[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 98 (Monday, June 20, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E953]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                    CHARLESTON MASSACRE ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 20, 2016

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the victims and 
survivors of the Emanuel AME Church massacre in Charleston, South 
Carolina, last year. This was a heinous crime and the response of the 
families and community has been even more deeply impactful.
  As a longtime AME congregant, a former resident of Charleston and 
longtime Representative of the Holy City in the U.S. House, I have a 
deep and abiding connection to that community. The victims of that 
horrific crime were my friends, neighbors and constituents. Their 
deaths pained me in profound and personal ways and the wounds to our 
community will take time to heal.
  Mr. Speaker, on the night of June 17, 2015, my friend Reverend 
Clementa Pinckney left his service in the state senate to travel to 
Charleston to conduct his other kind of service, that of tending his 
flock at Mother Emanuel AME Church's regular Wednesday night Bible 
study. Rev. Pinckney was a tremendous leader in our community. Several 
weeks prior to that night, I had been with Rev. Pinckney at a service 
in North Charleston after the police shooting of an unarmed black man, 
Walter Scott. Rev. Pinckney's ministry at that event made a tremendous 
difference in defusing a very tense time and helped restore calm and 
allow the local authorities to exert justice on a most unjust 
situation.
  Into that Bible study entered an uninvited outsider. Though he was a 
stranger, he was embraced by the worshippers who welcomed him into 
their weekly exploration of their faith. Yet that hate-filled young man 
shunned their neighborly embrace and conducted an act of violence so 
heinous the horror has been immeasurable.
  Our nation has long had a common sense policy of background checks 
for prospective gun buyers. Unfortunately, that law has a glitch in it 
that allows a gun purchase after three business days, even if the 
background check is not complete, and tragically this shooter was able 
to purchase the gun due to an error in the paperwork. I have introduced 
legislation to close this Charleston Loophole in federal law once and 
for all. This common sense fix will ensure that background checks are 
completed before gun purchases are allowed.
  I have also been pleased to support the request of the Medical 
University of South Carolina for federal funds to support the 
community, and last week the Department of Justice released a grant of 
more than $3.5 million to support that work. I am pleased that the 
Department has awarded this grant to help MUSC and their partners, the 
City of Charleston and other local governments deal with the continuing 
needs in the community as we approach the first anniversary of this 
horrible chapter in our lives. I want to thank Attorney General Loretta 
Lynch, for expediting this award, and all of my colleagues in the South 
Carolina congressional delegation for joining me in supporting MUSC's 
request.
  I have been extremely proud of the resilience and compassion shown by 
the people of Charleston and South Carolina following the horrific 
attack at Mother Emanuel on June 17 last year. The survivors of the 
attack and the families of the victims have been an inspiration to 
their communities, our state and the whole nation. While the Charleston 
community has rallied together, as we approach the first anniversary of 
the Emanuel AME church massacre, we must stay vigilant and continue 
providing the proper support for the survivors and victims.

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