[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 59 (Tuesday, April 15, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     THE DAILY 45: 23 CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL CHILDREN KILLED TO DATE

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                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 15, 2008

  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, today, Americans across the country are 
engaging in a debate on whether or not they are bitter. Whether it's 
bitterness about guns or bitterness about the economy.
  Madam Speaker, this debate is a diversion from the real issue of the 
plague of gun violence in our communities. I rise, today, to mourn the 
gun-related deaths of far too many young people who were students at 
Chicago's public schools. As of today, that number stands at 23-all but 
two of those deaths was due to gun violence.
  That's 23 young people who, in the pursuit of what other families 
take for granted--getting an education--have to duck and cover just to 
learn how to read and write.
  Shannon Brown, 17, is the latest student to die from a gunshot. 
Described by his younger brother, Keishawn, as a ``good big brother,'' 
Brown was a happy and responsible child who enjoyed school and hanging 
out with his friends. He became the victim of gun violence following a 
fist fight in his neighborhood.
  Like a scene from a bad Hollywood movie, he stumbled toward his home, 
while bleeding profusely, and collapsed on the stairs. Last week, law 
enforcement captured his alleged assailant, the 26-year-old who Shannon 
had bested in the fist fight.
  When will Americans say ``enough is enough? Stop the killings!

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