[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 18, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H3286-H3289]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    SCHOOL VIOLENCE AND GUN CONTROL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 1999, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman 
from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from 
New York for her leadership, and I am particularly delighted to join 
her this evening for a brief comment on a topic that we all have been 
confronting and as well to acknowledge the desire to continue to work 
with her and the women of this Congress along with our colleagues on 
something that has really touched the hearts and minds of most 
Americans. We say and we call it Littleton. Littleton, Colorado.
  We first offer again, as we have done over the past couple of weeks, 
our deepest sympathy to that community. We are so appreciative of their 
resolve and their commitment to healing that community. But as well, we 
realize that, as Members of the United States Congress, as the highest 
legislative body of this Nation, we also know that they are asking us 
for answers and solutions.
  So I join this evening to particularly support legislation dealing 
with gun safety. The gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) has been 
very much a viable part of, over the years that she has been in 
Congress, and she likes to say she has been here only a short while, 
focusing on the need for gun safety.
  So many of us have a role in this arena. I have taken the position 
that this is not a time to point fingers in opposite directions. Whose 
fault is it that two young men whose homes we believe were steady, who 
attended church, some were Members of the Boy Scouts, we understand 
were known members of their high school community, although we 
understand that they were in a group that may have been a little out of 
the ordinary, maybe a group in order to belong, but still we understand 
as well they were good students.
  Yet, now we have 15 young people dead, some 40 that were injured, a 
valued and beloved teacher that was so admired lost his live, and the 
question is why.
  I believe that there can be no more important agenda than moving 
forward on some of the legislative initiatives that have already been 
promoted. So I am supporting the proposed initiative by the President 
who has adopted much of the legislative initiatives of the gentlewoman 
from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) as it relates to what I would like to 
call this evening gun safety, the common sense approach to answering 
the concerns of our children.
  Why are they the concerns of our children? Because I have heard them

[[Page H3287]]

