[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 27, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H2327-H2335]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO THE TRAGIC 
        SHOOTING AT COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL IN LITTLETON, COLORADO

  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the concurrent resolution (H.Con.Res. 92) expressing the sense of 
Congress with respect to the tragic shooting at Columbine High School 
in Littleton, Colorado.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 92

       Whereas on April 20, 1999, two armed gunmen opened fire at 
     Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 12 
     students and 1 teacher and wounding more than 20 others; and
       Whereas local, State, and Federal law enforcement personnel 
     performed their duties admirably and risked their lives for 
     the safety of the students, faculty, and staff at Columbine 
     High School: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the heinous 
     atrocities which occurred at Columbine High School in 
     Littleton, Colorado;
       (2) offers its condolences to the families, friends, and 
     loved ones of those who were killed at Columbine High School 
     and expresses its hope for the rapid and complete recovery of 
     those wounded in the shooting;
       (3) applauds the hard work and dedication exhibited by the 
     hundreds of local, State, and Federal law enforcement 
     officials and the others who offered their support and 
     assistance; and
       (4) encourages the American people to engage in a national 
     dialogue on preventing school violence.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. 
McCarthy) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo).
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the veneer that separates civilization from barbarism, 
that separates good from evil, is very thin, and it appears everywhere 
to be wearing thinner. Last week it wore through in my hometown, and 
the evil seeped out and stole the lives of 12 innocent children and one 
valiant teacher at Columbine High School. Mr. Speaker, yesterday my son 
Ray gave me something he had written in response to this tragedy. I 
believe it is not just fatherly pride that compels me to read parts of 
it here today. I believe he eloquently captures the nature of the 
cultural abrasives that ever so relentlessly eat away at our national 
soul, and I would like to cite just a part of it:
  ``Do you believe in God?'' ``Yes, I believe in God.''
  ``Seventeen year old Cassie Bernal's life ended with that answer. Our 
answers to the Columbine High School murders begin with the same 
question, and our answer must be the same as Cassie Bernal or the 
nihilistic fury unleashed by those two young murderers will surely 
prevail.''
  People search for meaning in these brutal senseless acts. People 
question the norms of a society in which monstrous violence can be 
countenanced. People question the righteousness, even the existence of 
a God who can allow such pain and violence into the world. These are 
valid, but unanswerable questions.
  We can speculate and hypothesize, we can blame and vent, but in the 
end we know we cannot fathom the meaning of this event or presume to 
comprehend this evil. Nevertheless, our choice is stark: Do we believe 
in God or not? An answer to that question is the whole of what we take 
away from the Columbine massacre, for the answer means everything.
  We either coast in the cultural currents of a facile nihilism, or we 
embrace God on our knees and pray for His grace and forgiveness. 
Nihilism or God, that is the choice. The comfortable in-between is now 
gone.
  In reporting on Adolph Eichmann's 1960 trial in Jerusalem, 
philosopher Hannah Arendt noted the banality of evil; that is, how 
small, petty and unoriginal evil appears. She was speaking of Eichmann, 
a trivial bureaucrat who efficiently and systematically undertook the 
murdering of the Jewish people in Europe. Likewise here, evil's 
banality is made plain to us. Two disaffected punks have changed life 
in my hometown forever.
  In the end my conclusions are unsatisfying and incomplete: sin is 
real, evil is real. The inscrutable evil of these men made perfect 
sense from within their world. If I do not believe, if we do not 
believe, then their nihilism is right, and even if we ourselves do not 
embrace it, we have no means to stop others from doing so.
  Pray the Lord's mercy on us.
  Stopping it is one thing, but where and how did it start? The 
comfortable, prosperous suburbs of Denver, Colorado should not foster 
such dark realities. Moreover, high schools have always had this same 
group of disaffected bright kids, who flirted with the darker regions 
of the culture. What changed for the diabolical fantasies of murder to 
be made real? No doubt a confluence of factors coalesced to make these 
young men's revenge fantasies turn into reality. I offer some comments 
on three factors in particular: the culture, technology and 
institutions.


                              the culture

  Ours is a culture wrapped in cotton candy nihilism. Poses and 
attitudes of nihilism are struck and celebrated. The academy has its au 
courant ideologies. Feminism, postmodernism, structuralism, scientific 
materialism all presuppose a purposeless universe without any 
transcendent order where society is predicted on power and violence. 
Entertainment has its explicit nihilistic messages--the goth rock of 
Marilyn Manson and KMFDM--its ironically hip ones--the accomplished, 
but immoral, films of Quentin Tarrantino--and its implicit nihilism--
Jerry Springer, or the titillation cum therapy of MTV's Loveline. 
Indeed, nihilism in a soft and weak form is everywhere.
  Meanwhile, `'adult society'' complacently indulges the destruction of 
cultural traditions. Legal norms are in shambles--murderers and 
perjurers escape punishment, and civil justice has become an elaborate 
shakedown scheme. Rampant materialism fuels a vicious cycle of decadent 
consumption and unending labor. Finally, cynicism and lassitude are the 
``adult'' responses to the widespread cultural decay.
  Our culture not only whispers, but veritably screams, that anything 
goes. While this is the cultural undertow, the current at the surface 
holds up ideals that are betrayed almost immediately--democracy is in 
disrepair; big business alternately rentseeks of foists cultural rot 
onto a complacent public; and education is mind-numblingly dumbded-down 
and awash in psychological fads.
  An idealistic (yes, idealistic) young man regarding this spectacle 
can easily be drawn into the depths of the undertow. It is a wrong, but 
facile, conclusion that all is power, and that the ideals of this 
country are fraudulent. Reinforce this with bombs, guns and music--and 
someone just might, indeed, did, snap.


                               technology

  The internet is praised for its promise and ability to connect people 
in ways hereto before unthinkable. The commercial and intellectual 
potential of the internet is a marvel. But there is a dark side to all 
this. An absolute majority of internet traffic is pornography. 
Subcultures that used to be isolated, can now connect and reinforce one 
another.
  As I said before, the type of student that Harris and Klebold 
represent has always roamed the halls of American high schools. Such 
students endure cruelties and indignities in the remorseless culture of 
high school, but they do not end up killing their classmates and trying 
to blow up the school.
  With the internet, however, instead of hanging out with a few like-
minded outcasts in their parents' basement, these youths can log-on and 
interact with a whole underground world. These internet ``communities'' 
promote the ultimate in social atomization--a whole new self-created 
virtual identity. Wann-be Supermen could formerly only hear one-way 
communication through records and, for the semi-literate, books. Now, 
that communication is two way--bomb recipes can be exchanged, home 
pages can advertise and promote the rage, chat rooms can stiffen the 
resolve of would-be mad bombers.


                             institutional

  Columbine high school houses nearly 2000 students. The principal of 
the school has said that he didn't even know these two students; nor 
had he heard of the ``trench coat mafia,'' the disaffected coterie of 
students to whom these men belonged.
  It was easy for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to get lost at 
Columbine. They apparently did get lost, to all of our detriment.

[[Page H2328]]

  The magnitude of 2000 student schools serves no educational purpose, 
but mainly an athletic one. Parents and students cannot hope to have a 
stake in a school of that size. In the same way that big business and 
big government depersonalizes, big education makes it easy for students 
to feel warehoused and adrift.
  Who knows if a smaller school, with more particular attention would 
have changed these young men? It may well not have. But in this time 
when we talk about community, let us realize that communities start 
from the ground up, and are built on personal connection to a group, be 
it a family, a neighborhood, a church, or a school. Values are shared 
and friendship is shared in a real community.
  Industrial-sized education does not serve community-building. Neither 
does an education monopoly that must meet the needs of the lowest 
common denominator.


