[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 61 (Tuesday, April 17, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H3440]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        A THREE-POINT PLAN FOR RESCUING THE NATION FROM VIOLENCE

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, in the aftermath of the tragedy at 
Blacksburg, Virginia, it is becoming painfully obvious that the easy 
availability of handguns constitutes a growing national crisis of 
public health and safety, one that calls for a powerful, wide-ranging 
response from this Congress.
  I am urging Members to support H.R. 676, the Conyers-Kucinich bill, 
which establishes a universal, not-for-profit health care system, which 
provides full and comprehensive mental health care.
  Second, support H.R. 808, a bill establishing a Department of Peace 
and Nonviolence, which directly addresses the issues of domestic 
violence, gang violence, and violence in the schools which is reflected 
in our current homicide rates.
  And third, the 33 deaths at Blacksburg constitute a national tragedy. 
So, too, does the fact that an average of 32 people each and every day 
in the United States perish in handgun-related incidents. Accordingly, 
I am drafting a bill to ban the purchase, sale, transfer or possession 
of handguns by civilians. A gun buy-back provision will be provided in 
the bill.
  It's time for us to rescue this Nation from the violence which is 
engulfing it, and I have just articulated a three-point plan to do so.

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