say it. Just last Friday in my district, I had a forum on the issue of 
school violence, ``how do we help our children.'' I was joined by 
Secretary of Education Richard Riley.
  We participated at Scarborough High School with an auditorium full of 
young people. I tell my colleagues they asked us pointed questions: Why 
can we not be safe? Why can we not have gun safety? Why do young people 
talk about each other? Why is there not someone in our schools, 
although we have good relationships with our teachers, why do guidance 
counselors have overloaded dockets and desks with issues dealing with 
paperwork and career counseling and we do not have people in place that 
can deal with our psychological and sociological needs? Why can we not 
have more peer-to-peer counseling and mentoring?
  They ask these hard questions, and I believe we have to give them 
solutions. Why are there so many guns, 260 million guns here in 
America, more than the number of citizens here? Why are individual 
between 18 and 21 still able to purchase handguns? Why can we not in a 
package promote gun safety by passing the legislation that includes 
safety locks, that includes background checks, instant checks at gun 
shows, that takes the, if you will, loophole out of the numbers of 
assault weapons we still have because foreign manufacturers are able to 
present them?
  All of this I think can be answered if we would join together, as the 
women of this House have demanded, and ask that we pass gun safety 
legislation before Father's Day. We asked the question prior to 
Mother's Day. We pleaded on behalf of the mothers of the deceased 
children, the mothers whose children died in Littleton, the mothers 
whose children have died in Pennsylvania, in Arkansas, in Mississippi 
and places where we cannot call because of gun violence, the numbers of 
inner city children who have died because of gun violence, the number 
of rural children who have died, suburban children. We know this is not 
a pointed issue toward one community.
  Let me simply close by saying this, and I promised the gentlewoman 
that I will look forward to joining her in weeks to come with other 
Members of the Women's Caucus or Members of this body who are women who 
would like to join us as they were planning to do this evening, to talk 
about solutions, and then again let me qualify that, as we are talking, 
demand action.
  Because I think all of us who are mothers, who are parents, who are 
just plain Americans have said to ourselves let us not one more morning 
rise up with the news of some tragic circumstance. We cannot answer the 
question, what have we done? I have made that commitment to myself on 
trying to design solutions.
  I hope as we move toward the White House conference on mental health, 
I will be able to present to this body and to that summit a 
comprehensive omnibus bill on mental health services for children, the 
Give a Child a Chance Mental Health Prevention Act of 1999, which will 
speak to the issue of providing resources in our schools, of training 
mental health professionals in our schools that can detect early 
warning signs, that will provide incentives for school districts who 
are aware of the fact that children from K to 12 need good mental 
health services, sociological and psychological services, as well that 
we could have caught and helped a child like Eric Harris, even though 
he looked like the picture of health early on; and that we could have 
not only helped Eric but that we could have helped his family, that we 
could embrace a holistic approach to deal with the family concerns, why 
there was such a destructive sense on the part of this young man and 
the young man who was with him.
  I hope that we will again answer these questions, not with the finger 
pointing, but with working together. That means the entertainment 
industry. They know what they are doing wrong. Are they showing 
relationships between families that are not humorous, joking, butthead 
commentary on how our family relationships are, or are we really 
seriously trying to bring family relationships together?
  So to the gentlewoman from New York, it is certainly my honor and 
pleasure to say to her that I hope that we will be doing this again. 
But as we do it, let me qualify that in the remarks that I have heard 
her often say, we join together on this.
  Mine was looking in the mirror and saying I do not want so see this 
image one more time in the mirror without being able to say we have 
some solutions and one saying, when are we going to fix this? We need 
to fix it now.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman McCarthy for arranging this forum 
on the special order on school violence. I am honored to be joined here 
today by other Members of Congress who show a sincere concern and 
effort in eradicating school violence by addressing the mental well 
being of our youth.
  I have been a strong advocate of mroe mental health services for 
children. Although, as a country, we often focus on children who are at 
risk for trouble or those children who are already troubled, all 
children need access to mental health services. It is estimated that 
two-thirds of all young people are not getting the mental health 
treatment they need.
  In light of the recent events in Colorado and other violent school 
attacks from the past 18 months, our children need us to pay close 
attention to the early signs of mental disorders. We also need to 
provide services that screen and treat mental disorders in our 
childrenb efore it is too late.
  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 .
  According to news reports, these young suspects from Colorado were 
outcasts in the school community. During the shooting, the suspects 
reportedly said that they were ``out for revenge'' for having been made 
fun of last year. This is truly a cry for help that was not heard in 
time.
  When children's mental health needs are not met, young people often 
get caught in the child protection or juvenile justice system. Almost 
60 percent of teenagers in juvenile detention have behavioral, mental 
or emotional disorders.
  There are 13.7 million or 20 percent of America's children with 
diagnosable mental or emotional disorder. These disorders range from 
attention deficit disorder and depression to bipolar disorder and 
schizophrenia.
  We all are aware of the great devastation that the lack of mental 
health services ahs on our young people. We must provide services that 
address diagnosable emotional or behavioral health disorders.
  An adolescence is a confusing time for many young people, the adults 
that are a part of their lives--parents, teachers, counselors, coaches 
and others need to be keenly aware of changes in behavior or attitude 
that may indicate the possibility of poor mental health. We all need to 
pay close attention for any warning signs of trouble.
  These warning signs include isolation, depression, alienation and 
hostility. Recognizing these signs is the first step to ensure that 
troubled youngsters get the attention they need early to address their 
mental health needs before it is too late.
  Gun control is another measure we should explore to increase the 
safety of our children in schools. An average of 13 children die every 
day from funfire in this country, and children are at a much greater 
risk of being the victims of a violent crime. This is Littleton, 
Colorado every day! This does not include close calls where guns were 
found inback-packs and in lunch bags.
  We must pull together to protect the mental well being of our 
children so that they might live a healthy and productive life as 
citizens of our nation. I enthusiastically look forward to working with 
my friends to ensure a better tomorrow not only for the well being of 
our youth but also for the wellbeing of our nation. Again thank you for 
this opportunity to address this issue.
  With that, I thank the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) very 
much, and I look forward to working with her on this crisis that we 
have in America.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I stand here tonight to talk 
about the violence in our schools. As the gentlewoman from Texas had 
pointed out, everyone is trying to put the blame on everybody else. I 
think there is enough blame to go around for everyone. But let us stop 
blaming and let us start looking for solutions.
  Over the last year and a half, we have had three committee hearings 
and we have had two special hearings, and we started to look into the 
violence from our schools but also the violence in some of our young 
people. There were a lot of different factors: Mental health is 
something that we should be looking into, especially with our schools; 
our family issues that should be at home. We should be looking into 
those issues.
  But in each and every shooting, 13 young people that die every single 
day, is one common factor; that is, the easy

[[Page H3288]]

access to guns. That is something that we can do. We can deal with all 
the other issues.
  Today we held a hearing in the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce. Several students had been victims of school violence in 
Littleton, West Paducah, Springfield, Oregon showed great courage in 
coming to Congress to talk about their experiences through the 
shootings in their schools.
  The one thing I heard from all of them was the pain, the pain that 
they are still suffering. That is a pain that I understand very deeply.

