[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 59 (Monday, May 15, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H2972-H2973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE BIRTH OF A MOVEMENT TO STOP VIOLENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentlewoman from The District of Columbia (Ms. 
Norton) is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, there have been lots of marches in 
Washington, but some marches do not fade away. Indeed, they do not go 
away at all.
  A movement was born yesterday, Mr. Speaker. In this city there 
occurred the largest anti-violence march in the Nation's history. It is 
estimated that there were 750,000 people. There might be some 
controversy, there always is, about numbers, half a million, 750,000. 
What we do know is they covered the Mall, and they had thousands upon 
thousands in five dozen cities as well. So, if you consider all those 
who marched throughout the United States and those who marched here, 
the moms easily made their million.
  What this House ought to consider is whether or not 750,000 people 
could morph into 7 million voters geared to vote to do something about 
guns and their kids in the next election.
  More impressive than their numbers, Mr. Speaker, was who they were. 
These were not pros. These were amateurs organized essentially from the 
suburbs of America. These were the proverbial soccer moms. These folks 
were from the voter-rich suburbs, and their call spread like 
spontaneous combustion.
  But, I come to the floor this afternoon to say that if we thought 
yesterday's demonstration took this city by storm, watch out for the 
afterquake. Some of these moms are here today; some of them will be 
here every day. Mr. Speaker, the NRA has met its

[[Page H2973]]

match in hundreds of thousands more people than they ever realized 
would be organized to keep guns away from their kids.
  We should not ask why did they come to Washington; I want to ask what 
took them so long? The parents of America got a terrible, not wake-up 
call, but alarm bell from the Columbine High School massacre and all 
that has followed since.
  It became clear that no matter where you live, this is one country, 
there is freedom of travel, and the guns have the same freedom of 
travel. Of course, there were people from my own district, countless 
people from my own district: Laura Wallace, Renae Marsh Williams, the 
mothers of the high school sweethearts from Wilson high school who were 
killed by guns; Gillian Bates, who also marched with us, whose son is 
still in Children's Hospital with a bullet in his brain following the 
zoo shooting on Easter Monday.
  But, Mr. Speaker, these mothers and fathers and families are way 
ahead of us. They want registration and licensing. We are still stuck 
on ``stupid.'' We are still stuck on mandatory locks and closing the 
gun show loopholes. They are way ahead of the game, and we are going to 
have to meet them one day on registration and licensing.
  Over and over again, they talked about not minding the inconvenience 
of registering their cars, and they could not understand why people 
would be against the registering of their guns, which can do harm to 
their children.
  If in fact there is any respect for the families of America, at the 
very least we will free this legislation that has been held in bondage 
in conference, that is, by any measure, modest, too modest, to do the 
whole job, but a start and the kind of start that these families 
deserve.
  If we have any respect for the people who came here on Sunday, for 
the people who marched in five dozen cities, surely we will free up 
that legislation that has been locked down for so long, disgracefully, 
considering what happened at Columbine and what has happened since.
  We should never underestimate the determination of mothers. If I have 
any criticism to be made for them, it is that they should have been 
here when children were going down one by one. It should not have taken 
15 in Colorado. Well, it did, and they now get it.
  They wonder if we get it, and, if we do not get it, Mr. Speaker, they 
are going to get us, because they are not going away. They are going to 
turn their march into votes. These are very diverse people, poor 
people, black and white and Hispanic people, but they include many 
well-educated people who know how to do their homework and know how to 
get the job done.
  I come to the floor this afternoon with a warning on their behalf: 
Get the minimum bill we have before us out of conference and passed 
before we go home for Memorial Day.

                          ____________________