[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 27, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H2338]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CALL TO ACTION IN AFTERMATH OF LITTLETON TRAGEDY

  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 have on a ribbon of dark 
blue color to associate myself with the grief of America and the grief 
of those in Littleton, Colorado.
  It would seem that over these last couple of days, so many of us have 
had the chance to express ourselves in words. There is a difficulty in 
that, for words can be soothing but, Mr. Speaker, they are not action, 
they do not stop the tragedy of what occurred, they are fleeting in 
their comfort, and they leave us looking for solutions.
  Today, I was very pleased to join the President and First Lady and 
many members of the Cabinet and many Members of this House of 
Representatives and the United States Senate to once and for all put 
some action behind these words. First of all, we acknowledged that the 
people of Littleton, Colorado, were burying their dead children and 
with the pain that they experienced, we offered for them a moment of 
silence, hoping to connect in some way with the pain of bearing a 
teacher and students, children that were loved, children with futures, 
the pain that was experienced by that community, we hoped we could 
connect to it. But we also felt compelled, as I have done in the past 
couple of days, to do something more.
  And so the remarks that were made today were very strong in action. 
They were also strong in passion. I hope that we were heard not only by 
the Members and those in the audience but really by America, because 
one of the most important things that was said by the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. McCarthy), America must express its outrage by action 
and America should stand up along with those who care about the 
proliferation of guns and gun violence by children against another 
incident like this happening and more words being said.
  The first, Mr. Speaker, was I asked last week that you convene those 
of us involved in children's advocacy groups, caucuses that are part of 
the House, so that we can talk to each other about what we can do for 
children. Last week I also amended the juvenile crime bill to be marked 
up in Judiciary to provide a provision that deals with mental health 
services. Two-thirds of America's children do not have mental health 
services. We do not have a way of intervening, of risk assessment, we 
do not have a way of prevention and treatment. We do not listen to our 
children. We lock them up but we do not get into their minds ahead of 
time to find out about the anger, the anguish and the pain.
  But we must realize that guns kill, Mr. Speaker, as well. And today 
we took a stand to eliminate the evilness of what guns do with 
children. First of all, 250 million guns in America, almost one gun for 
every American. Today, the President unveiled a package to increase the 
age at which you could get a gun and to hold someone liable for selling 
a gun to someone under the age of 21; to also hold parents responsible 
for those children who get guns into their hands; to not allow 
gunrunning by limiting the gun purchases to one a month; to 
acknowledging the fact that yes, people kill but they use guns to kill.
  And, therefore, Mr. Speaker, it is sad to note that the National 
Rifle Association was not standing with us. I am not against hunting, I 
am not against sports, using guns. I realize that we have freedom in 
this country, Mr. Speaker. But if we do not remove that culture of 
arguing the second amendment and that we need these guns for sports and 
we shoot ducks and other things and do not realize that we have got to 
get the assault weapons, we have got to get the proliferation of guns 
off the street, we have got to do something about guns in the hands of 
children. Now is the time. The moment is here, tragically.
  I hope, Mr. Speaker, that we do not have to bury more children 
because we refuse to act. It is now time to ban guns from the hands of 
children, hold parents and adults responsible, move the age up to 21, 
stop buying guns and gunrunning, and ensuring, Mr. Speaker, that we do 
not have the bomb-making, if you will, recipes on the Internet, and 
that we do not allow our children to get guns in their hands.
  Automobiles kill, yes, they do, Mr. Speaker, but most times it is 
classified as an accident. When guns are in the hands of individuals 
who are frustrated and angry and sad and in pain or just plain mean, 
they are intentionally used to kill people.
  There is a time now, Mr. Speaker, to fight this gun siege and to end 
the tragic killings of our children. My sympathy to all of America. I 
ask that you stand up and be counted to make sure that we have a safer 
place for our children to live.

                          ____________________