What do you say to them?
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet with families of victims killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, before delivering remarks on the Senate's failure to pass a compromise plan expanding background checks on firearms sales, April 17, 2013.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
I feel personally responsible the same way I hope every parent out there feels responsible for our kids, Obama told the
Today show before the vote. The key thing for me is every once in a while we are confronted with an issue that should transcend politics. It shouldbut it didnt."
Families that know unspeakable grief summoned the courage to petition their elected leaders not just to honor the memory of their children but to protect the lives of all of our children, Obama
said, standing alongside Vice President Biden and a handful of people whose lives had been affected by gun violence. A few minutes ago a minority in the United States Senate decided it wasnt worth it.