releases: https://www.heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=8000D3E7-59C2-4EEA-A170-35F20C99BB34
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=8000D3E7-59C2-4EEA-A170-35F20C99BB34 | VIDEO: Heller on the Anniversary of Las Vegas Shooting: Las Vegas Showed the World What it Meant to be Vegas Strong | 2018-09-26 | 2018 | 2018-09 | Republican | House | NV | Dean Heller | H001041 | www.heller.senate.gov | legacy | Heller Delivers Speech on U.S. Senate Floor to Honor Victims, Recognize Heroes WASHINGTON U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) today delivered a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate to recognize the approaching one-year anniversary of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 1st, 2017. Heller's speech follows the U.S. Senate's passage of his bipartisan resolution to honor the memory of the 58 individuals who lost their lives and offer support to the hundreds who were injured and those who continue down the long road toward physical and emotional recovery. That resolution is available HERE, and a video of Heller's speech in which he recognizes the victims, acknowledges the ordinary Nevadans who emerged as heroes, and shares his appreciation for Nevada's law enforcement and first responders is available HERE. 58 innocent people lost their lives. Over 800 people were injured and many of them continue to face a long road to physical and emotional recovery. Know that you're not alone on that road we support you, and we're praying for you, Heller stated. Our community is still grieving and it will never be the same, but hatred and fear did not win that night. That is because even though one man's horrific actions exposed humanity at its worst, what followed were countless stories of true heroism and humanity at its very best.Las Vegas showed the world what it meant to be Vegas strong, and I had the honor of experiencing it firsthand, in the eyes and voices of those who survived and those who were eager to help others. On that tragic night, so many ordinary Nevadans made the choice to be extraordinary. During his remarks, Heller highlighted extraordinary Nevadans who stayed on the field to help the wounded as shots continued to rein down, took shirts off their backs, used their belts as tourniquets, and applied pressure to help stop a stranger from bleeding. He said that some made stretchers on the spot,using the festival barriers, and some used their trucks and vehicles to transport the wounded to the hospitals. For example, Taylor Winston, a Marine and Iraq war veteran, managed to escape the gunfire. He helped several people over a fence where they took cover. He then found an abandoned vehicle and turned it into a makeshift ambulance. After rushing multiple people to the hospital, he turned around and went back. He ultimately drove around 30 injured people to the hospital, Heller said. Many of the heroes who emerged in the wake of this tragedy didn't have a badge. Instead, they were teachers, waiters, security guards, and construction workers who assumed the responsibility to protect others. Heller also shared stories about patients who showed exemplary courage and selflessness in the emergency room, and praised the medical staff at local hospitals whose skill, composure, and dedication saved one life after another. He also recounted meeting a respiratory therapist who works at UMC and attended the concert. Even though she was wounded, she bandaged herself up and rushed to the hospital to try to help people who she said needed it more than she did. VIDEO: Click HERE or on the above image to watch Heller's speech. While he was speaking on the U.S. Senate floor, Heller remarked that just a few hours after injured concertgoers flooded the hospitals in Las Vegas, volunteer blood donations were encouraged, and in a statement, the Red Cross said that last night's tragedy illustrates that it's the blood already on the shelves that helps during an emergency.In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, Heller and his wife, Lynne, along with thousands of Nevadans some who waited in line for more than seven hours donated blood in Las Vegas, and today Heller stated that he and his wife as well as members of his staff have committed to donating blood on October 1st each year in recognition of the anniversary. While it's just a small gesture, it's an important one because when the city of Las Vegas needed help and patients needed blood, the Red Cross was able to step in because the inventory was there, said Heller. The immeasurable pain, suffering, and devastation inflicted by one man elicited a profound, innate, and immediate human response from a city of people who stood side by side during its darkest hour to protect a friend or a stranger they had never met. We are all still in this together. And together, we'll continue moving down the long road of recovery by honoring the memory of those lost and by holding onto the sense of compassion and community that emerged, Heller concluded. Ronald Reagan once stated, Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look.' On October first and in the days that followed, the world witnessed a Las Vegas that they maybe didn't know a place that has been further defined by the heroes who are among us the ones who sprung into action that night. That is the true identity of Las Vegas. Heller's full remarks as prepared can be found below: Madam President--- While it's been nearly a year since a madman's actions devastated Las Vegas, the shock and pain related to October first still remain today. 58 innocent lives were lost. Over 800 people were injured and many of them continue to face a long road to physical and emotional recovery. Know that you're not alone on that road we support you, and we're praying for you. Our community is still grieving and it will never be the same, but hatred and fear did not win that night. That is because even though one man's horrific actions exposed humanity at its worst, what followed were countless stories of true heroism and humanity at its best. Las Vegas showed the world what it meant to be Vegas strong, and I had the honor of experiencing it firsthand, in the eyes and voices of those who survived and those who were eager to help others. On that tragic night, so many ordinary Nevadans made the choice to be extraordinary. They stayed on the field to help the wounded as shots continued to rein down. They took shirts off their backs, used their belts as tourniquets, and applied pressure to help stop a stranger from bleeding. Some made stretchers on the spot,using the festival barriers, and some used their trucks and vehicles to transport the wounded to the hospitals. For example, Taylor Winston, a Marine and Iraq war veteran, managed to escape the gunfire. He helped several people over a fence where they took cover. He then found an abandoned vehicle and turned it into a makeshift ambulance. After rushing multiple people to the hospital, he turned around and went back. He ultimately drove around 30 injured people