                              {time}  2245

  And I told one of the young men, even after the first anniversary, 
the pain does not get any easier. My family goes through the pain, and 
it will be 6 years this December. But that is why I came to Congress. I 
came to Congress to try to reduce gun violence in this country. I came 
to Congress so that hopefully other families would not have to go 
through what my family went through, and certainly the other members 
who I consider family now from the Long Island Railroad shooting.
  People keep saying we cannot do something about this. I do not 
believe that. I believe we can do something. And I know I am hearing 
all the time that this is a slippery slope where I am just trying to 
take away guns. I have never said that. I do not care if someone owns a 
gun. But if they own a gun, I do believe they have a responsibility for 
that particular product, and I feel very deeply about that.
  I have talked to many gun owners, women gun owners, men gun owners, 
and they are saying they realize that it is their product and they 
should take more responsibility for it. So I think if we take that 
premise and start to work on it, there are common sense solutions and I 
think it is something that we can work towards here.
  What scares me the most about being here in Congress is sometimes 
they will do so many delaying techniques and, hopefully, it will go 
away. The sad truth is this is not going to go away. Here we are 5 
weeks from the shooting in Colorado, and people are still talking about 
it. And I think this hit home the hardest because we have had so many 
school shootings and now parents are scared. Students are scared.
  And when we ask our students what can we do, they come up with some 
really good solutions. One thing they do not want, they do not want 
their schools filled with metal detectors. Our schools are not meant to 
be prisons. It is not meant for our teachers to be under the atmosphere 
of possibly a young person having a gun. We know where those guns come 
from. A majority of them are legal. They come from home. It is up to 
the parents, the adults, to take responsibility that their child does 
not get a gun.
  Our young people that are having mental health problems and have a 
bad day, as a lot of teenagers do, commit too many suicides every 
single day. That is unacceptable. We can save those kids. The 
accidental deaths, we can save those kids. The homicides, we can save a 
lot of those kids.
  I know that we cannot save every child. I wish we could. But that 
does not mean that we should not go forward to try and save as many 
young people as we can. We are the adults. We have the responsibility 
to make a difference in our children's lives, and to the point to where 
again this year I am praying that the schools close without another 
incident. We did that a year ago. And we have done nothing. Are we 
going to let this summer go by? Schools open again in September, and 
are we going to pray that another shooting does not start?
  But, again, this is about the children every single day. That is 
where we cannot get lost on it. Thirteen children a day. That is a 
Littleton every single day. But it is a young child here and there and 
everywhere, and it does not make the papers. Or we have become so 
insensitized to the violence around us. We should never do that. We 
should see each other as the good human beings as we are in this 
country, and we should try to all work together.
  I wish the NRA would work with me. I wish the NRA would come and say, 
okay, we have a problem. Let us try to come up with solutions. I know 
they do not like child safety locks, but they can save lives. There is 
responsibility on the adults that a gun does not get into someone's 
hand. This is a responsibility. We should be working together. The 
movie industry, we should be working together. Videos, we should be 
working together to come up with solutions.
  But I think there is one thing that we have to point out. Our young 
people in this country are good kids. I have the pleasure of being with 
them a lot, working on community projects in my district, and I see 
this going around in the country: Our young people caring, going into 
nursing homes. Our young people caring, raising money for different 
organizations, whether it is breast cancer or Alzheimer's. They do not 
like this idea that we are blaming them and that they have no morals.
  I happen to think that this country has a lot of morals. And I meet 
those people on a daily basis. Do we have problems with some? It is a 
very small percentage. Do they sometimes make our lives miserable? Yes, 
they do. But that does not mean we should do a blanket cover and say 
the whole country is like that.
  I think if anyone ever looks around and sees how we responded to the 
people of Oklahoma when they had the tornadoes, this is a caring 
country. We are there for each other. And that is how we can solve the 
problems of the gun violence in this country, by all of us coming 
together and coming up with common sense solutions. It is something I 
believe in. I certainly talk to enough people about it.
  What scares me again, though, is the silence that we might hear in 
this Congress. We cannot have silence any longer. We have to do 
something. The American people are demanding that we do something. But, 
unfortunately, unless the American people send their message, their 
voices here to Congress, that is the only way we are going to get 
something done.
  I have asked the Speaker of the House to meet with me, I have not 
heard from him, to talk about my proposals on how to reduce gun 
violence in this country. But I am very encouraged. This evening he did 
a press conference and started to talk about maybe we should find 
common sense ground to stop the gun violence in this country. That to 
me is encouraging. That means a door is open. That means we can try and 
work together.
  As long as I am here in Congress, I will work as hard as I can to 
reduce gun violence in this country, my goal going back 5 years ago, 
when I promised my son that I would try to make sure that no family 
would go through what we went through. And my son has gotten married 
now and his life is going on, and he just had a son in November. That 
means I am a new grandmother. So I have got to work a little bit harder 
because I want my son to feel safe, but I want my grandson to certainly 
live in a safe country. And I know that if we work together, we can do 
it.
  I know a lot of people are very shocked sometimes on the statistics, 
and I do not particularly care to read statistics because I think it 
dries over. But I do not think people realize, as I said earlier, 13 
children die at the hand of a gun; 28 children die and teenagers are 
murdered; 1,309 children in teenage suicides; 468 children in their 
teens accidentally die from shootings. That is every single year, every 
single year.
  One of our recent congressional testimonies demonstrates the need for 
Federal legislation on kids and guns. An angry child who has access to 
a gun will use it because it is there and it is in that child's hands. 
``I realize that gun control is a complex issue in our country, but I 
also know that guns represent the single greatest threat to educators 
and to schoolchildren.'' That was by Scott Polland, National 
Association of School Psychologists.

