"My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the police officers who lost their lives today. The courage and sacrifice of those officers protected the lives of the visitors and all those working the Capitol today. They died bravely. We are indebted to them.
"The Capitol Police are the first face I see early in the morning. They are professional, helpful and always friendly. I have wondered whether the metal detectors were necessary, and I know they are. I have wondered if we over-reacted with heightened security after the Oklahoma City bombing, and now I know we did not.
"As a result of this tragedy, some will suggest that we put an iron fence around the Capitol and let fewer visitors in the building. As far as I'm concerned, that would be a tragedy because the U.S. Capitol is a symbol of representative government. It's the people's government, and we never want to separate the government from the people."