                               conclusion

  Secular culture has no effective response to the nihilism of these 
young men, and the subculture from which they emerged. Therapy and 
``anger management'' did not, and could not have, saved them. To the 
contrary, therapeutic interventions probably only further confirmed 
their view of our weak and feckless culture.
  In reporting on Adolph Eichmann's 1960 trial in Jerusalem, 
philosopher Hannah Arendt noted ``the banality of evil;'' that is, how 
small, petty and unoriginal evil appears. She was speaking of Eichmann, 
a trivial bureaucrat who efficiently and systematically undertook 
murdering the Jews of Europe. Likewise here, evil's banality is made 
plain to us. Two disaffected punks have changed life in my hometown 
forever.
  In the end, my conclusions are unsatisfying and incomplete; Sin is 
real; Evil is real. The inscrutable evil of these men made perfect 
sense from within their world. If I do not believe, if we do not 
believe, then their nihilism is right--and even if we ourselves do not 
embrace it, we have no means to stop others from doing so.
  Pray the Lord's mercy on us.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.
  (Mrs. McCarthy of New York asked and was given permission to revise 
and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, first I want to thank the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) for bringing this important 
resolution to the floor. My thoughts and my prayers go out to all the 
victims and their families, and certainly my admiration goes out to all 
the heroic men and women who offered their support and assistance 
during this time of crisis.
  As we mourn the victims of the tragic school shooting in Littleton, 
Colorado, I think we all come to realize that gun violence and violence 
in our schools can happen everywhere. It affects all of us on a daily 
basis. From Pearl, Springfield, Jonesboro, Littleton, Paducah kids are 
using guns to harm their classmates. Each and every day throughout our 
towns and our communities we lose 13 young children a day. That is an 
entire classroom every 2 days.
  Mr. Speaker, over the last several years, I have had to stand here 
and talk about all the shootings, and it starts to wear one down 
because we realize the pain that all these families are going through, 
we realize all the pain that the whole community will start to go 
through, and yet we are seeing constantly more and more and more.
  We here in Congress will be doing this resolution because every 
single Member of this body feels the pain, but I do believe that we 
also have a moral obligation to try and save other families from going 
through what they have in Colorado.
  We do not have all the solutions. They are all complex. But I do 
believe that we should start to think about what we can do. I hope that 
I can look forward to working with all of my colleagues here today to 
solve the problems of our young people.

                              {time}  1530

  I know families across the Nation will join together to demand that 
politics be taken out of this debate. We must do what we can do to deal 
with children and guns. Too many children, too many parents and too 
many families have already suffered. Enough is enough.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Delaware (Mr. Castle).
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 
148, offered by the distinguished gentleman from Colorado (Mr. 
Tancredo), but with profound sorrow for the loss the community of 
Littleton has endured over the last 7 days. The horrible tragedy at 
Columbine High School has left an indelible mark in our hearts and 
heads, and I want to take this opportunity to express my deep sorrow 
for the students, for the families and for the friends affected by 
these grave acts of violence. The thoughts and prayers of every 
American are with the citizens of Littleton, Colorado, and the families 
and friends of the victims of school violence endured in other parts of 
the Nation.
  I also offer my sympathy to the gentleman from that area who lives so 
close to it. I am sure he has been through a very difficult time as 
well.
  Mr. Speaker, today I join this body in initiating a search for 
answers. We cannot take away the events of April 20. We cannot reclaim 
the lives that were taken or the hope that was lost. We cannot take 
away the fear that has been instilled in students, parents and teachers 
across the Nation, but we can search for answers, and we can take steps 
to make our society safer and smarter, and, in turn, less vulnerable to 
any reoccurrence of this tragedy.
  In searching for answers, however, we must be careful to resist the 
temptation to pin our hopes on a quick fix. There is no easy solution 
and there is no single solution. We must face the fact that we have a 
society-wide problem. We have to look at every aspect of how our 
society functions to find solutions to this violence.
  We must look at the images our children are exposed to in daily life, 
through movies, television, music videos, video games and on the 
Internet. We must look at gun control and the access children have to 
firearms. We must look at parents and their responsibility to be 
involved in the lives of their children. We must look at teacher 
training and school counseling to ensure that school personnel can 
identify and deflate problematic behavior. We must look at prevention 
and education in the earliest years of a child's life, and we must look 
at accountability and reforming troubled youth.
  Violence is not a simple problem that we can expect our schools to 
solve alone. We have a societal problem, and it will take the work of 
schools, families, communities and every level of government together 
to find ways to reach alienated children and to find ways to prevent 
the tragic violence that was displayed in Littleton, Colorado.
  As chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth, and 
Families of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, I am working 
to ensure that Congress contributes to finding solutions to school 
violence and to making our society safer and smarter.
  Again, I want to offer my heartfelt sympathy to the families and 
friends of the 15 individuals who died last Tuesday at Columbine High 
School in Littleton, Colorado. My thoughts are with you and will remain 
with you as we seek to rebuild our society.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette).
  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, this tragedy touches all of us deeply. My 
district is only three blocks from Columbine High School. I know 
families who have students at Columbine. They are my neighbors and they 
are my friends. These students are also the future of our community. So 
there is immeasurable sorrow in Denver, in my home State of Colorado 
and throughout America.
  The shootings at Columbine High School transcend party lines, 
political boundaries and geographic barriers. Each one of us here today 
shares the grief and sadness shared by parents and students in 
Littleton.
  We struggle to find the words to say. But this tragedy is beyond 
words; really, it is beyond experience. It leaves us shaken and numb. 
We try to understand it, but it is beyond understanding. The 
unimaginable has happened. We are left trying to comprehend the 
incomprehensible. Somehow we must make sense of all of this.
  Many of us went to high schools like Columbine. I went to Denver 
South High School in the turbulent 1970's,

[[Page H2329]]

