[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 39 (Thursday, April 7, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3355-S3356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES
First Lieutenant Dan Thomas Malcom, Jr.
Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise today to honor U.S. Army 1LT Dan
Thomas Malcom, Jr., who was killed proudly fighting for his country in
Fallujah, Iraq, on November 10, 2004. A marine and Citadel graduate
from McDuffie and Miller County, GA, Dan was 24 years old.
First Lieutenant Dan Thomas Malcom, Jr., the son of Dan and Cherrie
Malcom, was born April 4, 1979, in Augusta, GA. His father, Dan Senior,
was a Marine Corps veteran of combat in Vietnam who tragically was
killed in a construction accident just prior to Dan junior's birth.
From the earliest age, Dan junior wanted to ``be a Marine like my
Daddy''. Raised in McDuffie, then later Miller County, GA, Dan attended
Miller County High School where he was a star student.
Dan graduated from the Citadel in Charleston, SC, in 2001 where he
was Lima Company executive officer. Dan was well respected by his
classmates and known for his attention to his academic and military
duties.
Dan was commissioned into the Marine Corps upon graduation. Dan was
serving his second tour in Iraq when, on November 10, 2004, he was
killed by a sniper in Fallujah, a town infested with insurgents. The
details of his death include the following: As the marines of 1st
Battalion, 8th Infantry were clearing Fallujah of the insurgents, Dan's
platoon was sent to a rooftop to provide supporting fire to marines
maneuvering on the enemy. Dan's marines quickly found themselves under
sniper attack from a nearby mosque. Dan left his safe position and led
his entire platoon down a stair case to safety. As the last one to
clear the rooftop, Dan was hit by a deflected bullet which bounced off
his helmet. As Dan jumped down the stairwell, he was hit in the lower
back by a second shot which killed him instantly.
Dan was buried at Arlington Cemetery on 23 November 2004, where he
rested with our Nation's honored dead. Dan Thomas Malcom, Jr., was all
that America stands for. By his short life and through his bravery at
the end we are enriched. Dan is survived by his mother, Mrs. Cherrie
Malcom, and sister, Mrs. Dana Killebrew. It is our hope that the memory
of his life will serve as a beacon for others to honor and remember.
Dan Thomas Malcom, Jr., was a great American, a great marine, a great
leader, and an outstanding young man. He and his comrades in Iraq
deserve out deepest gratitude and respect as they go about the
extraordinarily challenging but extraordinarily important job of
rebuilding a country which will result in freedom and prosperity for
millions of Iraqis. I join with Dan's family, friends, and fellow
soldiers in mourning his loss and want them to know that Dan's
sacrifice will not be lost or forgotten, but will truly make a
difference in the lives of the Iraqi people.
A Matter of Priorities
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I would like to bring an editorial from
Monday's edition of the New York Times to the attention of my
colleagues. The editorial, titled ``Guns for Terrorists,'' is a logical
commentary on several potentially dangerous shortfalls in our Nation's
gun safety laws that not only potentially allow individuals on
terrorist watch lists to buy guns but also require that records related
to the sale be destroyed within 24 hours of the purchase.
Under current law, individuals included on Federal terrorist watch
lists are not automatically prohibited from purchasing firearms. A
report released by the General Accountability Office on March 8, 2005,
found that from February 3, 2004, through June 30, 2004, a total of 44
attempts to purchase firearms were made by individuals designated by
the Federal Government as known or suspected terrorists. In 35 cases,
the transactions were authorized to proceed because federal authorities
were unable to find any information in the national instant criminal
background check system, NICS, that would prohibit the individual from
lawfully receiving or possessing firearms. Current law also requires
that records, even in these cases, where known or suspected terrorists
successfully purchase firearms, be destroyed within 24 hours.
