[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 67 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H3939]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           EPIDEMIC OF CHILD VIOLENCE NEEDS IMMEDIATE ACTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise for a rather solemn 
occasion, one that pries at the very heartstrings of most Americans. 
Might I offer my sympathy to the citizens and schoolchildren and the 
entire State of Oregon for another tragedy of a child with a gun?
  I believe it is important for this body to acknowledge that we have 
an epidemic. We have a situation where, if it goes unaddressed, more 
and more children will find a level of frustration to act out their 
frustration through violence, more and more lives will be lost, less 
attention to the issue will be given, and we will not have a solution. 
Our children cannot be frightened in their schools. We cannot see a 
greater loss of life.
  As someone who passed the first parent responsibility ordinance in 
the City of Houston and later became State law, I do believe parents 
should be held responsible for children holding guns and, ultimately, 
winding up with a serious and tragic incident. But my main challenge, 
Mr. Speaker, is that this House must act, and it must act now. We have 
to save our children and the lives of all others. Guns in children's 
hands must not happen in this country.
  My sympathy to those who have lost their life and to the child who 
acted out from frustration and heartache.

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