[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 24, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              THE DAILY 45: JASMINE THURMAN'S LOST DREAMS

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                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 24, 2008

  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, the Department of Justice tells us that, 
everyday, 45 people, on average, are fatally shot in the United States. 
No community is exempt from the carnage. Last weekend, in the Detroit 
suburb of Royal Oak Township, 18-year-old Jasmine Thurman, a recent 
graduate of Ferndale High School, was shot to death in what police 
describe as a feud between teenage girls from a nearby public housing 
complex.
  Jasmine Thurman had a family. Jasmine Thurman had dreams. Jasmine 
Thurman had a bright future that was snuffed out in an instant by a 
gun. Jasmine, the grand-niece of township Trustee Francine Thurman, was 
dead on arrival at an area hospital and leaves behind a grieving family 
and friends.
  Her cousin, 16-year-old Chanique Stone, said this to investigators on 
the scene, ``If that happened to her, what's going to happen to me?''
  Americans of conscience must come together to stop the senseless 
death of ``The Daily 45.'' When will we say ``enough is enough, stop 
the killing.''

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