and Columbine is just a short drive from there. But I did not encounter 
executions in the library and bombs in the stairwells.
  I knew students excluded by popular groups. The truth is, many 
Members of Congress probably would not have won popularity contests in 
high School. Yet what we are trying to confront today is the violent 
turn of our culture, the rationality behind students with guns, and the 
decision to use those guns on classmates and friends.
  Sadly, we must conclude that this country has become more violent in 
the past quarter century. We are more accepting of violence. We are 
more tolerant of its manifestation. We have lost some of our natural 
anger against violence. Violence is glorified in the media, in songs, 
in movies, in books and on the web. We have lost some of our social 
cohesion, where neighborhoods are now just where we live, where cities 
have become impersonal places. We have received a steady diet of 
nihilism, cynicism and skepticism, with little understanding of how 
that divides us, fragments us and transforms us. Now we often hear of a 
murder or robbery and shrug our shoulders saying, ``Oh, well, what can 
you expect?'' But violence is not part of life. It is not inevitable. 
We know better, or at least we should know better. Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. 
Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy, our own colleague John Lewis 
and others have preached the importance of nonviolence. When will we 
learn? When will we prize the wisdom of nonviolence over the hasty 
mistake of gunfire?
  We must speak out against those who pedal violence to our young 
students. We must shine the light of truth on those who believe 
violence is the answer, when it is only failure. We must no longer 
accept violence as the way of life, when it can only end a life.
  Many Americans look to this House as a barometer of our national 
attitudes and culture. Today, our sorrow and anger can make us more 
thoughtful, more dedicated and more forthright in addressing violence 
in this country.
  I hope it will. I hope we remember how we feel right now in the days 
and months to come, when we have valuable opportunities to work with 
community leaders, clergy, educators and social workers to institute 
real dialogue toward nonviolent dispute resolution.
  We also need to do whatever we can to eliminate the ability of young 
people to obtain guns. It is frightening that one-third of the high 
school students in this country know someone who owns a gun. A troubled 
youth without a gun is dangerous; a troubled youth with a gun is 
deadly.
  Those who wish to address youth violence in this country cannot 
refuse to discuss limiting access to guns for kids if they truly care 
about solving this crisis in America.
  As a member of this House, but, most importantly, as a mother and a 
resident of Denver and Colorado, I extend my deepest personal 
sympathies to the students, teachers and families at Columbine High 
School. Today, the country stands united in your grief. We all share in 
your tragedy.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
New Jersey (Mrs. Roukema).
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I greatly thank my colleague for yielding 
me time and for giving all of us this opportunity to adopt this 
congressional resolution and speak to it, because we must now all 
transform our horror and our remorse and pain and the sympathy for 
these families, that we sense for these families, and for those 
innocent children, those innocent children cut down in the springtime 
of a happy youth. That is what our dialogue is about today.
  It is in their names, the names of these children, and in their 
memory, that I stand here this afternoon to plead with my colleagues 
for action, and that this national school dialogue should result in 
enforceable legislation to reduce the threats of school violence.
  Yes, now is the time to address, in a loving and deeply meaningful 
and constructive way, to find methods to reduce the potential of these 
types of horrors being visited, and that they not be visited on other 
communities, on other innocent children, on other families.
  There is a lot that we do not know about the event that led up to 
last week's massacre, but we do know this: Apparently the schools, the 
local communities and the components of the juvenile justice system did 
not communicate. Therefore, they were unable to apply in an informed or 
systematic way the things that we know about youthful behavior, namely 
the early warning signs of deviant and dangerous behavior, and we were 
unable, therefore, to use the knowledge that we have to act to get 
these young people and their parents into therapeutic programs that 
recognize and treat the trauma that causes such anger and violent 
attacks.
  Just 11 weeks before this horrific rampage, these two young people 
were released from the probation system, apparently with flying colors, 
according to the newspapers. At the same time, these two young people 
were working on a complicated plot to destroy 500 lives. Indeed, the 
deputy sheriff assigned to the high school said last night that he did 
not even know the two teens had been arrested a year earlier. Evidently 
the school authorities did not know of the arrests. Whatever the 
reasons, there was a failure. There was no action taken to monitor 
their behavior or to communicate with the parents.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to refer and develop working therapeutic support 
systems to deal with this kind of sickness. Mental health therapy must 
be an active component of our juvenile justice system, and our schools 
must have the information they need to protect their students, to reach 
out to the parents, and give them the advice and counsel they so 
desperately need.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would simply say, we must do this with 
reverence in the names of those innocent children and their parents and 
the heroic teacher, David Sanders.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, my heart is heavy with shock and sorrow at 
the unspeakable violence at Columbine High School. Congress cannot pass 
a ``magic'' law to guarantee that our children are safe in their 
schools, but we must still act.
  As a school nurse, I have repeatedly stressed the importance of 
school counseling, and I call on my colleagues in Congress to fully 
support a school coordinator initiative which will provide violence 
counselors in middle schools across the country. Trained counselors in 
our schools can and have demonstrated that they are able to spot 
troubled kids and help them resolve conflicts peacefully before they 
escalate into violence.
  Sadly, Littleton, Colorado, is not the only place where young lives 
have been taken from us. This past week in San Luis Obispo, California, 
the bodies of two young women, local college students, were finally 
discovered and their alleged killer was finally arrested. I join the 
entire community of San Luis Obispo in expressing heartfelt sorrow to 
the families and friends of Rachel Newhouse and Aundria Crawford. 
Because of the heroic efforts of our local law enforcement, the painful 
ordeal of these families of waiting has ended.
  These students in Littleton, Colorado, and San Luis Obispo, 
California, have died way too soon. We must now, across this country, 
come together in our resolve to ensure that they have not died in vain.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Colorado (Mr. Hefley).
  Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, this past weekend I attended with the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) the memorial service for the 
students and the teacher who died, and, as I looked over the sea of 
70,000 grieving faces, I realized that the media has touched the utter 
devastation Coloradans and, indeed, most Americans feel in the wake of 
this brutal attack.
  In shopping malls, grocery stores, public parks, churches and other 
venues across Colorado, people are grieving. They are moving slowly, 
they are talking in subdued voices, they are weeping at a moment's 
notice. There is unpalatable grief overwhelming the State of Colorado 
as we mourn the death of our children and friends and our neighbors.

                              {time}  1545

  In the days following the attack, many have tried to assign blame or 
to

[[Page H2330]]

identify a reason for the tragedy. Unfortunately, one cannot find a 
reason for something so senseless.
  There have been calls to judgment and proposed quick-fix solutions to 
the problems that appear to plague some of our Nation's youth. A parade 
of commentators have appeared on television and radio shows, each 
trumpeting their own solution to ensure that such a tragedy never 
occurs again. There have been calls for more gun laws, stricter gun 
laws, armed school guards, armed teachers, school metal detectors, 
parental advisory boards and random student searches. While there is 
merit in some of these so-called solutions, I fear that we are missing 
the bigger picture. In fact, all of the guns and all of the bombs that 
were used in this brutal attack were illegal. There are already laws 
against them.
  One commentator said these young people exercised very bad judgment. 
Very bad judgment? Very bad judgment is going the wrong way on an one-
way street. Very bad judgment is to drink a little too much at a party, 
at a high school party. That is very bad judgment. These young men 
exercised evil. They were evil; they plotted evil, and they carried out 
evil, brutal acts of violence.
  For over a year they methodically and systematically plotted this 
vicious attack, and as has already been indicated by the gentlewoman 
from New Jersey (Mrs. Roukema), they intended a great deal more. They 
were going to kill at least 500 students. Then they were going to go 
into the neighborhoods. Then they were going to highjack an airplane 
and they were going to crash it into New York City. So obviously they 
lived in a fantasy world, an evil fantasy world during the process of 
that.
  It is a tragic wake up call to all Americans, particularly adults, 
that there are children in this country who are so mentally ill and in 
such need of guidance that their only outlet for attention is by 
identifying themselves with deviant music, games, books, movies, even 
Adolph Hitler.
  Mr. Speaker, to revere Lincoln and Martin Luther King is not the 
moral equivalent of revering Adolph Hitler, but unfortunately, too 
often in the name of tolerance we say this is okay. It should be no 
surprise that once a child is immersed in evil thoughts, evil actions 
often follow. As a society, we try to mask evil through tolerance. We 
tend to ignore the signs of deviant behavior because we think people 
have a right to engage in their corruptive activities and we must be 
tolerant. While people do have this right, it cannot come at the 
expense of others.
  There are video games, movies, books, music that promote violence and 
corrode our society with a pervasive sense of evil, and we can no 
longer ignore these thoughts, activities and products in the name of 
tolerance. We need to call evil evil and take action against it. We 
cannot in our society tolerate evil.
  We as a society and as adults need to pay more attention to our 
children. We need to reach out to our children before they reach for 
evil. We need to provide them with a moral framework from which they 
can guide their lives. Hopefully, by listening to our youth and 
learning who they are, we can identify those children who need help.
  This is a tragedy that has deeply affected every community in my home 
state. My deepest condolences go to the city of Littleton, the students 
of Columbine High School, and especially the families of the students 
and teacher who were killed in last week's tragic shooting.
  Yes; 13 died. Many more will never be the same. I ask for your 
prayers at this terrible time.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Udall).
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New 
York (Mrs. McCarthy) for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution offered by my 
colleague, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), which I am sure 
expresses the thoughts not only of the Colorado delegation, but of the 
entire House.
  I want to acknowledge my colleague from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo). He 
and I came to this body as freshmen this year and went through our 
orientation as new Members together. I hold a fond memory of that 
experience, and am profoundly saddened that a tragedy in our home State 
has been the occasion for our partnership on a legislative matter.
  My guess is that parents all over America hugged their children a 
little tighter last night, and I am sure parents will worry just a 
little bit more as they send their children off to school tomorrow. We 
cannot allow what happened at Columbine High School to dampen our hopes 
for the future of America's schools or our children. It must remain an 
aberration and not a precursor of things to come.
  In addition to offering our condolences to the families, friends and 
loved ones of those who were killed and injured in this awful crime, I 
think it is important for this body to speak with an unified voice in 
condemning such violence. It is also crucial for this body to offer 
leadership to the American people by initiating a thoughtful dialogue 
on the problem of gun violence in our schools.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope, I pray that we as a Nation will respond to this 
tragedy by looking beyond our prejudices and our political leanings. 
This tragedy challenges us to place an even greater priority on the 
quality of the lives we build for all of our children. I urge adoption 
of this resolution.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that I sincerely 
appreciate the comments of my colleague, the gentleman from Colorado 
(Mr. Udall).
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Salmon).
  Mr. SALMON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) for sponsoring this resolution.
  In the time that I have been here in Congress, the 4\1/2\ years that 
I have been here, I do not think I have met a gentleman with more 
compassion, more love or more care and concern than the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) has shown me in the last few months since his 
election. What a sad thing it is to have to engage in this kind of a 
discussion on the floor at a time so short in his tenure in the House.
  Words cannot express, they are completely inadequate to express, I 
think, the sorrow and the feelings that many of us here feel. So many 
of us who ran for this office did so because we wanted to come and we 
wanted to change the world. We wanted to be able to come and address 
all of the heartfelt problems of the people that we represent. We 
really wanted to make this a better place to live.
  As so often happens when a tragedy like this occurs, we look at 
ourselves in the mirror through tear-stained eyes and we try to come up 
with answers that we can pose that will solve these problems. But they 
also seem so inadequate.
  So I looked into the faces of my two high school students before I 
left, and I gave them an extra tight hug and I tried to place myself in 
the situation of these parents, and try as I might, I cannot. Our 
hearts go out to them.
  Mr. Speaker, I know that all too often we try to use things like this 
as a way to move forward our issues. We try to use these senseless 
tragedies as points in a debate for gun control or for this or for 
that.
  In fact, I was even going to try to reference some of them in a 
written speech that I had, and I have thrown it out because frankly I 
think the most important thing that we as a Nation can do right now is 
to pray. Pray to God Almighty that his compassion and love will be sent 
down on us and those families will feel his arms of mercy wrap around 
them. Because frankly, that is the only respite that we have. I offer 
my prayers and my condolences, and I hope they feel the love emanating 
from this body.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
South Carolina (Mr. DeMint).
  Mr. DeMINT. Mr. Speaker, my wife and I have four children who are all 
in different schools everyday. As we grieve for the parents of the 
children killed in Colorado, we also join every parent in America as we 
fear for the safety of our own children.
  Congress must be a part of eliminating this danger, because one of 
the most important roles of government is to keep our citizens safe, 
especially our children. We must do more to protect Americans against 
senseless violence.
  But our goal to make America safer cannot be achieved with knee-jerk 
solutions that are blurted out in haste every time there is a tragedy. 
So as we

