President Barack Obama has called for a national moment of silence at 11 a.m. today in honor of those killed and wounded in the attack Saturday on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords is the wife of Mark Kelly, a NASA astronaut who grew up in West Orange. The Kelly family is admired in the community, where the parents both served on the West Orange police department.

New Jersey leaders are reaching out to Giffords, who remains in critical condition. Six were killed in the assassination attempt and 14 injured. U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8) will ask the nation to observe a Week of Solidarity to join all Americans together in the wake of the tragic shooting when he and other leaders come together this morning at Passaic County Community College.

Among the dead is former Towaco, N.J., resident, Phyllis Schneck, 79, who retired to Arizona and is well-remembered for her work with the Montville Women’s Club; and 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green, granddaughter of baseball’s Dallas Green.  Christina-Taylor was born the day of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and was featured in a book, "Faces of Hope," on children who shared that birthday. Her grandfather managed the Philadelphia Phillies to their first World Series championship in 1980, and also managed the New York Yankees and the New York Mets.

Giffords was meeting with constituents for the first "Congress on Your Corner" when she was shot. She remains in critical condition. Kelly and Giffords married in November 2007. Kelly is a veteran of three space shuttle flights and is preparing to fly as commander of Endeavour in a mission scheduled for April 1, according to the Kennedy Space Center. The Kelly family remains well known in West Orange, where elected officials, locally and nationally, are reeling with the news.

"I am shocked and saddened by this terrible news," said West Orange Police Chief James P. Abbott. "I watched the Kelly twins grow up and followed their careers as they became astronauts." Mark Kelly's twin brother, Scott Kelly, is currently living aboard the International Space Station as commander of the Expedition 26 mission.

A White House statement says this morning's moment of silence will allow people to come together, in prayer or reflection, and keep the victims and their families close at heart.

Prosecutors charged Jared L. Loughner, 22, with five federal counts on Sunday, including the attempted assassination of a member of Congress.