, unaccustomed, I think,
13:36to being confronted with their rude behavior, expressed their indignation.
13:40And Melissa's response was pretty simple.
13:43She said, you know, I am really tired of watching women, and especially women of color, be ignored.
13:50So she said, I'm not sorry.
13:52Mr. President, I have to tell you that sorry, not sorry, became a little bit of a rallying cry
14:00around the Minnesota State Capitol after that, and something that we all remembered Melissa for.
14:05She lived her values, and she knew how to stand up for others,
14:09and insisted that we all treat one another with dignity and respect
14:13as we undertake the serious work of public service,
14:16even in a political climate that too often rewards meanness
14:20and sort of a dehumanizing of one another.
14:23But here's the third thing I want everyone to know about Melissa Hortman.
14:27She was a formidable legislator.
14:30Melissa's tenure of public service began long before her election to the Minnesota legislature.
14:35She was an intern in this very body for then-Senators Al Gore and John Kerry.
14:40And after law school, she served as a clerk in our state's court system,
14:44and then as an assistant Hennepin County attorney.
14:46She first rose to prominence winning a housing discrimination case as a legal aid attorney.
14:52She won for her client.
14:53What she won for her client was, at the time,
14:56the largest civil award in Minnesota history for housing discrimination,
15:01and she was 27 years old.
15:04She volunteered on campaigns.
15:05She ran for office twice, losing before she won,
15:09and became and came to the Minnesota legislature.
15:11She was tenacious.
15:13And once elected, her talent was immediately obvious to her caucus,
15:17and by her second term, she was already mounting and growing in leadership.
15:23And by the time she was elected speaker,
15:25she had a remarkable record as a negotiator, an honest broker,
15:29someone who was true to her principles, even when she had to make tough choices.
15:32Melissa's leadership during the 2023 legislative session of the Minnesota legislature
15:38was nothing short of historic.
15:40Much has been written about the great accomplishments of this legislative session in Minnesota,
15:45Mr. President, but I think an underappreciated part of this
15:48was that this remarkable session didn't just happen in one short period.
15:53It happened because of years and years and years of work by legislators and organizers and activists
15:58building the support of the consensus, and Melissa was a part of that work from the very beginning.
16:03The success of that legislature and that legislative session
16:07came because of her ability to see an opportunity and to meet the moment
16:12and meet it with deafness and courage,
16:15and the result has been transformational to Minnesota.
16:19She always believed that you can make a difference for people if you work at it,
16:26and she did, and because of her leadership,
16:29more than 13.5 million more Minnesota students get a healthy and free breakfast and lunch in 2024.
16:37Minnesota is on track to eliminate all lead water service lines by 2023, thanks to Melissa.
16:44More than 65,000 Minnesotans were automatically registered to vote,
16:48and Minnesota, of course, is the state.
16:50We're very proud of this, with the second highest voter turnout in the 2024 presidential election,
16:55and the highest youth voter turnout by far.
16:59And starting next year, Mr. President, working Minnesotans who are starting or growing or caring
17:03for their families will have access to paid leave, thanks to Melissa.
17:08In short, millions, millions of Minnesotans are better off because of the work that she did.
17:16Her record of accomplishment is so extensive, it's hard to capture it all in just a few short minutes.
17:22And so, it is so bitter to realize that she was only 55.
17:26She had so many more contributions to make, so much, as Melissa would say,
17:30don't get carried away.
17:31I was just going to do my work.
17:33I was going to work as hard as I could.
17:35And so, it is bitter for us that her life was taken in this way,
17:39and it will now be up to all of us to carry on these fights.
17:42And I will miss her leadership and her friendship as our state navigates these uncertain times.
17:51Mr. President, I look around this Senate chamber, and I see legislators who, like Melissa,
17:57understand that the job of a legislature and a legislator is to help fix things,
18:03not just talk about fixing things.
18:05To lift up people who need help, to build opportunity, and to use the power of our connections to one another
18:12to build a better, stronger, more fair community.
18:16And I hope my colleagues will take heart and inspiration from Melissa's example
18:20and rededicate ourselves to what it means to be a legislator,
18:25working across lines of difference to solve problems for the people who sent us here.
18:30I want to just also close with a suggestion from Melissa and Mark's beloved children,
18:38Sophie and Colin, to all of us in Minnesota, just yesterday.
18:43And it is in the spirit of Melissa's directness and down-to-earthness.
18:50I, she said, if you would like to honor the memory of Mark and Melissa,
18:56please consider the following.
18:58Plant a tree.
18:58Visit a local park and make use of the amenities, especially a bike trail.
19:04Pet a dog.
19:05A golden retriever is ideal, but any will do.
19:09Tell your loved ones a cheesy dad joke and laugh about it.
19:13Bake something.
19:14Bread from Mark or a cake from Melissa and share it with someone.
19:19Try a new hobby and enjoy learning something.
19:22Stand up for what you believe in, especially if that thing is justice and peace.
19:28May the memory of Melissa and Mark be a blessing to all who knew and loved them.
19:37And may John and Yvette have a speedy recovery.
19:40And may we all find a way to recover and be better after these terrible attacks.
19:45Thank you, Mr. President.
19:48I yield the floor.
19:48Thank you, Mr. President.
19:52I yield the floor.
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