to the hospital. That night, police officers also covered concertgoers, shielding them from gunfire and directing them to safety. Firefighters, paramedics, and ambulance drivers - who had never encountered anything as horrific as the carnage of October first plunged into danger to save lives without hesitation even though they were defenseless. Because that's just what they do. That week, I had the privilege of meeting a Las Vegas police officer, Sergeant Jonathan Riddle. He was stationed a block from the shooting scene doing traffic control. After shots were fired from Mandalay Bay, he took off sprinting toward the hotel even though everyone else was running away from it. Dozens of Metro police officers, including Officer Tyler Peterson who was on his second day of the job, did the same thing. They rushed toward the firestorm to help in any way that they could. To save lives. When I visited the local hospitals, I was struck by the stories that the doctors and nurses shared about concertgoers who responded bravely and admirably. Stories about people who reacted to cowardly violence and stood in the face of danger to protect a neighbor, a friend, a family member, or someone they've never met. A doctor at UMC put it best when he said that the patients showed exemplary courage. He told me that he spoke to all of the patients in the trauma room. Some of them were strangers who accompanied the person who sustained injuries while shielding them from bullets. He told me that many of the patients in the emergency room that night said to doctors, that person is more seriously injured than I am, take care of them first and come back to me later. When I visited UMC, I had the opportunity to meet one of the respiratory therapists who attended the concert. She showed me her phone, which had been shattered by a bullet that night. Plastic had torn through her hand, and it was imbedded in her skin.What did she do?Pulled the shards out of her hand, bandaged herself up, and rushed to the hospital to try to help people who she said needed it more than she did. I'm so grateful for the staff at our hospitals whose skill, composure, and dedication saved one life after another. I'm also grateful for the work of our law enforcement and the first responders on the scene. Each unit took an all-hands-on-deck approach and everyone functioned as one team. Instead of being frozen by the aftershock of crippling grief, Nevada mobilized and true leaders emerged. My friend Sheriff Joe Lombardo, who heads the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, is one of them. But many of the heroes who emerged in the wake of this tragedy didn't have a badge. Instead, they were teachers, waiters, security guards, and construction workers who assumed the responsibility to protect others. Take the story of Jack Beaton a man whose final act on Earth was draping himself over his wife to protect her from the deadly bullets. Or John, a cab driver, who accelerated toward the screams and chaos and drove nearly a dozen people to safety. Everyone banded together. Local organizations and businesses throughout the state and country stepped up to help. Las Vegas Convention Center's South Hall was dedicated to family reunification and support services. Airlines answered the call to provide free flights to the families of victims. Hotels and casinos across Las Vegas offered free rooms. Lines of people who were eager to give blood twisted around Las Vegas. Some even waited in line more than seven hours just because they wanted to help in any way that they could. Just a few hours after injured concertgoers flooded the hospitals in Las Vegas, the Red Cross encouraged volunteer blood donations. In a statement, the Red Cross said last night's tragedy illustrates that it's the blood already on the shelves that helps during an emergency. My wife, Lynne, and I joined the masses of Nevadans who donated blood in Las Vegas last October. And on Monday, October first, and on this day each year going forward, we will donate blood in recognition of this anniversary. Members of my staff who want to give blood have committed to doing the same. While it's just a small gesture, it's an important one because when the city of Las Vegas needed help and patients needed blood, the Red Cross was able to step in because the inventory was there. When I returned to Washington, D.C. from Las Vegas last October, I immediately began pursuing every available option to provide relief for victims and their families as well as assistance for local law enforcement and emergency responders. From pressing the Attorney General to make funding available for victims and their families and securing funding to cover Nevada law enforcement's overtime costs related to their response to the shooting, to leading a bipartisan resolution recognizing the innocent lives that were lost and working with Senator Cortez Masto to ask health insurers and airlines to do whatever they could to help victims, I worked with this Congress and this White House to deliver resources to Nevada and try to help in any way that we can. To help Las Vegas prevent future attacks, I also spoke with the President on Air Force One on our way out to Nevada last October about the critical role of federal funding to protect a city that welcomes more than 40 million people annually. As a direct result, the criteria used to determine funding that is allocated to high-threat urban areas to help them deter, mitigate, and respond to acts of terrorism was updated, and this year, Las Vegas received nearly double the amount of federal funding compared to last year. I'll never stop working to see that Nevada has the resources it needs to keep our communities safe. As President Donald Trump said, this attack was an act of pure evil and unity cannot be shattered by evil. He also said that the bonds between the people of the United States cannot be broken by violence, and I agree with him. We are all still in this together. And together, we'll continue moving down the long road of recovery by honoring the memory of those lost and by holding onto the sense of compassion and community that emerged. I like many others could not only feel the strong sense of family, faith, and strength in the wake of October first, I saw it firsthand. The immeasurable pain, suffering, and devastation inflicted by one man elicited a profound, innate, and immediate human response from a city of people who stood side by side during its darkest hour to protect a friend or a stranger they had never met. Ronald Reagan once stated, those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look. On October first and in the days that followed, the world witnessed a Las Vegas that they maybe didn't know a place that has been further defined by the heroes who are among us the ones who sprung into action that night. That is the true identity of Las Vegas. Las Vegas is resilient, and together, we will continue to be Vegas Strong. Thank you Madam President. I yield the floor. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |