[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 58 (Thursday, May 11, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3858-S3862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2000--CONFERENCE REPORT
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate will now resume
consideration of the conference report accompanying H.R. 434, which the
clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
Conference report to accompany H.R. 434, an act to
authorize a new trade and investment policy for sub-Saharan
Africa.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the time
until 10 a.m. is equally divided in the usual form.
Mr. GRASSLEY. I defer to the Senator from New York.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New York.
Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I do thank my colleague, who will be
speaking momentarily. I want to simply recapitulate some of the
statements made yesterday, of which the first and the most important is
to say this is the first trade bill to come to the floor of the Senate
in 6 years. It is not simply that there have not been matters to attend
to, it is rather that we have not been able to attend to them.
Most important, we have been unable to provide the President with
negotiating authority for future trade agreements in the manner that
developed over the last half century, following the epochal decision
and action in the first term of President Roosevelt under Cordell Hull
to begin the reciprocal trade agreements program. Under that program,
the United States negotiated with individual countries, and then after
World War II with a group of countries gathered together under the
umbrella of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The Reciprocal
Trade Agreements Act of 1934 gave the President the authority to
negotiate and proclaim tariff reductions and that procedure evolved, in
1974, into the trade agreements negotiating authority, whereby the
Congress gave the President the opportunity to reach a common agreement
with other countries and then send it to the Congress to be approved up
or down, not to be negotiated item by item as we had done in the
disastrous Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930. We have never had a tariff bill
as such on the Senate floor in 70 years.
The administration was hesitant about asking the Congress to renew
this authority. When finally it did, we were hesitant about giving it,
and it looked for a while as if an enormous, a momentous event in the
world economy and the American economy and in the political stability
of the world was being lost. The role of trade has become so important.
Many of the principal actors in the Second World War were at war with
each other in very much trade-related matters. It would now be thought
inconceivable for any such conflict to take place.
I say this because not only was this the first bill in six years, but
yesterday we began our debate on an auspicious note with a resounding
vote of 90-6 in support of the motion to proceed to the conference
report, and now we will vote to invoke cloture. I trust we will do so
with the same resounding vote.
This is a good bill. It is not perfect, nor will it solve all the
economic problems of sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, but it will
help, as Senator Grassley and others said yesterday. My esteemed
colleague, the Senator from Iowa, is here representing Senator Roth,
the chairman of our committee, who is recovering from surgery and who
will be back with us next week when on next Wednesday we will take up
in the Finance Committee the proposition of permanent normal trade
relations with China, an epic decision we will have to make and which I
think we will be able to make in the context of this legislation having
succeeded.
I remind all who might be listening that 6 months ago, this
legislation was dead. It was not going anywhere. The House had passed a
measure limited to Africa and not very well received over here. They
had not included anything for the Caribbean Basin and Central America,
as we call it, a program begun under President Reagan, and the Finance
Committee took it up. The Finance Committee worked for 6 months on this
matter.
I know there are persons who feel it is unacceptable because it does
not contain provisions that provide for assistance to sub-Saharan
Africa with respect to HIV/AIDS.
I say to my friends, the Senate did have such a provision. We fought
for it in conference. We were not able to succeed because on the House
side it was thought the legislation was a trade measure and public
health issues were not relevant.
But also, absent economic development, there will be no controlling
this epidemic in Africa, anymore than in the subcontinent of Asia, and
we will not have anything in which to begin an engagement on these
matters--nothing. Anyone who comes to this body thinking that
legislation which is not perfect is unacceptable will often be
disappointed. I was disappointed with the extent to which persons spoke
yesterday about rejecting this legislation because it was not perfect.
I note that the Foreign Relations Committee has reported out a
measure, S. 2382, the Technical Assistance, Trade Promotion and Anti-
Corruption Act of 2000, which includes some important provisions
addressing this public health crisis. Other suggestions are under
review. These include proposed tax incentives to promote vaccine
development. These tax incentives will come to the Finance Committee.
I am sure my friend from Iowa will agree that Senators who accept
what we have done today, even if not perfect, will find a much more
receptive Finance Committee. We have worked very hard on this. We know
perfectly well the facts, and we propose to address them in a context
where we will have a tax bill. We will try to get a tax bill on the
House side, and we will enact something of much greater consequence
than anything now contemplated.
I offer a further thought, which is that on May 3, the Wall Street
Journal reported, and I was advised of this in advance, that the Pfizer
pharmaceutical company--one of the oldest, the one which developed
penicillin during World War II, the British having discovered it and
not having the capacity to produce it; a great firm with great
successes--had offered to provide one of its drug therapies for HIV
infection, called Diflucan, at no cost to
[[Page S3859]]
South Africans. There is a press announcement from Geneva this morning
that five pharmaceutical companies--Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Glaxo
Wellcome, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Roche--are participating in a
collaborative initiative with the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS,
which is termed UNAIDS to ``explore ways to accelerate and improve the
provision of HIV/AIDS-related care and treatment in developing
countries.''
Does the Presiding Officer wish me to cease and desist?
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Bunning). The time allocated to the
minority side has expired.
Mr. MOYNIHAN. Fine.
I would simply close by saying, sir, as to the matter of worker
rights, the amendment to the CBI legislation offered on this matter was
offered by Senator Levin, which I cosponsored. It provided that the
President must take into account the extent to which a prospective CBI
beneficiary country protects internationally recognized worker rights.
That is to say, the core labor standards established by the ILO. I
report to the Senate that this was retained in the conference
agreement, as were many other Senate amendments.
I thank the Chair and I regret having imposed upon my colleague's
time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, it is my intention to use 5 minutes and
then give the remainder of the time to one of the opponents of the
legislation, the Senator from Wisconsin. So I ask the Chair to please
inform me when 5 minutes are up.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair will so note.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I rise in support of the cloture motion.
I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this motion.
I spoke yesterday, at length, about why this bill is such an important
piece of legislation.
I guess the best proof of it is that it enjoys such bipartisan
support, which does not happen too often on Capitol Hill. But I summed
up, in yesterday's remarks, that this conference agreement is about
opportunity--opportunity for 48 struggling nations of sub-Saharan
Africa; and opportunity for the people of the Caribbean, many of whom
are struggling to rebuild their lives following the devastation of
their countries by natural disaster.
Most importantly, we in the Congress must be concerned about American
jobs--our working men and women. This bill does much for the American
economy and for America's consumers, as well. The enhanced Caribbean
Basin Initiative textile provisions in this conference agreement may
create up to $8 billion in new sales and 120,000 new jobs over the next
5 years. Those are not my estimates. Those are not Senator Moynihan's
estimates. Those are the textile industry's own estimates.
In addition to the textile industry, this bill enjoys the support of
many other industries as well. This is because American exports follow
American investment when that investment moves abroad, especially
exports of capital equipment.
This conference agreement enjoys broad support among distinguished
Members of both the majority and minority, who have worked together
long and hard to fashion this agreement.
It also enjoys the support of a vast majority of political, civic,
and religious leaders around the United States, and the support of each
of the nations that would benefit from its passage.
I urge my colleagues to take a look at an advertisement in the Hill
newspaper that was put out yesterday. It has a long list of prominent
business leaders and organizations. It has a long list of American
civic leaders who support this, including even organizations such as
Empower America, which is headed by Republican Jack Kemp, and is
supported by conservative leaders such as Bill Bennett.
Since it enjoys this broad, bipartisan support--both within and
outside the political environment--I hope that it gets the support of
our colleagues as well.
A vote for cloture is also a reaffirmation of America's historic
leadership role in international trade. We have much to do in the
international trade arena in the next year or two:
Restore confidence in American trade policy, and leadership in trade;
rebuild confidence in the World Trade Organization; win the fight for
permanent normal trade relations status for China; and show our trading
partners in Geneva, where negotiations are underway right now, that we
in the Senate are engaged with the world, and the world can look to us
for that leadership.