[[Page H2331]]

condemn this horrible act, let us also commit as a Congress and as a 
Nation to seriously study and seek to understand the causes of this 
violence and to develop a comprehensive plan to make our children safer 
and more secure in their schools.
  But to get the right answers, we have to ask the right questions. And 
I hope one of the questions will be, have we created a spiritual void 
in our schools which is now being filled with drugs and sex and 
violence? It is clear there were very deep spiritual problems in this 
case. Yet, we prohibit the free participation in spiritual and 
religious activities in our schools. The sad fact is if a teacher had 
recognized these troubled youths and tried to counsel them with 
positive, life-oriented religious principles, that this teacher could 
very likely lose their job or end up in court.
  Let us ask the right questions. Let us commit as a Nation to make our 
schools safer, and we can find the right answers.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 6 minutes for 
the purpose of engaging in a colloquy with the gentlewoman from New 
Jersey (Mrs. Roukema).
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman will yield, I would be 
more than happy to engage in a colloquy.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, and certainly to my colleague 
who sits on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, in the past 
year we have been able fortunately to have so many different committee 
meetings to talk about the things that have been going on in our 
schools, and school violence as a whole. I personally found it very 
educational.
  There is no one answer, there is not, but I did learn a lot, as a 
nurse, and certainly my colleague, the gentlewoman from New Jersey 
(Mrs. Roukema), who talks about mental health.
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, in my role as a former teacher.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Yes, as a former teacher, if the 
gentlewoman would talk to us about mental health.
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman will yield, this is 
such a wide topic for discussion, but I would like to reference the 
mental health aspect of this, particularly in areas where I know that 
even the Department of Education a few years ago tried to deal with 
some of these aspects of student mental health and violence in the 
schools. They issued, and I do not remember exactly the year, I want to 
say maybe it was 1992 or 1994, a department brochure called the Early 
Warning Program and distributed it to school systems across the 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, an early warning program description of mental health 
problems that are discernible in children in school is really not 
enough. If the school system does not have a team, guidance counselors, 
administrators, teachers and mental health professionals, maybe 
psychologists, maybe social workers, but with a psychiatric consultant 
to the school system who are able to review the early warning signs of 
students and some of the abnormal or violent behavior that they have 
displayed.
  I guess another way of looking at it, in this particular case, as has 
been testified to by the school system and certainly the probation 
period, and looking at the yearbook, these students just did not turn 
up one day in their trench coat garb and talking the way they did; this 
had been a pattern for some period of time. And those are the kinds of 
early warning signs that teachers and really probation officers should 
be very conscious of and set up a system whereby they bring in, reach 
out to the parents in the community and work with them in a very 
private way to get them the advice and counsel that they might need.

                              {time}  1600

  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I think that is something 
that we have learned. Because when we talk about how to handle, 
hopefully, the violence that we are seeing in our schools, I think we 
have learned an awful lot on our committee.
  There are a number of factors, whether it is mental health and being 
able to pick up the signs at an early grade, which we have found a 
number of times in all the school shootings there were warning signs 
there; certainly to work with our young children and our teenaged 
children also, to say if they hear something that is going on, it is 
all right to go to an adult, it is all right to go to your friends or 
your parents, let someone know.
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. I do want to add something also to what the gentlewoman 
has referenced here. These warning signs are out there, and people 
should be reporting.
  This is not novel or new or innovative or crusading. There are 
numbers of school systems all across the country, and one was featured 
on national television within the past week in Wisconsin, and another 
one I know of through the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling), 
who is the chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, in 
his home State of Pennsylvania who have some very advanced programs, or 
not programs, systems whereby the educational and the juvenile justice 
system reaches out to the parents and works up a therapeutic 
environment for these students.
  It does not mean, and by the way, I am not denying what the gentleman 
from Colorado (Mr. Hefley) said that there is evil, there is evil. But 
what I am saying is that so much of this is subject to therapy, if 
properly diagnosed and properly seen at an early age with these young 
people.
  I think there is so much knowledge out there, it would be unfortunate 
if in this national dialogue that this resolution is calling for, if we 
did not understand that this is almost central to an area of 
improvement that we can initiate almost immediately.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. I think we do have the knowledge here in 
Congress. We do have a very knowledgeable body. I think the information 
that has come to us over the years because of the violence we are 
seeing in the schools is something that we can address.
  I think one thing that came back and forth, also on our committee 
hearings, in dealing with something like this is that the whole 
community has to become involved. It is the church, it is the school, 
it is definitely the parents. The parents have to learn how to be 
parents. They should stand up and say, I am going to be a parent.
  I see today so many young people that want to be friends and not 
parents, and I think that is something they have to learn. So parenting 
skills are needed, also. There are a lot of things that we can do, and 
I think we can do it.
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. There are resources throughout each community that can 
help the parents, the schools, and the correctionS officers, and most 
of all, bring a bright life for those young people who need our help.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, the only thing further that I 
would like to say is that the majority of our schools are safe, and we 
have to keep them that way.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my colleague, the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Schaffer).
  Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding time 
to me.
  Mr. Speaker, to all of my colleagues here and to the rest of this 
country, I would like to say that all of us in Colorado, and on behalf 
of the entire State, are very gratified by the outpouring of support 
and prayer from throughout the country.
  Our Governor addressed the country just the day before yesterday 
about the tragedy, and I include for the Record his words.
  The statement referred to is as follows:

       This is Governor Bill Owens of Colorado. A terrible tragedy 
     occurred here in my home state this week. At Columbine High 
     School in the town of Littleton, 15 people died in an 
     outbreak of brutal and senseless violence.
       I know this tragedy has shocked and moved all Americans. I 
     know that the victims and their families have the prayers and 
     condolences of people from across the land. And, for that, 
     though we grieve, we are grateful.
       We live in a nation that is the richest and freest on 
     Earth--the richest and freest in history. Yet events like 
     this one warn us there is a virus loose within our culture--
     and too many of our young people are susceptible to it. What 
     happened to the two boys who committed these crimes?
       Why didn't anyone see where they were heading--and do 
     something about it? There was no shortage of signs--from the 
     clothes

