[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 48 (Thursday, March 19, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3532-S3533]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Gun Violence

  Mr. BURRIS. Mr. President, I stand today to discuss a matter of great 
importance and great sadness to every community across this country. 
From our biggest cities to our smallest towns, gun violence is stealing 
the lives of innocent victims. It is tearing apart families, 
communities, and our own sense of security. Gun violence in our 
communities must end, and it must end now.
  In just the last 2 weeks we have had too many grim reminders of what 
can happen when there are too many weapons on the street. From Chicago 
and Maryville, IL, to Samson, AL, we have seen gun violence mix with 
devastating results.
  Friday was a tragic day in Chicago. Last Friday night, 14-year-old 
Gregory Robinson was gunned down in a car while driving with his family 
through Chicago's far south side. This young man's funeral is today. 
Instead of reaching his dream to become a basketball star at Simeon 
Career Academy in Chicago, this high school freshman became the 28th 
Chicago public

[[Page S3533]]

school student to be killed just this year. Twenty-eight students, Mr. 
President. I repeat, 28 young lives are now snuffed out.
  Last Tuesday was an equally tragic day in the city. On Tuesday, young 
Franco Avilla, a tenth grader at Roosevelt High School on Chicago's 
west side, was shot to death. Instead of being the exception, shooting 
deaths of our school children have now become the rule. Last school 
year, 26 Chicago public school students were shot during the full 9-
month school year. Well, this year, Chicago public schools have already 
surpassed this sad milestone, and it is only March.
  When Franco left his house last Tuesday afternoon, his last words to 
his father were: ``Dad, I'll be back.'' He never came home. Gun 
violence took his life.
  We must take action now to get these weapons off our streets and end 
the senseless slaughter of our young people.
  Guns played an equally devastating role in the life of Juan Pitts. 
Mr. Pitts' son, Kendrick, was a 17-year-old student at Bowen High 
School when he was shot down last month alongside two other Chicago 
public school students--15-year-old Raheem Washington and 13-year-old 
Johnny Edwards.
  The deaths of these young men are atrocious. Yet the pain and tragedy 
of the Pitts family has only doubled since then. Two weeks ago, 
Kendrick's brother, Carnell, who graduated from Bowen High School last 
year, was shot to death at a gathering on Chicago's south side.
  Gangs and gun violence go hand-in-hand. Our youth should be carrying 
school books instead of firearms. Yet in so many instances, our failure 
to invest in the education of our youth on the front end is at the root 
of the violence and imprisonment, as a result, on the back end. Our 
failure to enact serious, sensible gun control measures make it much 
more likely these tragedies are going to occur again and again.
  We tend to think of gun violence as a problem of large urban areas--a 
symptom of America's big cities. Well, the truth is, no community is 
immune to such senseless behavior. I am from a small town. I was born 
and raised in Centralia, IL, which is about 100 miles south of our 
State capital of Springfield. I know how close-knit these small-town 
families and small towns are. I know how safe these towns seem to be.
  Sadly, two recent events proved otherwise.
  A recent shooting in Maryville, IL, which is about an hour-and-a-half 
drive from my hometown of Centralia, reminds us that the dangers 
associated with guns affect us all, no matter where we live, work, pray 
or go to school.
  Two weeks ago, on a quiet Sunday morning, a 27-year-old gunman walked 
straight down the aisle of Maryville's First Baptist Church and shot 
and killed Pastor Winters during the normal weekly service. Just days 
later, in Samson, AL, we saw the all-too-familiar word flash across our 
TV screens again--``massacre.'' A 28-year-old gunman killed a total of 
10 individuals and injured many more before he finally took his own 
life during an hour-long rampage.
  The 10 individuals who died, whose lives ended on that tragic Tuesday 
afternoon, were going about their daily routine without the slightest 
thought that their lives would end that very day. The many more who 
were wounded by those gunshots surely never thought they, too, would be 
victims--survivors, nonetheless--of gun violence.
  The stark truth is, everybody is a victim of gun violence. Every 
Senator in this body has constituents who have been touched by this 
issue, and it is our responsibility as lawmakers and leaders of this 
great Nation to ensure assault and semiautomatic weapons do not take 
the lives of so many innocent victims. We must take action to stop the 
senseless killing on our Nation's streets, in our communities, at our 
schools, and in our places of worship. We must take action to increase 
our gun control measures and decrease our gun violence. Ultimately, by 
doing so, we will be taking action to ensure our children, our 
families, and our communities live in a safer place in America.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BURRIS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BURRIS. I ask unanimous consent the time of the quorum call be 
equally divided.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BURRIS. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed 
to speak up to 10 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.