I ask my colleagues to vote in support of the opportunity to continue
America's leadership in the effort to reduce trade barriers. I ask my
colleagues to vote in favor of this motion.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have that advertisement I
mentioned in the Hill newspaper printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Hill, May 10, 2000]
To The United States Senate
conference report on the african growth and opportunity act
We Endorse Legislation That Provides Social and Economic
Opportunity in Africa And We, the Undersigned, are
Working Together to Achieve this Goal
All 48 African Nations
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central Africa Republic
Chad
Comoros
Congo (Brazzaville)
Congo, Democratic Republic
Cote d'Ivoire
Djibouti
Equitorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gabon
The Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Reunion
Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
South Africa
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Business Leaders
The Limited, Inc.
Gap Inc.
Ford Motor Company
Moving Water Industries
Chevron Corporation
Kmart Corporation
Cargill
BP Amoco Corporation
Bechtel
Exxon Corporation
Citigroup
Enron Corporation
Bank of America
Mobil Corporation
Boeing Company
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
National Retail Federation
Caterpillar, Inc.
Leon Tempelsman & Son
DaimlerChrysler
American International Group
Archer Daniels Midland Company
Foley, Hoag and Eliot
Eastman Kodak
Equator Bank HSBC
Edlow International
Eli Lilly and Company
Emerson Electric Co.
Texaco Inc.
Equitable Capital Mgmt.
Barden International
BET, Inc.
F.C. Schaffer
Fluor Corporation
WorldSpace, Inc.
General Electric
General Motors Corporation
Halliburton/Brown & Root
Harris Corporation
Holland & Knight
Iridium LLC
Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical
Lehman Brothers
Corporate Council on Africa
Louis Berger International
Manchester Trade
McDermott Incorporated
McDonald's Corporation
Modern Africa Fund Managers
Motorola Inc.
[[Page S3860]]
Moving Water Industries
National Soft Drink Association
New Africa Advisers
Occidental International
Ocean Energy
Oracle
Philip Morris
PriceWaterhouseCoopers
Pryor, McClendon, Counts & Co.
Raytheon
SBC Communications Inc.
Seaboard
Teledesic Corporation
Tyco
Westar Group Inc.
International Mass Retail Association
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Coalition for Employment Through Exports, Inc.
American Civic Leaders
Bishop Donald G.K. Ming, AME Church
Bishop Garnett C. Henning, AME Church
Bishop Vinton Anderson, AME Church
The Honorable Leon Sullivan
Mel Foote, CFA
Ambassador Andrew Young
Former Mayor David Dinkins
Mayor Wellington Webb
The Honorable Kweisi Mfume
Mrs. Coretta Scott King
Mr. Martin Luther King III
Mr. Robert Johnson, BET, Inc.
Mr. C. Payne Lucas
Constituency for Africa
National Council of Churches
Africare
International Foundation for Education and Self-Help
Education Africa
Africa-America Institute
African Development Foundation
World Vision
Service and Development Agency (SADA)
African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church
Corporate Council on Africa
Organization Industrialization Council International
NAACP
Washington Law Society
Foundation for Democracy in Africa
National Association of Negro and Professional Women's Club
National Bar Association
United States Conference of Mayors
National Conference of Black Mayors
National Council of Churches
Africa Travel Association
Black Professionals in International Affairs
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
National Association of State Legislatures
National Association of Minority Contractors
National Black Chamber of Commerce
National Black Media Coalition
National Black Republican Council
Council of 100 Black Republicans
Nigerian American Alliance
U.S. Business Council
Ron Brown Foundation
Goodworks International
Empower America
President Clinton: ``Our Administration strongly supports
the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which I said in my
State of the Union Address, we will work to pass in this
session of Congress.''
Majority leader Trent Lott: ``I support legislation that is
good for Americans and Africans.''
The African Diplomatic Corps: ``The House of
Representatives should seize this opportunity to open a new,
historic chapter in the relations between Africa and the
United States. It will mark a true beginning for an
independent Africa and this great nation.''
Reverened Leon Sullivan, IFESH; ``The African Growth and
Opportunity Act will open new markets for American products
and will create additional jobs for Americans and Africans.
For every $1 billion in exports to Africa, 14,000 jobs are
created or sustained in the United States.''
We Urge Senate Conferees to Report the: African Growth and
Opportunity Act!!--AGOA Coalition, Inc.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
The Senator from Wisconsin.