  This is a testimony before the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth 
and Families, United States House of Representatives, on my Committee 
on Education and the Workforce on March 11, 1999:
  ``An international comparison of 26 industrial countries found that 
the firearm death rate for U.S. children younger than 15 years old was 
nearly 12 times higher than any of the children in any of the other 25 
countries combined.'' That came from the Centers for Disease Control.
  ``We need better information on how our children get guns. That is 
why the Children's Gun Violence Prevention

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Act expands our Federal program for tracing guns used in juvenile 
crime. Research should be expanded on gun markets to educate the flow 
of firearms from the legitimate sector to the hands of minors and 
criminals and how this flow might effectively be reduced.''
  A few years ago up in Boston in what they called the ``Boston 
Project,'' they started tracing guns that were used in juvenile 
homicides and juvenile crimes. Once they started tracing these guns to 
the illegal gun dealers, they were able to have for 40 months, 40 
months, not one child died because we got rid of the illegal guns and 
we educated our adults.
  Now, if we can do that in Boston, why can we not do that across this 
country? Where I come from in New York, it is very hard to get a gun 
legally. They have to go through a background check, but eventually 
they will get it. The problem with New York is all the guns that come 
into our State are illegal guns, they are guns that we have no control 
over. What are we supposed to do? Put up a barbed wire fence around New 
York because we decide that we are going to try to make it safer? And 
it has made a difference and it has made a big difference, but there is 
more that we can do.
  As a nurse, we hear that homicide rates are down, and thank God they 
are. What no one is talking about is what it is costing our health care 
system for those that are surviving. I know the medical care that my 
son received and still continues to receive and will have to receive 
for the rest of his life is costing this government a lot of money.
  We have four young people in Littleton, Colorado, still in the 
hospital with spinal cord injuries because of the shootings. The health 
care that they are going to need. The estimates of health care due to 
gun violence in this country is almost up to $20 billion a year. $20 
billion a year. Could we not take that money and put it back into our 
health care system? Could we not put that towards our educational 
system? It would help so many of us.
  We have an obligation here in Congress. It should not be a battle 
between Republicans and Democrats. It should be something that we 
should be working out together and to do the right thing as far as our 
children and the safety of our children. This is not a slippery road. 
This is not somewhere we are trying to take away the right of someone 
to own a gun, but we are asking for responsibility.
  Mr. Speaker, I plan on being here as much as I can to talk about this 
subject. There is one more thing that I will ask. The American people 
have to get involved in this debate and they have to, if they want to 
change, their voices have to be heard here, and our Congressmen and 
certainly our Senators need to hear from all Americans.

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