[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 117 (Friday, August 2, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S9670]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      DAY OF NATIONAL CONCERN ABOUT YOUNG PEOPLE AND GUN VIOLENCE

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of Senate 
Resolution 282, designating October 10, 1996, as ``Day of National 
Concern About Young People and Gun Violence,'' and that the Senate then 
proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 282) to designate October 10, 1996, 
     as the ``Day of National Concern about Young People and Gun 
     Violence.''

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the resolution?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution and preamble be agreed to, en bloc, and the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table; further, that any statements 
relating thereto be placed in the Record at the appropriate place as if 
read.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 282) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, is as follows:

                              S. Res. 282

       Whereas violent crime among juveniles in American society 
     has dramatically escalated in recent years;
       Whereas between 1989 and 1994, juvenile arrest rates for 
     murder in this country skyrocketed 42 percent;
       Whereas in 1993, more than 10 children were murdered each 
     day in America;
       Whereas America's young people are this country's most 
     important resource, and Americans have a vested interest in 
     helping children survive, free from fear and violence, to 
     become healthy adults;
       Whereas America's young people can, by taking individual 
     and collective responsibility for their own decisions and 
     actions, help chart a new and less violent direction for the 
     entire country;
       Whereas American school children will be invited to 
     participate in a national observance involving millions of 
     their fellow students and will thereby be empowered to see 
     themselves as the agents of positive social change; and
       Whereas this observance will give American school children 
     the opportunity to make a solemn decision about their future 
     and control their destiny by voluntarily signing a pledge 
     promising that they will never take a gun to school, will 
     never use a gun to resolve a dispute, and will use their 
     influence to prevent friends from using guns to settle 
     disputes: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate designates October 10, 1996, as 
     the ``Day of National Concern About Young People and Gun 
     Violence''. The President is authorized and requested to 
     issue a proclamation calling upon the school children of the 
     United States to observe such day with appropriate 
     activities.

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