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, let me first thank the Senator from Iowa
for his courtesy in giving me this time to speak in opposition.
Mr. President, I rise to take another opportunity to express my
disappointment with the conference report on the African Growth and
Opportunity Act. I have outlined my concerns about this bill time and
again. I have explained how little opportunity it really offers to the
countries of Africa. I have expressed my fears about transshipment. I
have noted the bill's failure to address the environmental issues that
are inextricably linked with trade and investment. And, most
importantly, I have pointed out the rather obvious fact that unless we
get serious about reducing Africa's debt burden and fighting the
region's devastating HIV/AIDS crisis, any effort to stimulate trade and
investment is simply an act of political theater.
By refusing to address the core obstacles prohibiting so much of that
vast continent from achieving its potential as a region of prosperity
and a valued trading partner, this Senate is once again ignoring the
tough issues in favor of the ultimately futile quick fix. We are
capable of better, and the people of Africa are certainly deserving of
more.
I felt this way before learning the outcome of the conference--I felt
this way last year, when I joined Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., to
introduce alternative legislation to the African Growth and Opportunity
Act. But my disappointment was deepened, and my sense of outrage was
provoked, and my resolve to fight for something better was strengthened
when the outcome of the conference became apparent.
The fate of the Feinstein-Feingold amendment--a provision that was
accepted into the manager's package when this bill was debated on the
floor last fall but was stripped by the leadership in the final days of
the conference--is appalling. Our modest amendment would have prevented
the U.S. Government from pressuring African countries that use
internationally legal means to make HIV/AIDS medications more
accessible to their citizens. I stood on this floor yesterday and cited
statistic after shocking statistic, trying to communicate the urgency
of the situation and the scale of the crisis. The falling life
expectancies, the overcrowded morgues, the millions of orphans, the
declines in GDP--I have tried to convey the extent of the disease's
reach. In light of these facts, passing legislation that prevents our
Government from stopping legal efforts to bring help and hope to the
millions affected by the epidemic seemed like the least that this body
could do. And yet we could not even accomplish that modest step. We
could not even agree to do no harm.
And I want to remind my colleagues that this issue will not go away.
Even those least inclined to give this issue the attention it deserves
will not be able to ignore 5,500 deaths per day, and the social,
economic, and political ramifications of those deaths. This issue will
not go away as long as the HIV/AIDS crisis continues on its terrible
course; this issue will not go away as long as the American public asks
tough questions about why this Congress refuses to pass even modest
measures like the Feinstein-Feingold amendment; and this issue will not
go away as long as I am in this Senate.
Most Members didn't have to face up, publicly, to the pressure of the
pharmaceutical industry and the far reaching implications of their
choice to support or not support the Feinstein-Feingold amendment. But
eventually we will all have to face the music, we will have to answer
to our constituents and to our consciences.
The commitment of the major pharmaceutical companies to differential
pricing is perhaps promising, but it raises as many questions as it
answers. There is differential pricing today between the United States
and Canada.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
Mr. FEINGOLD. I ask unanimous consent for 1 additional minute.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. FEINGOLD. I thank the Senator from Iowa.
There is differential pricing today between Canada and the United
States when it comes to pharmaceuticals, and that is a bad deal.
Differential pricing does not necessarily mean the affordable pricing
of drugs.
But I appreciate the courtesy in being able to speak on this matter
because I believe so strongly that the voices in opposition to this
bill need to be heard. We did not do the job we needed to do to create
a real Africa trade bill. I regret that and will vote in opposition to
cloture. I ask my colleagues to vote against cloture.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Chair lays
before the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will
state.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
Cloture Motion
We the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the
provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the Conference
Report to accompany H.R. 434, The African Growth and
Opportunity Act:
Trent Lott, Jon Kyl, Pat Roberts, Craig Thomas, Bill
Frist, Paul Coverdell, James Inhofe, Orrin Hatch, Don
Nickles, Larry Craig, Slade Gorton, Mitch McConnell,
Peter Fitzgerald, Chuck Grassley, Phil Gramm, and Mike
Crapo.
[[Page S3861]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum
call is waived.
