[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 148 (Wednesday, October 29, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11365-S11366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 141--RELATIVE TO THE NATIONAL CONCERN ABOUT YOUNG 
                      PEOPLE AND GUN VIOLENCE DAY

  Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. Kempthorne, Mr. Wellstone, Mr. Akaka, 
Mr. Craig, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Hollings, Mr. Chafee, Mr. Bryan, Ms. 
Collins, Mr. Ford, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. 
Roth, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Torricelli, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Abraham, Mr. 
Warner, Mr. Frist, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Specter and Mr. Robb) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.

                              S. Res. 141

       Whereas every day in America, 15 children under the age of 
     19 are killed with guns;
       Whereas in 1994, approximately 70 percent of murder victims 
     aged 15 to 17 were killed with a handgun;
       Whereas in 1995, nearly 8 percent of high school students 
     reported having carried a gun in the past 30 days;
       Whereas young people are our Nation's most important 
     resource, and we, as a society, have a vested interest in 
     helping children grow from a childhood free from fear and 
     violence into healthy adulthood;
       Whereas young people can, by taking responsibility for 
     their own decisions and actions, and by positively 
     influencing the decisions and actions of others, help chart a 
     new and less violent direction for the entire Nation;
       Whereas students in every school district in the Nation 
     will be invited to take part in a day of nationwide 
     observance involving millions of their fellow students, and 
     will thereby be empowered to see themselves as significant 
     agents in a wave of positive social change; and
       Whereas the observance of this day will give the students 
     the opportunity to make an earnest decision about their 
     future by voluntarily signing the ``Student Pledge Against 
     Gun Violence'', and sincerely promise that the students will 
     never take a gun to school, will never use a gun to settle a 
     dispute, and will use their influence to keep friends from 
     using guns to settle disputes: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) November 6, 1997, should be designated as ``National 
     Concern About Young People and Gun Violence Day''; and
       (2) the President should be authorized and requested to 
     issue a proclamation calling upon the school children of the 
     United States to observe such day with appropriate ceremonies 
     and activities.

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a resolution 
proclaiming November 6, 1997, as National Concern about Young People 
and Gun Violence Day. Last year, Senators Wellstone, Specter, and 
Bradley introduced this resolution. I am joined by Senator Kempthorne 
and many other colleagues today in supporting an identical resolution. 
We have all seen the good that can come from focusing attention on 
young people and helping organizations across the country mobilize 
children to stay away from gun violence.
  The Day of Concern was initiated by Mary Lewis Grow, a Minnesota 
homemaker, in 1996. Other groups, such as Mothers Against Violence in 
America, have joined her effort to establish a Day of Concern. The 
proclamation of a special day of recognition also provided support to a 
national effort to encourage students to sign a pledge against gun 
violence. In 1996, 32,000 students in Washington State signed the 
pledge card, as did more than 200,000 children in New York City, and 
tens of thousands more across the nation.
  The Student Pledge Against Gun Violence calls for a national 
observance on

[[Page S11366]]

November 6 to give students throughout America the chance to make a 
promise, in writing, that they will do their part to prevent gun 
violence. The students' pledge promises three things: first, they will 
never carry a gun to school; second, they will never resolve a dispute 
with a gun; and third, they will use their influence with friends to 
discourage them from resolving disputes with guns.
  Mr. President, just last week I joined several colleagues on the 
floor of the Senate as we decried the murder of Ann Harris, a 17-year-
old Virginian, by a 19-year-old man in Washington State. This random 
act of violence was apparently precipitated because the car in which 
Ann was a passenger was going too slowly for the driver of the car in 
which the murderer was riding. The young man was angry enough and 
morally numbed enough to fire his gun into Ann's car, killing Ann. What 
a tragedy. What a waste.
  In another example, a 14-year-old boy opened fire in a Moses Lake, WA 
classroom, killing a teacher and student and wounding others. He has 
been convicted, but that does little to ease the pain of the loss 
suffered by that small community. Maybe if he had signed a pledge, 
maybe if he had heard the message over and over from parents and 
friends that gun violence was the wrong way to solve problems, maybe if 
* * * maybe if * * *. We don't know how we might have stopped this act 
of violence, but we know we all have to try education, try outreach, 
try everything.
  We all have been heartened by statistics showing crime in America on 
the decline. A number of factors are involved, including community-
based policing, stiffer sentences for those convicted, youth crime 
prevention programs, and population demographics. I don't think any of 
us intend to rest on our successes. Rather, we must review programs 
that work, and focus our limited resources on those. Legislation passed 
earlier this year, the Safe and Drug Free Communities Act, will help us 
do that.
  Mr. President, I urge all of my colleagues to join in this simple 
effort to focus attention on gun violence among youth by proclaiming 
November 6, a ``Day of Concern about Young People and Gun Violence.'' 
This is an easy step for us to help facilitate the work that must go on 
in each community across America, as parents, teachers, friends, and 
students try to prevent gun violence before it continues to ruin 
countless lives.

                          ____________________