[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 71 (Friday, June 9, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S4918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished chairman and the 
ranking Democrat for their patience.
  Every day that we have been in session over the last several weeks, 
the Democratic leader or his designees have identified those people who 
on this date in the year past lost their lives to gun violence in the 
United States. It is a way in which we have tried to highlight the 
significance of this issue. We have talked about Columbine High School 
and the tragedy of people losing their lives on that day.
  The point the leader and those of us who support his efforts in the 
area of gun control have tried to make is that every single day in this 
country, there is a Columbine High School, and there has been for some 
time. So today, in that spirit of reminding our colleagues and the 
country again of the ongoing tragedy that occurs every single day in 
the United States, I will read the names of those people who on June 9, 
1999, all across our country, lost their lives.
  This is not the complete list in that this list only represents 100 
cities with a population of more than 12,000 people. There are many 
other communities for which we don't have data.
  The names are the following: Humberto Albear, Houston, TX; Jeffrey 
Barbush, St. Louis, MO; Guido Colomo, Houston, TX; Maria Cruz, 
Philadelphia, PA; Bernard Freeman, Chicago, IL; Scott Hawkins, 
Baltimore, MD; Robert Koch, Davenport, IA; Johnnie Martin, Chicago, IL; 
Martin Mendoza, Memphis, TN; Terrance Morrison, Boston, MA; John Rice, 
Philadelphia, PA; Gerardo Rios, Charlotte, NC; Cherie Shaw, Charlotte, 
NC; Chon Tang, Houston, TX; Tracy Taylor, Chicago, IL; Oscar J. 
Tunales, Laredo, TX; unidentified male, Norfolk, VA.
  Mr. President, the violence still continues in this country. While 
there is no simple answer, including gun control, there are many other 
aspects that provoke and cause this level of violence. There are 
several measures that could be adopted by the Congress that would 
reduce this wave that continues every single day in our country.
  In memory of these 17 people and more--I assume, since we do not 
reflect communities of 12,000 or more who lost their lives, that almost 
that many will lose their lives today somewhere in this country--it is 
our fervent hope that we will do a better job in reducing this level of 
violence in our country.
  I yield the floor.

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