The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the
conference report to accompanying H.R. 434, the African Growth and
Opportunity Act, shall be brought to a close? The yeas and nays are
required under the rule. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr.
Domenici), and the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Roth) are necessarily
absent.
Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Bingaman),
the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Bryan), the Senator from Louisiana (Ms.
Landrieu), and the Senator from Arkansas (Mrs. Lincoln) are necessarily
absent.
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 76, nays 18, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 97 Leg.]
YEAS--76
Abraham
Akaka
Allard
Ashcroft
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Biden
Bond
Breaux
Brownback
Burns
Campbell
Chafee, L.
Cochran
Coverdell
Craig
Crapo
Daschle
DeWine
Dodd
Durbin
Enzi
Feinstein
Fitzgerald
Frist
Gorton
Graham
Gramm
Grams
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Hutchinson
Hutchison
Inhofe
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kerrey
Kerry
Kohl
Kyl
Lautenberg
Levin
Lieberman
Lott
Lugar
Mack
McCain
McConnell
Mikulski
Moynihan
Murkowski
Murray
Nickles
Reid
Robb
Roberts
Rockefeller
Santorum
Sarbanes
Schumer
Sessions
Shelby
Smith (OR)
Specter
Stevens
Thomas
Thompson
Torricelli
Voinovich
Warner
Wyden
NAYS--18
Boxer
Bunning
Byrd
Cleland
Collins
Conrad
Dorgan
Edwards
Feingold
Helms
Hollings
Kennedy
Leahy
Reed
Smith (NH)
Snowe
Thurmond
Wellstone
NOT VOTING--6
Bingaman
Bryan
Domenici
Landrieu
Lincoln
Roth
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 76, the nays are
18. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in
the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, now that we are considering the
conference report on the free trade bill, which I support, I point out
while this legislation is designed to improve economic conditions in
sub-Saharan Africa, many of these sub-Saharan countries have struggled
economically for years. As a result, that economic stagnation has also
led to political unrest, civil wars, and bloody violence. Reducing
violence should be a high priority all across the globe, not only on
the African Continent but also a high priority in our country.
In this country, we are going to see this weekend hundreds of
thousands of mothers and families in Washington marching against
violence as part of the Million Mom March.
My resolution simply commends the participants of the Million Mom
March this weekend for rallying their communities to ask for sensible
gun safety legislation. It calls on the Congress to complete action on
the juvenile justice bill, which will help promote safety and sensible
legislation, and I hope to offer that resolution before the Memorial
Day recess.
I will be on The Mall for the march this Sunday with, I am sure, many
of my colleagues on Mother's Day, May 14, 2000, with Americans from all
walks of life. In Washington and communities across the country, people
will join together to call for meaningful, commonsense gun safety
policies.
My resolution commends these families, citizens, members of religious
congregations, schools, community-based organizations, businesses,
political, and cultural groups for coming together as a local and
national community to recognize the violence committed against our
children from guns must cease.
I am going to continue to try my best to see if we can get action on
the stalled gun safety provision that American families want us to
pass.
It has now been more than a year since that terrible tragedy at
Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Students at that high school
were attacked in the halls of their school, in their classrooms. The
result everyone knows: 12 students dead, a teacher shot dead, another
23 students and teachers injured.
I have to ask, just as they are asking--I hear it; and I know
colleagues of mine hear it--what has Congress done since that time,
since that awful day 1 year ago? What have we done to help reduce this
violence? As I see it, not much--virtually nothing. I think it is
shameful.
It is shameful because shootings have not stopped. Columbine was the
most deadly school shooting. But there have been many others. It is
peculiar, you often think--at least I do; I speak for myself--that we
have seen the ultimate outrage, one after another: Columbine; the
children being led, hand in hand, by policemen out of the school in Los
Angeles; young people at a prayer meeting in Texas--and still nothing
happens.
In February of this year, a little first grader was shot and killed
by a classmate--a 6-year-old killing a 6-year-old. The child, Kayla
Rolland, a beautiful little girl, is taken from her family. There was
no explanation except that this little boy got a gun and pulled the
trigger. In December of last year, a seventh grader in Fort Gibson, OK,
took a handgun to school and wounded four students. These are just the
school shootings since the terrible tragedy at Columbine.