Learning about a suspected terrorist's purchase of a firearm could
potentially be critical to counterterrorism investigators working to
prevent a terrorist attack. Common sense tells us that the automatic
destruction of documents related to the successful purchase of firearms
by individuals on terrorist watch lists would significantly hamper
these investigations. I have cosponsored the Terrorist Apprehension
Record Retention Act. The legislation would require that in cases where
a known or suspected terrorist successfully purchased a firearm,
records pertaining to the transaction be retained for 10 years. The
bill also requires that all NICS information be shared with appropriate
Federal and State counterterrorism officials anytime an individual on a
terrorist watch list attempts to buy a firearm.
We should be working to pass legislation to close loopholes that
allow potential terrorists to buy dangerous weapons like the AK-47
assault rifle, the .50 caliber sniper rifle, and the
[[Page S3356]]
Five-Seven armor-piercing handgun. We should be working to provide our
law enforcement officials with the tools they need to protect our
families and communities.
I ask unanimous consent that the April 4, 2005 New York Times
editorial titled ``Guns for Terrorists'' be printed in the
Congressional Record.
There being no objection, the editorial was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the New York Times, Apr. 4, 2005]
Guns for Terrorists
If a background check shows that you are an undocumented
immigrant, federal law bars you from buying a gun. If the
same check shows that you have ties to Al Qaeda, you are free
to buy an AK-47. That is the absurd state of the nation's gun
laws, and a recent government report revealed that terrorist
suspects are taking advantage of it. There are a few
promising signs, however, that the federal government is
considering injecting some sanity into policies on terror
suspects and guns.
The Government Accountability Office examined F.B.I. and
state background checks for gun sales during a five-month
period last year. It found 44 checks in which the prospective
buyer turned up on a government terrorist watch list. A few
of these prospective buyers were denied guns for other
disqualifying factors, like a felony conviction or illegal
immigration status. But 35 of the 44 people on the watch
lists were able to buy guns.
The encouraging news is that the G.A.O. report may be
prodding Washington to act. The F.B.I. director, Robert
Mueller III, has announced that he is forming a study group
to review gun sales to terror suspects. In a letter to
Senator Frank Lautenberg, the New Jersey Democrat, Mr.
Mueller said that the new working group would review the
national background check system in light of the report. We
hope this group will take a strong stand in favor of changes
in the law to deny guns to terror suspects.
In the meantime, Senator Lautenberg is pushing for
important reforms. He has asked the Justice Department to
consider making presence on a terrorist watch list a
disqualifying factor for gun purchases. And he wants to force
gun sellers to keep better records. Under a recent law,
records of gun purchases must be destroyed after 24 hours,
eliminating important information for law enforcement.
Senator Lautenberg wants to require that these records be
kept for at least 10 years for buyers on terrorist watch
lists.
Keeping terror suspects from buying guns seems like an
issue the entire nation can rally around. But the National
Rifle Association is, as usual, fighting even the most
reasonable regulation of gun purchases. After the G.A.O.
report came out, Wayne LaPierre, the N.R.A.'s executive vice
president, took to the airwaves to reiterate his group's
commitment to ensuring that every citizen has access to guns,
and to cast doubt on the reliability of terrorist watch
lists.
Unfortunately, the N.R.A.--rather than the national
interest--is too often the driving force on gun policy in
Congress, particularly since last November's election. Even
after the G.A.O.'s disturbing revelations, the Senate has
continued its work on a dangerous bill to insulate
manufacturers and sellers from liability when guns harm
people. If it passes, as seems increasingly likely, it will
remove any fear a seller might have of being held legally
responsible if he provides a gun used in a terrorist attack.
Omnibus Emissions Reduction Act of 2005
Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today in support of S. 730, the
Omnibus Emissions Reduction Act of 2005, that has been introduced by
Senator Leahy of Vermont and myself. Our legislation is the only
comprehensive legislation that aims to control mercury emissions for
all major sources of mercury pollution and stop releases of this toxic
pollutant into the environment.
Mercury is a liquid metal that damages the nervous system through
ingestion or inhalation, and is a particularly damaging toxic pollutant
in the case of pregnant women and children. This is an alarming problem
and I am pleased to note that our bill offers much greater protections
for the public's health than the recently released Environmental
Protection Agency's mercury emissions rule that simply will not get the
job done.