[[Page H2332]]

     they wore, to the Internet games they played, to the 
     ``music'' they preferred, to their expressed passion for 
     Hitler, to their brushes with the law. They even made a video 
     acting out their killing spree for a class project.
       Were we perhaps afraid of being ``judgmental''? Afraid that 
     criticizing them--and correcting them--would hurt their self-
     esteem? These were minors with criminal records. The guns and 
     homemade bombs they carried onto school property, they 
     carried illegally. Yet they had broken the law before--and 
     they had been dealt with gently.
       And, perhaps the most important--and least asked question--
     is this: Why did these boys themselves not understand that 
     what they were doing was wrong?
       Not just wrong but evil? Or if they did understand, why did 
     they not have enough moral sense to stop themselves--to seek 
     the help they needed from a parent, a relative, a clergyman 
     or a doctor?
       We still have more questions than answers about what 
     happened in Littleton on a sunny April afternoon. And the 
     truth, I think, is that there are no easy answers--no quick 
     solutions, much as we might wish there were.
       There is no one place on which we can lay all the blame--
     though some people will try to do exactly that. We do need to 
     think about these things, and talk about these things--not as 
     politicians and partisans and members of factions, but as 
     parents and neighbors and fellow Americans who have a 
     responsibility to preserve what's best in our community--and 
     improve the rest.
       We do need to take a look at the sub-culture of violence, 
     death, anarchy and incoherence that seems, in recent years, 
     to have become so appealing to so many young people. We need 
     to understand who and what feeds and profits from this dark 
     subculture. And why is it that so many Americans patronize a 
     mass media which all too often glorifies violence rather than 
     condemns it?
       We need to ask ourselves: What is lacking in all too many 
     of our children's lives--despite the freedom and prosperity 
     they enjoy?
       And I would ask every parent in America: Do you know if 
     your child has a homepage? Do you know what is on your 
     child's homepage or whom they talk with on the Internet? If 
     not, please find out. Please teach your children to discern 
     from the good and bad on the Internet as well as on 
     television, movies, and on video games--and if they can't--
     then parents should.
       And how can parents, religious leaders and, yes, political 
     leaders, too, help fill the void--the black hole in these 
     young souls that sucks in so much anger, hatred and cruelty? 
     I know all this will be on my mind, and yours, for a very 
     long time to come.
       I also know that this is a great country and that Colorado 
     is a great state--and that we have met many challenges in the 
     past and, with God's help, we will meet this challenge as 
     well.

  What the Governor said to the country and what we need to keep in 
mind is that such a profound tragedy as the one we have experienced in 
Colorado is one that needs to be considered within the context of our 
moral character as a Nation.
  We are a Nation that seems more and more to be preoccupied with death 
and sex. Our children are confronted daily with the glorification of 
violence. The lines between tolerance and indifference have been almost 
erased in this country, for those of us as leaders, not just political 
leaders but community leaders of all sorts, through a sick evolution of 
political correctness seem to have become timid about asserting what is 
right and what is wrong, and speaking out strenuously about the 
difference between the two.
  We have been warned about such occasions. The Apostle Paul almost 
1,950 years ago, in a letter to the Romans, said, ``Do not be conformed 
to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so 
that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and 
acceptable and perfect.''
  The dignity of human life is what we need to keep in mind. This is at 
the heart of the tragedy that took the country last week. There are 
some who believe human life is expendable, that it is a matter of 
someone else's choice or convenience or sometimes even amusement. But 
this is a bedrock issue for us as a country.
  We have, in fact, enshrined the value of life right into our own 
Declaration of Independence. That Declaration, Mr. Speaker, says this: 
``We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, and 
among them is the right to life.'' We need to be rededicated to that 
concept by the brilliance of the lives that have been lost.
  Some suggest that we need new laws. The individuals who perpetrated 
this crime broke about 17 of those, and I would like to enter that into 
the Record, as well.
  The material referred to is as follows:

Violations of Federal and State Laws by the Alleged Perpetrators of the 
          Crime at Columbine High School, Littleton, Colorado

       Details of the explosives and firearms used by the alleged 
     perpetrators have not been confirmed by law enforcement 
     authorities. The crime scene is still being examined and 
     cleared. It is unknown how the alleged perpetrators came into 
     possession of the explosives and firearms they used.
       The alleged perpetrators, obviously, committed multiple 
     counts of murder and attempted murder, the most serious 
     crimes of all. And they committed many violations of laws 
     against destruction of property, such as in the school 
     building and the cars in the parking lot outside. All told, 
     the prison sentences possible for these multiple, serious 
     violations amount to many hundreds of years.
       Additionally, in the course of planning and committing 
     these crimes, the alleged perpetrators committed numerous 
     violations of very serious federal and state laws relating to 
     explosives and firearms, and, depending on details not yet 
     known, may have committed other such violations. 
     Cumulatively, the prison sentences possible for these 
     violations alone amount to many hundreds of years. A partial 
     list of those violations follows:
       1. Possession of a ``destructive device'' (i.e., bomb). 
     (Multiple counts.) Prohibited under 26 U.S.C. Chapter 53. 
     Each violation is punishable by 10 years in prison and a 
     $10,000 fine. Other explosives violations are under 18 U.S.C. 
     842.
       Colorado law [18-12-109(2)] prohibits the possession of an 
     ``explosive or incendiary device.'' Each violation is a Class 
     4 felony. Colorado [18-12-109(6)] also prohibits possession 
     of ``explosive or incendiary parts,'' defined to include, 
     individually, a substantial variety of components used to 
     make explosive or incendiary devices. Each violation is a 
     Class 4 felony.
       2. Manufacturing a ``destructive device'' (i.e., bomb). 
     (Multiple counts.) Prohibited under 26 U.S.C. Chapter 53. 
     Each violation is punishable by 10 years in prison and a 
     $10,000 fine.
       3. Use of an explosive or incendiary device in the 
     commission of a felony. Prohibited under Colorado law [18-12-
     109(4)]. A class 2 felony.
       4. Setting a device designed to cause an explosion upon 
     being triggered. Violation of Colorado law. (Citation 
     uncertain)
       5. Use of a firearm or ``destructive device'' (i.e., bomb) 
     to commit a murder that is prosecutable in a federal court. 
     Enhanced penalty under 18 U.S.C. 924(i). Punishable by death 
     or up to life in prison. A federal nexus is through 18 U.S.C. 
     922(q), prohibiting the discharge of a firearm, on school 
     property, with reckless disregard for the safety of another 
     person.
       6. Use of a firearm or ``destructive device'' (i.e., bomb) 
     in a crime of violence that is prosecutable in a federal 
     court. Enhanced penalty under 18 U.S.C. 924(c). Penalty is 5 
     years if a firearm; 10 years if a ``sawed-off'' shotgun, 
     ``sawed-off'' rifle or ``assault weapon;'' and 30 years if 
     the weapon is a ``destructive device'' (bomb, etc.). 
     Convictions subsequent to the first receive 20 years or, if 
     the weapon is a bomb, life imprisonment. Again, a federal 
     nexus is through 18 U.S.C. 922(q), prohibiting the discharge 
     of a firearm, on school property, with reckless disregard for 
     the safety of another person.
       7. Conspiracy to commit a crime of violence prosecutable in 
     federal court. Enhanced penalty under 18 U.S.C. 924(n). 
     Penalty is 20 years if the weapon is a firearm, life 
     imprisonment if the weapon is a bomb. Again, a federal nexus 
     is through 18 U.S.C. 922(q), prohibiting the discharge of a 
     firearm, on school property, with reckless disregard for the 
     safety of another person.
       8. Possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle. Some 
     news accounts have suggested that the alleged perpetrators 
     may have possessed a ``sawed-off'' shotgun or ``sawed-off'' 
     rifle. (A shotgun or rifle less than 26'' in overall length, 
     or a shotgun with a barrel of less than 18'', or a rifle with 
     a barrel of less than 16''.) A spokesman for the Jefferson 
     County Sheriff's Office reported, possibly, at least one long 
     gun with the stock cut off. Prohibited under 26 U.S.C. 
     Chapter 53. A violation is punishable by 10 years in prison 
     and a $10,000 fine.
       Colorado law [18-12-102(3)] prohibits possession of a 
     ``dangerous weapon'' (defined to include sawed-off guns). 
     First violation is a Class 5 felony; subsequent violations 
     are Class 4 felonies.
       9. Manufacturing a ``sawed-off'' shotgun or ``sawed-off 
     rifle. Prohibited under 26 U.S.C. Chapter 53. Each violation 
     is punishable by 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
       10. Possession of a handgun or handgun ammunition by a 
     person under age 18: Some news accounts report one alleged 
     perpetrator as being 17 years of age. It is yet unclear what 
     firearms were involved in the crime. A person under age 18 is 
     prohibited from possessing a handgun or handgun ammunition, 
     except for legitimate target shooting, hunting, and firearms 
     training activities, and similar legitimate reasons. [18 
     U.S.C. 922(x), part of the 1994 crime bill.] A violation is 
     punishable by one year in prison.
       11. Providing a handgun or handgun ammunition to a person 
     under age 18. Prohibited under the same provision noted in 
     #4, above. Penalty of one year, unless the provider knew the 
     gun would be used in a crime of violence, in which case the 
     penalty is 10 years.
       12. Age restrictions on purchasing firearms. Again, the age 
     of the second suspect and how the alleged perpetrators came 
     into possession of firearms are unclear. However,

