[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 31, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S911-S912]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, on New Year's Day, the Governor of Michigan 
signed into law a bill to take discretion away from local gun boards in 
issuing concealed gun licenses. The new law, scheduled to take effect 
on July 1st of this year, would increase the number of concealed 
handgun licenses in our state by 200,000 to 300,000--a ten-fold 
increase.
  The concealed weapons law is being challenged by a coalition of law 
enforcement and community groups across our state called the People Who 
Care About Kids. This coalition is working to obtain 151,000 signatures 
needed to suspend the implementation of the law and put the issue 
before voters in 2002.
  Other groups in our state are also working along side the coalition 
to keep our streets and our communities safe. One such group is the 
Detroit-based Save Our Sons And Daughters, SOSAD. I ask unanimous 
consent to print an article in the Record from the Detroit News about 
SOSAD to show what they are doing to fight the concealed weapons bill 
and to keep our children safe from gun violence.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From The Detroit News, Jan. 30, 2001]

  New State Gun Law Alarms SOSAD Group Redoubles Efforts to Safeguard 
                                Children

                         (By Rhonda Bates-Rudd)

       Detroit--After 14 years of helping hundreds of grieving 
     families, who've lost a loved one as a result of homicide, 
     suicide, disease and natural death, Clementine Barfield, 
     founder and president of the nonprofit, Detroit-based Save 
     Our Sons and Daughters, says the organization is facing a new 
     challenge.
       Michigan's latest concealed gun legislation, which limits 
     the power of county gun boards to deny gun permits, has moved 
     the group to turn up the heat in their efforts to promote 
     peace.
       Homicide is among the leading causes of death for African-
     American youths, recent data compiled by the Michigan 
     Department of Community Health said.
       ``Homicide is real and the effects on children in our 
     community is immeasurable,'' Barfield said. ``People should 
     not believe that they are immune to this type of tragedy. 
     Many children already have a false confidence in weapons, as 
     evidenced by reports of their use of guns and violence in the 
     news. If ever there was a right time to promote peace in our 
     community, the time is now.''
       In March, the group's mothers will reveal their new image, 
     a white kerchief and arm band, which is both a symbol of 
     their grief and desire for peace.
       The nonprofit group, which also honors other groups that 
     help the grieving after deadly tragedies, is seeking 
     corporate and community sponsorship to develop programs and 
     activities for youth that will promote nonviolence. The 
     organization also is in need of volunteers willing to make a 
     long-term service commitment to perform an array of 
     administrative tasks, as well as spread the message of peace 
     to youth who, often, enlist the use of violence and handguns 
     to settle disputes.


                          Usher in more death

       Save Our Sons and Daughters member Cheryl Ross, her husband 
     and their four children moved to the suburbs after her son, 
     DeWunn Carter, 23, was shot to death in 1977 at a Coney 
     Island Restaurant on Chicago near Evergreen, just a few steps 
     from the front door of their former home.
       ``I believe this new law will make it easier for more 
     people to get their hands on guns and keep them concealed, 
     which will make it easier for more youth to get their hands 
     on weapons,'' Ross said. ``I think this new law is just a 
     platform to usher in more death.''
       Ross, who lives in Redford Township, has a better look than 
     most at the toll homicide takes. She is a SOSAD liaison 
     assigned to the Detroit Police Department Homicide Unit, 
     along with Linda Barfield and Vera Rucker.
       Working in the homicide division, contacting victim's 
     families and helping them has been therapeutic, Ross said.
       Liaisons almost daily receive a list of homicides they use 
     to create a file that includes basic information about the 
     family, such as phone number, address and the number of 
     family members. Serving as go-betweens, they contact the 
     families and offer the group's counseling and support group 
     services. They also provide families with information about 
     the case and how the process works.
       ``If they are grieving and just need someone to talk to, we 
     are here for that, too, because as many of the SOSAD staffers 
     are mothers who've lost children, we understand what they are 
     going through,'' Ross said.
       Victim liaison Rucker, who has been with SOSAD since its 
     inception, said ``No one can understand what you're going 
     through--the grief, anger, anguish and frustration--unless 
     they've lost a child to homicide.''
       Her daughter, Melody ``Poochie'' Rucker, 14, was shot and 
     killed on Detroit's west side by random gunfire at a back-to-
     school party for Benedictine High School students in 1986.
       Police Inspector William Rice, commanding officer for the 
     Detroit police homicide unit, has been a law enforcer for 31 
     years. He said, without a doubt, the group's 3-year-old 
     victim liaison office at the First precinct has been a new 
     tool to help in the aftermath of homicide.
       ``After a homicide, the family is usually confronted by a 
     lot of social and economic issues, such as how and why the 
     crime was committed, and then they almost immediately have to 
     deal with funeral planning and burial expenses,'' Rice said. 
     ``SOSAD members avail themselves to assist families with 
     whatever it is they need.''

[[Page S912]]

       ``The volunteers can bring the compassion element that 
     police officers cannot offer because their (the police) job 
     is to solve the crime by asking a lot of questions that may 
     make family members uncomfortable and, many times, the clues 
     to solving a crime may lead us back to the family,'' Rice 
     said.
       Barfield, a former City of Detroit accounting department 
     employee, said she was always troubled by reports of the 
     growing number of Detroit youth who were shot and, often, 
     fatally wounded by handguns.
       The 1986 death of her son, Derick, 16, and that of many 
     other Detroit youth moved Barfield to create the organization 
     which has been featured in newspapers and magazines across 
     the country, including Essence, Ebony and People magazines.


                            hundreds helped

       In the last 14 years, the group has helped hundreds of 
     families through the grieving process with counseling and 
     support groups that meet weekly.
       There also is a 24-hour crisis hotline in which volunteers 
     provide immediate response to families in need.
       Since 1988, the group has held an annual public memorial 
     service that is open to anyone wanting to light a candle in 
     memory of someone killed. This year's service will be held 
     from 4-6 p.m. March 17 at the Cobo Center.
       The group also hosts an annual appreciation breakfast, 
     usually during National Crime Victim Rights week, the last 
     week in April, to give accolades and the Angel of Mercy Award 
     to emergency room medical staff, homicide investigators, 
     funeral directors and morgue personnel.

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