[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 27, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4311-S4312]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               LITTLETON

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I am happy to note the overwhelming vote 
that just occurred to try, in some small way, to express the feeling of 
this body about the recent tragedy in Littleton, CO. It is a first step 
of perhaps many that will be taken to properly address this tragedy.
  The massacre that occurred makes us all want to jump to action, 
because we are action-oriented individuals and an action-oriented body. 
That is why we are here--to do things. I think the tendency in a 
situation like this is to want to jump out and do things so we can 
prevent another tragedy in the future. The problem is, with that 
approach, this situation has actually raised more questions than it has 
provided answers.
  I will share with Members some of the leading news articles this 
week. ``Why?'' Newsweek asks. ``Why?'' U.S. News & World Report asks. 
Again, a very important question that should be answered.
  Time Magazine asked, What can schools do? Where were the parents?
  These are all very, very important questions that should be answered.
  It is important at this time in the Senate and in the House and 
within the leadership of this country to perhaps do a little bit more 
listening than talking, so we can help find answers as to why this 
tragedy happened in order to attempt to prevent it from happening in 
the future. This is not the first such tragedy. This is, unfortunately, 
a long line of recent incidents.
  It may prompt some parents or some lawmakers to say ban all video 
games and movies. It could prompt some people to say ban all guns and 
bomb-making equipment everywhere in every instance. It could prompt 
others to either call for severe censure of the Internet or the 
abolition of the Internet.
  I suggest, as respectfully as possible, that now may not be the time 
to push through laws or initiatives, either at the Federal or State 
level, before we can get some answers to these very troubling 
questions.
  I am not suggesting that nothing be done--absolutely the opposite, 
that we

[[Page S4312]]

do some things, but after we understand a little bit better why some of 
these things in these schools actually took place.
  As an example, let me point out that when TWA Flight 800 exploded 
over Long Island, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National 
Transportation Safety Board spent over 2 years working around the 
clock, hauling wreckage from the ocean and methodically rebuilding this 
airplane, and an exhaustive investigation determined the cause. The FBI 
assigned 600 agents to the case and conducted 4,000 interviews with 
eyewitnesses, mechanics, people at the airport--anyone they could find 
who might be able to provide answers.
  As a nation, we gladly undertook this massive effort so that millions 
of people who step on airplanes every day, who pack their suitcases and 
their briefcases and board airplanes, can feel secure that their 
Government is trying to keep them safe.
  I suggest we undertake a similar effort, that we most certainly 
should spend the time and the resources to find out what happened in 
Colorado, in Mississippi, in Oregon, in Arkansas, so that these parents 
and children and other children can have some answers as to what 
happened and how we can prevent this before it spreads to more places 
in more States.
  I am hopeful that as we talk among ourselves and hear from the public 
at home and listen more carefully, we think about the possibility of 
creating a strong bipartisan commission that is given the resources and 
the time to ask these questions and to find answers. Hopefully, a 
commission such as this could be led by some of the strongest Members 
on both sides of the aisle, to come up with the answers so we can craft 
the proper solutions. Some of them will be government solutions as in a 
Federal law; some will be government solutions at a State and local 
level; others will be solutions that can happen through our churches, 
our nonprofit organizations, our communities, and in every home in 
America.
  I suggest now is not the time to rush into action, even though that 
is a natural tendency, but now is a time to listen. If we can spend 
millions of dollars and thousands of manhours to find out why airplanes 
explode, why can't we match that effort to find out why some children 
explode?
  I look forward to working with the Members of this body to find the 
proper solutions to this critical challenge before our Nation.

                          ____________________