[[Page H2333]]

     licensed dealers may sell rifles and shotguns only to persons 
     age 18 or over, and handguns to persons age 21 or over. [18 
     U.S.C. 922(b)(1)].
       13. Possession of a firearm on school property. Prohibited 
     under 18 U.S.C. 922(q). Five year penalty. Colorado also 
     prohibits a gun on school property. (Citation uncertain.)
       14. Discharge of a firearm on school property, with a 
     reckless disregard for another's safety. Prohibited under 18 
     U.S.C. 922q. Five year penalty.
       15. Possession, interstate transportation, sale, etc., of a 
     stolen firearm. Prohibited under 18 U.S.C. 922(i) and (j). A 
     violation is punishable by 10 years.
       16. Intentionally aiming a firearm at another person. 
     Violation of Colorado law.
       17. Displaying a firearm in a public place in a manner 
     calculated to alarm, or discharging a firearm in a public 
     place except on a lawful target practice or hunting place. 
     Violation of Colorado law.

  Let me say this on this House Floor, Mr. Speaker: There are great 
leaders whose sculptures are all around us. Moses looks at us from 
straight ahead, and delivered us the most important and profound law of 
all. In his eyes and through God, we needed 10: Thou shalt not kill. 
That is a law that we should all, Mr. Speaker, live by.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my 
time to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stearns). The gentleman from Colorado 
(Mr. Tancredo) is recognized for 3 minutes.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from 
New York, for yielding time to me.
  Mr. Speaker, I should say that having now lived through this horrible 
experience and participated in all of the events, as many as I could in 
Colorado, it has certainly touched my soul in a way that few other 
things that I have experienced in this Congress have.
  Mr. Speaker, I assure my colleagues who have spoken to this point 
that I personally will be more than willing, I would be happy to look 
at any proposal, any idea anyone has to address this kind of issue, any 
solution. I yearn, I ache for a solution, just like anyone else in this 
Congress.
  I fear so deeply, however, that what we can do here cannot even begin 
to touch or make a dent in the problem that has created Columbine 
High's tragedy. It is a problem that is close to home, close to home 
for all of us.
  We must look in the mirror, every single one of us, for the real 
reason, for the real answer here, because we have created a culture in 
which a generation at least has grown up without the ability to look at 
life through the same sort of eyes that many other generations have, 
and without the ability to actually have a sense of worth, of value.
  When I was younger there was a popular movie, ``Easy Rider,'' and the 
characters in the movie spent the entire thing living the high life, 
literally and figuratively, on drugs. At the end, however, they looked 
up and said, we blew it. We blew it. That was the message that not too 
many people got.
  But I must tell the Members, I look at our generation and I look at 
all the things that have happened, and I look at the life we tried to 
live and provide for our children, thinking it was the right thing, it 
was a life that we decided was not worthy of restrictions, that we 
would not impose them on our children, that we would be pals instead of 
parents, and we live the high life, and we blew it. We blew it.
  I think of my neighbor, whose son cradled Mr. Sanders in his arms as 
the last breath left his body, and he said to my neighbor's son, 
``Please tell my family I love them.''
  And I think of the scars that that child now takes with him for the 
rest of his life, and not just the physical scars that we know are on 
there from the people who are surviving in the hospitals, but all the 
mental scars that we will have no idea, we will never know the depth of 
them. We will never know the extent to which they exist. We will never 
know how to treat or who to treat, because we will never know. We will 
not see with our eyes how they affect these children.
  And I think to myself, for some children there is still hope, but we 
have to look at ourselves as families. We have to look in the mirror. 
There is nowhere else to go. As John Donne says, ask not for whom the 
bells toll, they toll for thee and for me.
  I accept the responsibility, and I hope with all my heart and I pray 
to the ever-living God that he gives me the wisdom, and my colleagues, 
and my community, and the culture, the wisdom to know what action we 
individually can take so as to avoid a tragedy like this ever happening 
again. I pray for that wisdom.
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I am deeply saddened by the tragedy at 
Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. It brings back emotions 
my hometown experienced last year when a group of students at Thurston 
High School were shot by a fellow student. Last week's violent rampage 
was an incomprehensible and devastating act and I know my community 
joins me in sending our thoughts and prayers to the victims and their 
families in Colorado.
  We can't legislate all solutions, but we can take prudent steps to 
help prevent similar acts in the future. As we learned in Springfield, 
the changes needed to prevent similar tragedies are going to require an 
enduring commitment from each and every one of us. Preventing youth 
violence depends on our ability to support children and families. Each 
of us needs to look for ways to do more to help our neighbors and 
communities. In small ways and large, we can all help keep our children 
and families safe.
  Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, this nation is shocked and deeply affected by 
the lives that were lost in Littleton, Colorado on Tuesday, April 20, 
1999, as a result of a senseless shooting rampage. We must work harder 
to deter violence and promote safety in our nations schools.
  I agree with the President: We need to ``wake up to school 
violence,'' and ``if it can happen here, then surely people will 
recognize [t]he possibility that it can occur in any community in 
America, and maybe that will help us to keep it from happening again.''
  My prayers go out to the students, teachers, faculty, staff, and 
parents of students who attend Columbine High School and to the 
suburban Denver community rocked by this shooting rampage.
  This nation has made little progress in the way of making our school 
and communities safer and preventing these horrific tragedies from 
reoccurring. In fact, this was the ninth such incident of tragic school 
violence in recent years.
  Many schoolchildren have access to weapons and they do not have the 
support systems to deal with their grievances.
  Yesterday was a poignant reminder to all of us that communities, 
parents and gun makers have an obligation to act responsibly to keep 
our communities and schools safer.
  But, parents and communities should not have to meet these challenges 
alone. Government has a role in keeping products such as assault 
weapons off of our streets and out of the hands of schoolchildren.
  I urge my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to join me in 
making our schools, our communities, and our nation safer.
  Mr. BARCIA. Mr. Speaker, in the aftermath of the tragedy in 
Littleton, the nation has been splintered by blame and torn apart by 
finger-pointing. As we all try to decide who or what is to be blamed 
for the terror wreaked by two young men, the fabric of our national 
community is being shredded. While there is a need to find some 
concrete thing to be culpable for this horrible event it is important 
for us to stand united as one people, as one country, to support those 
who need it the most.
  As a Congressman, but first as a citizen of this nation, I would like 
to express my sincerest condolences to the people of Littleton, 
Colorado. I would also like to express the condolences of my district, 
the Fifth District of Michigan. I have spoken with many constituents, 
and received many letters, from those who are deeply saddened by this 
horrific event.
  After the healing has begun, after we have all decided that we are 
ready to proceed, we need to become involved in our young people's 
lives. We need to support and nurture them like the incredible 
resources they are. Whether at home or in school, adults as well as 
peers need to take a vital interest in their children, students and 
friends. The sadness, frustration and anger that these two young men 
felt should never again be dismissed. What a disgrace it would be to 
the memory of those children and their heroic teacher if we should let 
the lessons fade from our collective conscience. Littleton should not 
be the ``worst school massacre in our nation's history,'' it should be 
the last school massacre in our Nation's history.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in tribute to the students of 
Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado whose tragic deaths have 
shocked and saddened our nation.
  The images coming out of Littleton, of grieving families and 
students, of terrified children and communities struggling to cope with 
the devestating loss of those dear to them, are becoming all too 
familiar. We saw them last year, in Jonesboro, in Springfield and in 
West Paducah.

