Congress remembers Joplin on anniversary of tornado
By Alicia M. Cohn
One year after a tornado destroyed homes and killed members of the community, members of Congress paused to remember the Missouri town of Joplin on Tuesday.
Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo), who represents Joplin in Congress, even launched a new hashtag for the occasion: #JoplinProud
And many of his colleagues-including Missouri Rep. Vicky Hartzler (Mo.), Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.)-tweeted out of respect for the town, where tornados took the lives of 161 a year ago on Tuesday.
Louisiana knows all too well the massive effort required to rebuild after disasters, tweeted Landrieu.
My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Joplin today. Arkansas's Third District stands with you all! tweeted Womack.
President Obama delivered a commencement speech to the Joplin High School on Monday, when he encouraged the graduating class to take pride in where they are from.
"No matter how we might try to avoid it, life can bring heartache," Obama told the graduating students. "But here in Joplin, you've also learned that we have the power to grow from these experiences. We can define our own lives not by what happens to us, but by how we respond."
An ABC affiliate station in Missouri also rounded up a selection of local tweets from Obama's speech that offer a little perspective on how the president was received.
