[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 56 (Thursday, April 22, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H2277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SCHOOL VIOLENCE

  (Mrs. CLAYTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Madam Speaker, we are always shocked and stunned by the 
unexpected, unpredictable, the unimaginable. Perhaps that is why the 
incident in suburban Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, 2 
days ago has left us dazed and numb. But should this incident have been 
unexpected?
  In serene Springfield, Oregon, in friendly, congenial, Paducah, 
Kentucky, even in the home State of our president, Jonesboro, Arkansas, 
in fact over the past 38 months eight other major school shootings that 
have occurred and taken lives of far too many of our youth.
  Very recently, in fact last week in my home county of North Carolina, 
a teenager 19 years old shot and killed a deputy sheriff. Earlier this 
month in my district, Vance County, North Carolina, two twins 11 years 
old shot their family, killed their father, injured their mother and 
sister.
  Madam Speaker, I believe we must search for and find a prescription 
for peace, both in our lives and in the lives of our children. We 
should seek to engage our youth. Perhaps each day we should pause, put 
aside our problems, take stock in our blessings. Each day we should 
take time to make an extra effort to go out of our way to be kind to 
someone. We should avoid the differences that divide us, and 
concentrate on the many common interests that bring us together.
  We should get involved. We should work together, confront the 
problems, and seek to find a prescription for peace within our families 
and with our youth.

                          ____________________