[[Page H2334]]

  Mr. Speaker, this tragedy has again dramatically highlighted the 
inadequacy of current gun control laws in preventing these types of 
senseless tragedies. Therefore, I believe it is vital that we 
strengthen our Nation's gun control laws to keep guns out of the hands 
of children and work to help our young people express their anger and 
feelings of alienation through words and thoughts, and not weapons.
  Our nations schools are supposed to be a safe haven for students 
striving to reach their full potential in a safe and secure learning 
environment. Instead, with increased access and availability of guns to 
our nations youths, we are seeing our nations schools turn into war 
zones.
  Mr. Speaker, it is also imperative that we do more in our communities 
to ensure that tragedies such as the one in Littleton never occur 
again. That is why I strongly support programs such as the Federal Safe 
Schools-Healthy Students Funds to help communities put in place 
comprehensive violence prevention programs.
  These funds can be used for everything from establishing conflict 
resolution groups to hiring more mental health counselors, to 
establishing new mentoring programs, to installing metal detectors and 
other security equipment.
  In addition Mr. Speaker, I would like to announce that this week the 
Department of Justice and Education will distribute 150,000 additional 
copies of early warning timely response; A Guide To Safe Schools.
  The guide, written for teachers, principals, parents and others who 
work with young people, provides information on how to identify and 
respond to early warning signs of troubled youth that can lead to 
violence in schools.
  Mr. Speaker, we can no longer turn a blind eye to the devastating 
impact that guns can play on our society.
  We must be vigilant in our efforts to prevent further senseless gun 
related tragedies and make sure that no more children's lives are 
needlessly cut short.
  By taking actions to prevent future acts of violence in our schools, 
we can best honor the memories of those who lost their lives.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I stand today to express my 
profound sadness concerning the tragic events of last week in 
Littleton, Colorado. I would like to extend my deepest sympathy to the 
families of the victims of those horrific shootings. I support the 
Resolution that is on the floor today, and I hope that it will lead to 
a national dialogue on the need for mental health services for 
children.
  Schools should be safe and secure places for all students, teachers 
and staff members. All children should be able to go to and from school 
without fearing for their safety. Unfortunately, we live in a time of 
metal detectors, mesh book bags and armed police in our schools. 
Instead of imprisoning our young people in school, we need to look into 
real solutions that will protect our children from harm.
  This incident underscores the urgent need for mental health services 
to address the needs of young people. Without concerted efforts to 
address the mental health disorders that affect our children, we may 
witness even more terrifying violence in our schools.
  The statistics on youth violence and adolescent death trends are 
startling: homicide deaths for teenagers between 15 and 19 accounted 
for 85% or 2,457 deaths by firearms and suicide rates have increased by 
more than 300% in the last three decades.
  In addition, there has been a 1,000% increase in depression among 
children since the 1950s. This means that depression, one of the 
earliest indicators of poor mental health, is not being properly 
addressed. We must help our schools identify troubled children early 
and provide counseling for them before it is too late.
  According to news reports, these young suspects were members of a 
group called the ``Trench Coat Mafia.'' These young men felt that they 
were outcasts in the school community because they were teased 
constantly by the other students. The motive for this tragedy was 
reportedly revenge and racial prejudice. At the end of the day, 15 
people were killed, including the two alleged shooters, who committed 
suicide.
  I implore parents, teachers and the other adults who impact the lives 
of our young people to be on alert for the early warning signs of a 
young person who is troubled.
  These warning signs include isolation, depression, alienation, and 
hostility. Recognizing these signs is the first step to ensure that 
troubled youngsters get the counseling and social skills training they 
need early to address their mental health needs before it is too late.
  For the young people who witnessed this tragedy and survived, there 
is also a need for mental health services to help them make it through 
these difficult weeks ahead. The trauma of witnessing such an event 
will undoubtedly leave scars that may never fully heal. These children 
need counseling and support as well.
  To the families and the community that has been devastated by this 
tragedy, our hearts and minds are with you at this difficult time. My 
thoughts and prayers are also with you.
  Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H. 
Con. Res. 92 and to express my condolences and sympathy to the victims' 
families and to the citizens of Littleton, Colorado, in the wake of the 
tragic shooting that occurred there last week. What can we as a 
Congress say to our children and their parents in light of such a 
devastating event? This resolution states that the House of 
Representatives ``condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the 
heinous atrocities which occurred at Columbine High School in 
Littleton, Colorado; offers its condolences to the families, friends, 
and loved ones of those who were killed at Columbine High School and 
expresses its hope for the rapid and complete recovery of those wounded 
in the shooting; applauds the hard work and dedication exhibited by the 
hundreds of local, state, and federal law enforcement officials and the 
others who offered their support and assistance; and encourages the 
American people to engage in a national dialogue on preventing school 
violence.''
  It is important to pass this resolution and officially state our 
condemnation, condolences, and hope, and yet it is not enough. How will 
we, as individual Members of the House of Representatives, choose to 
act in response to this atrocity? Will we be satisfied with the passing 
of this resolution? We must not allow ourselves to believe that with 
this resolution, we have done all that we could. We must honor the 
memory of those that were killed: Dave Sanders, Kyle Velasquez, Matt 
Kechter, Corey DePooter, Steven Curnow, Isaiah Shoels, Rachel Scott, 
John Tomlin, Lauren Townsend, Kelly Fleming, Dan Rohrbough, Dan Mauser, 
and Cassie Bernall. I say their names aloud on this day, in this room, 
to honor their memory and to urge my colleagues to remember that this 
teacher and these children had bright futures that will never be 
realized.
  Vice President Al Gore asked the community of Littleton at the 
memorial ceremony on Sunday, ``Now, as we are brought to our knees in 
the shock of this moment, what say we?'' I repeat this question to you, 
my colleagues. What say we in the shock of this moment, and what will 
we say as the shock passes and our lives go on, even as the lives of 
those thirteen have ended? Will we say, ``No more!''? Or will we turn 
away from the harsh reality of the world we have helped to create and 
hide our faces from the dangers our children face every day?
  We must provide for our children alternatives to violence and 
opportunities for creative expression which will allow them to deal 
with their anger and hurt in productive ways. A pilot educational 
intervention program being developed in the fifth district of Missouri 
is the E3 system--Emotional and Ethical Education for Children. This 
curriculum seeks to foster the emotional, cognitive, and ethical 
development of children through the arts. The E3 system utilizes the 
theory of multiple intelligences and the arts within the curriculum in 
order to increase test scores and decrease conflicts and violence. 
Strong arts programs in schools provide emotional outlets for children 
and teach them to deal with their emotions without resorting to 
violence. We must make arts in schools a federal initiative and an 
essential component to the solution we all seek.
  I urge my colleagues to remember the shock of this moment as we 
debate and consider bills in the upcoming months that raise difficult 
questions regarding individual freedoms and the safety of our children. 
Let us put partisanship aside as we enter these debates, and let us 
each consider in our own hearts the responsibility that we hold for the 
children of this nation and their future.
  Mr. EVERETT. Mr. Speaker, the Nation is reeling from a terrible 
tragedy. On Tuesday, April 20, Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, 
was taken over by two students with the apparent malicious and 
premeditated intent to kill and main students and teachers. Students 
fled from the building while others hid inside, hoping the gunmen would 
not find them. As we watched the scene unravel the intensity rose as we 
realized there were at least 25 students still inside the building. The 
scores of law enforcement officers could only wait outside the building 
sizing up the situation and figuring out how to rescue the students. We 
watched and prayed and began to realize that this could be our 
community.
  The final count after the SWAT teams had fully searched the school 
was 15 dead and 20 wounded. The damage inflicted by these two 
disgruntled students is the worse we have seen in a series of school 
attacks. The pain of the situation reaches past our understanding

