California Legislature memorializes victims of San Bernardino massacre

Reporting from Sacramento —  California lawmakers on Thursday took time from budget talks to memorialize the 14 people killed when two terrorists opened fire last month on the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

The state Senate and Assembly set aside part of their morning floor sessions to talk about the men and women who died in the Dec. 2 attack. Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) read the names of those killed as part of a motion to adjourn in their memory.

“The shock and the grief that the entire Inland Empire community has suffered over the last month and will suffer for a long time simply has no words,” Leyva told her colleagues.

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“It doesn’t make sense that 14 innocent victims were killed in the prime of their lives,” she said. “The void that this senseless act has created in so many families is unimaginable.”

Sen. Mike Morrell (R-Rancho Cucamonga) praised the “amazing feats of heroism” exhibited by first responders to the massacre.

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FOR THE RECORD:

Jan. 7, 3:14 p.m.: An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed Morrell’s city of residence as Riverside. He lives in Rancho Cucamonga.

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In the other house, Assembly members Cheryl R. Brown (D-San Bernardino) and Marc Steinorth (R-Rancho Cucamonga) read the victims’ names as well as a poem with the refrain: “We remember them.”

Brown said the tragedy had affected the nation and the world.

“Our community will never forget them,” she said. “It’s been a very trying time for us. We are trying to heal.”

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