Since 1997, there have been school shootings in Pearl, MS, West
Paducah, KY, Jonesboro, AR, Edinboro, PA, and Springfield, OR.
There have been many other outrages outside our schools. Recently, a
racist in Pittsburgh killed six people, and not too far from where we
are standing, seven children were shot at the National Zoo.
Some of us have tried to address this violence. During the debate on
the juvenile justice bill, the Senate passed several gun safety
measures, including my amendment to require criminal background checks
at gun shows. It was a very close vote. The Vice President, in his role
as President of the Senate, voted to break the 50-50 tie.
I remind my colleagues that the gun show amendment had bipartisan
support. I did not get 50 votes without getting some of our colleagues
on the Republican side. I was pleased to have that support from
Senators DeWine, Fitzgerald, Lugar, Voinovich, Warner, and Senator John
Chafee, who is no longer with us. They all voted for the amendment.
The final juvenile justice bill passed by a vote of 73-25. There was
strong bipartisan support for moving forward on juvenile crime and for
trying to reduce gun violence.
But what has happened since then? The gun lobby, and its
congressional allies, have stalled the bill. It has been held hostage
in the conference committee for more than 9 months. We need to move
forward on gun safety because stopping gun violence and keeping our
kids safe is too important.
When you talk about a million women marching, while they would like
it, they are not marching for equal pay; they are not marching for job
opportunity; they are not talking about ``glass ceilings;'' they are
not talking about an invasion of the rights as we conventionally see
them. There is one issue that is more important than any other.
They say: Dear God, help us protect our children. When we send them
to school in the morning, they are healthy and smiling. We want them to
come back from school the same way at the end of the day--even though
they now know that there are going to be metal detectors, there are
going to be guards, and there are going to be additional measures to
try to maintain security.
Violence has won over much of our attention, certainly much of our
budget. But we have to work to help families, some of whom have already
paid a terrible price for gun violence, and others who worry about it
each and every day. Because the wounds that were received were not
simply the wounds that came from the gun attack, as horrible as that
was, but everybody in the vicinity, everybody in those schools, were
wounded by those attacks, so was our Nation. It changed the tenure of
things. It made us all apprehensive.
[[Page S3862]]
So the gun safety provisions in the juvenile justice bill are simply
commonsense measures that Congress should have enacted a long time ago.
First, we have to close the gun show loophole. There is no question
that closing the gun show loophole will help prevent guns from getting
into the wrong hands, including the hands of schoolchildren.
The proof is in the testimony of Robyn Anderson before the Colorado
Legislature. She is the young woman who went with Eric Harris and Dylan
Klebold to the Tanner gun show in Adams County, CO. She bought two
shotguns and a rifle for Klebold and Harris, three of the four guns
that they later used in their massacre, their shooting rampage at
Columbine High School.
She testified, saying very clearly:
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had gone to the Tanner gun
show on Saturday and they took me back with them on Sunday. .
. . While we were walking around, Eric and Dylan kept asking
sellers if they were private or licensed. They wanted to buy
their guns from someone who was private--and not licensed--
because there would be no paperwork or background check.
She said:
It was too easy. I wish it had been more difficult. I
wouldn't have helped them buy the guns if I had faced a
background check.
More recently Patty Nielson, a teacher at Columbine High School,
spoke about the need to close the gun show loophole. She said:
All we know for sure is that if they [Klebold and Harris]
hadn't gotten these guns, they never would have killed those
innocent people. And the shocking thing is that they got
those guns so easily from the gun show.
Mr. REID. Will the Senator from New Jersey withhold? The leader is on
the floor to make a unanimous consent request.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. I certainly would agree to that provided that I
regain the floor.
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I did not hear the request, but I understand
that Senator Lautenberg will yield so that I can proceed to a unanimous
consent request at this time.
Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. President. I believe that we are
postcloture now, and the subject for debate should be the African and
CBI trade bill; is that correct?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes, that is correct. In a postcloture
situation, debate is supposed to be germane to the bill.
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