[[Page H2335]]

and grabs our hearts. In a world where we must be strong, our frail 
humanity is awakened when something beyond our control happens. THe 
damage that has occurred in Littleton, CO, has touched every American 
family, and the healing process is only beginning.
  Columbine High School will never quite be the same. Schools across 
the Nation are even at this moment figuring out how they can prevent 
something as horrible as this from happening to them. There is no way 
to heal the pain felt by the parents who have lost their children, and 
in our democratic society, there is not way for us to assure our 
students they will be completely safe at school. The tragedy of the 
situation is that there is no perfect answer. The innocence lost by our 
children can never be regained, and we can only place them in God's 
hands as we send them out into the world. My prayers go out to the 
community in Littleton, that God would grant them strength and peace in 
the midst of such an unfathomable nightmare.
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise in 
support of this resolution that we are considering today. A senseless 
and horrific tragedy has stunned the nation, shocked a community, and 
devastated countless families. The name Columbine High School will be 
forever remembered in tragedy. In horror, we watched the events of last 
Tuesday and even now we are in disbelief as we have learned of the 
magnitude of the devastation caused by two teenage boys turned violent 
murderers.
  Unfortunately, this is not the first time we have seen children 
become deadly criminals and turn their violence against other students 
and their teachers. Jonesboro, Arkansas, Paducah, Kentucky, Norwalk, 
Connecticut, Pearl, Mississippi, Edinboro, Pennsylvania, and now 
Littleton, Colorado, are synonymous with violent school tragedy. 
Schools should be sanctuaries of education and a place of safety for 
our nation's children.
  This resolution condemns in the strongest possible terms, the heinous 
atrocities which occurred; offers condolences to the families, friends 
and loved ones of those who were killed; expresses hope for the rapid 
and complete recovery of those wounded; and applauds the hard work and 
dedication exhibited by the hundreds of local, State and Federal law 
enforcement officials and others who offered their support. But, it is 
with hope that we ask, through this resolution, for a national dialogue 
to understand this tragedy and stop school violence from ever occurring 
again.
  As a parent, an educator, and a Congressman, I can only imagine the 
pain and suffering of the families and my heart and prayers go out to 
them. It is my hope that we will find answers to preventing these 
heinous and senseless actions so that no other community must face the 
nightmare of Littleton.
  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I have the honor of 
representing the citizens of the Third District of North Carolina. Like 
all Americans, my constituents back home offer their prayers for those 
that lost friends and loved ones in last week's tragedy at Columbine 
High School.
  Mr. Speaker, in the past year and a half, at least 29 people have 
been killed as a result of school violence.
  Just last week, 15 lives came to an abrupt end in an environment that 
is meant to foster learning and development.
  Each time our nation experiences such a tragedy we ask ourselves why.
  Some blame violence in the media, music, the Internet, children's 
access to guns, parental neglect, but the truth is, it is all of this 
and more.
  Mr. Speaker, the answer lies with each one of us.
  In today's culture, when children are no longer shocked by violence 
and have easy access to technology, we must call on the parents, 
educators, and students to work together to prevent another senseless 
tragedy.
  If we can foster interaction between parents, teachers, and 
students--to recognize potential problems--we have a greater chance of 
keeping our schools safe.
  It will take work and cooperation, but when we look at the lives cut 
short at Columbine High School, I think we can all agree it is worth 
the extra effort.
  Mr. Speaker, today, my thoughts and prayers are with the community of 
Littleton, Colorado, as they begin their healing process.
  As a tribute to the family and friends who lost loved ones, let us 
turn this tragedy into an opportunity.
  I ask all Americans to take a greater interest and responsibility in 
the education of our children.
  Help us work together so that our nation's students can once again 
look to school as a haven for learning.
  God Bless the community of Littleton during this difficult time and 
God Bless America.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, ``It's kind of sad 
that it's not surprising anymore.''
  Mr. Speaker, these are the words of a high school sophomore at Irving 
High School in my district. She was speaking about the brutal and 
horrific rampage where two high school youngsters armed themselves and 
began a violent killing spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, 
CO. When their campaign of terror finally ended, 16 students and 
teachers were dead. In addition, some 20 other students were wounded.
  Mr. Speaker, not only did I find myself naturally shocked by this 
incident, I was even more shocked by the aforementioned response to it 
by this high school student. Indeed, violence has so penetrated the 
lives of our youth that the shock value over events like those in 
Littleton, CO, has worn off. Between ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and 
young gunmen targeting minorities and athletes at Columbine High 
School, we certainly find ourselves in an environment where violence is 
expected, is the norm, and is not surprising anymore.
  Mr. Speaker, I would ask this mourning Nation to be more attentive to 
the thoughts and words of our young people. We must come together and 
address this deadly mix of violence and racism. If we do not, then our 
young people will become more jaded, disenchanted, and numb over the 
loss of life. If we do not address the root causes of hate, then 
violence will rule the day and cease to be surprising anymore.
  Unfortunately, we have been lacking in our commitment, zeal, and work 
to combat hate and violence. That is why I understand the words of this 
high school student and others throughout the country that look at this 
loss of life through such a bleak prism. I certainly cannot blame them. 
Although the madness perpetrated by the assailants was unexplainable, 
the hate that motivated them was not.
  Mr. Speaker, what must be explained to our youth is that we will make 
a concerted effort to understand them, teach them better ways to 
resolve their problems, and present more opportunities before them 
while removing guns from their lives
  Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in the House of Representatives, my 
constituents of the 30th Congressional District of Texas and the entire 
Nation in sending my prayers and thoughts to the families and friends 
of those people taken away from them in this tragedy.
  Mr. Speaker, I also pray for other young people who may feel shunned 
by society and filled with misunderstanding, hate, and a feeling of 
being losers. I pray that we can all instill in these youngsters a 
better sense of self-esteem and purpose. The two students who gunned 
down their classmates before killing themselves at Columbine High 
School felt that they were losers. It was that feeling of being losers 
that motivated them to create such a loss.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, the recent events at Columbine High School 
in Littleton, CO, marks another sad chapter in the many recent 
tragedies that have occurred far too frequently in our nations schools.
  Too often today, we hear of acts of violence perpetrated in our 
schools by troubled youths. Equally too often, the reasons behind these 
acts eludes us, leaving parents, teachers and fellow students to search 
for the reasons.
  The Columbine High School tragedy is a stark reminder we need to do 
all that we can in an endeavor to understand the motivations behind 
such acts in an effort to prevent future tragedies. We must also 
encourage parents and teachers to reach out to children whom they feel 
may be troubled to provide the help that they need.
  While we may never know the true motivations behind the actions of 
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, we must do all that we can to ensure the 
safety of our schools so that teachers and students can attend class 
without fear.
  I invite my colleagues to join in offering our condolences to the 
families, friends, and loved ones of those who were killed at Columbine 
High School and expressing hope for the rapid and complete recovery of 
those wounded in the shooting and also in recognizing the hard work and 
dedication exhibited by local, State and Federal law enforcement 
officials and others who offered their expert support and assistance to 
all affected by this tragic incident.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 92.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was 
agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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