[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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