Our bill addresses the problem of how mercury pollution gets into our
environment. Mercury, which is contained in coal and emitted up through
smokestacks into the atmosphere as the coal is burned, is then
transported through the air and carried downwind for hundreds and
hundreds of miles where, unfortunately for Maine and every State along
the way, it falls to Earth in snow and rain. The mercury ends up in our
lakes, rivers, and streams where it is then ingested by fish, and in
turn by humans when they eat the fish from these freshwater sources.
The legislation directs the Environmental Protection Agency to
promulgate mercury emissions standards for unregulated sources on a
much more aggressive timetable to reduce mercury emissions as soon as
possible. Our bill stops pollution at its source by requiring a ninety
percent reduction of mercury emissions from coal-fired powered plants
by 2010, rather than by 22 percent by 2010 as the administration's
recent rule calls for.
The Leahy-Snowe bill also addresses mercury releases from other
sources as well, all the way from commercial and industrial boilers and
chlor-alkali plants, to requiring labeling products containing mercury
as simple as a mercury thermometer.
Mercury, as we have historically thought of it, brings to mind the
ancient Roman messenger of the gods, or the symbol that made us all
proud, that of a small Mercury capsule carrying a lone astronaut into
space.
Mercury, as we are now coming to know it, is one of the most toxic
substances in our environment, causing great neurologic damage if
ingested by humans. There is growing concern around the country about
mercury contamination, especially in the freshwater lakes in the
northeast, and the risk it posses to those most vulnerable: young
children, infants, and the unborn.
Mercury emissions are affecting our wildlife as well. In Maine, the
beautiful common loon with its haunting call has been known as a symbol
of conservation--and even appears on license plates, the cost of which
funds conservation efforts. The haunting call is now coming from
biologists whose studies show that, besides the threats to humans, the
loons and other birds, such as the bald eagle, may now be having
trouble reproducing or fighting diseases because of mercury ingestion.
The Leahy-Snowe Act also aims to reduce transboundary atmospheric and
surface mercury pollution by directing the EPA to work with Canada and
Mexico to inventory the sources and pathways of mercury air and water
pollution within North America. The bill dovetails nicely with the
actions the State of Maine has taken and also the goals of the Mercury
Action Plan of the Conference of Northeast Governors and Eastern
Canadian Premiers.
This bill will go a long way towards developing a much needed
solution to the problem of mercury emissions in the environment, and I
look forward to the day when the fish advisories are lifted on all of
our lakes in Maine so that its citizens can enjoy fuller use of their
environment, and also reap greater economic benefits from its natural
resources. This goal will not be easy to reach as our environment is
already impacted with past and current mercury pollution.
However, the Maine Legislature has already taken a significant step
toward this goal by establishing a state program to help Maine cities
and towns keep mercury products out of the trash. Trash disposal,
especially incineration, is one of the primary ways we introduce
mercury to the Northeast's environment.
Under Maine law, some mercury products such as thermometers and
thermostats had to be labeled beginning in 2002. Also by 2002,
businesses were required to recycle the mercury in these products.
Starting this year, a similar requirement applies to homeowners.
Maine has taken an excellent step forward to decrease regional
mercury pollution, but realistically no one State or region can solve
its mercury pollution problems. What is needed is a nationwide
information system and controls for mercury releases starting with the
largest polluters. We know that polluted air does not stop at State
borders or even international boundaries. And, on the horizon is the
fact that the burning coal continues to rapidly increase in developing
nations around the globe.
I want to thank Senator Leahy for his hard work in highlighting the
problem of mercury emissions through the introduction of this
legislation. This introduction will bring the problem before Congress
and the public, to spark debate, and to begin a dialogue, especially
with those industries that will be affected by any curbs in emissions
and from those people most directly affected by the mercury emissions.
I look forward to working with Senator Leahy and my Senate colleagues
to come up with a fair solution and one that will truly protect the
public's health from this pervasive toxic mercury pollution problem.
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