[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 28 (Thursday, February 16, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1238-S1240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Gun Violence
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise again to speak about the epidemic
of gun violence in the city of Chicago and across America.
The American Medical Association has declared gun violence as a
public health crisis in America. Every day, almost 300 men, women, and
children are shot in this Nation. Gun violence touches every American
community, but no community has suffered more than the city of Chicago.
I am honored to represent that city. I love it, and I think it is a
great city. I spend a lot of time there to get to know the people who
were born there and live their lives there and call it home. It is a
great honor to call it part of my State that I am honored to represent.
The stories that are coming out of the city of Chicago are
heartbreaking stories--and none worse than this week. This week there
was a slaughter of the innocents. In a 4-day period earlier this week,
three beautiful children under the age of 12 were fatally shot.
On Saturday night, 11-year-old Takiya Holmes, sitting in her mom's
car, was shot in the head and killed. A 19-year-old suspect in custody
has been charged. He reported that he was shooting from across the
street at rival gang members, and a stray bullet hit Takiya. She died
on Tuesday morning.
On Saturday, 12-year-old Kanari Gentry-Bowers was shot while playing
basketball in the West Englewood neighborhood. She passed away just
yesterday.
On Tuesday at 1:30 in the afternoon, 2-year-old Lavontay White was
shot and killed while sitting in the car with his pregnant aunt and
uncle. Lavontay's uncle was also killed. His aunt was wounded.
These shootings are senseless, devastating, and heartbreaking.
Already this year there have been over 400 shootings in Chicago--so far
this year. That is after there were more than 4,300 shootings last
year.
My thoughts and prayers, of course, go to the victims and their
families. I have attended so many marches and parades, funerals, and
memorial services. But thoughts and prayers are not enough. We need to
do something to reduce this epidemic of gun violence. There have been
too many funerals, too many families who have lost that baby they
loved, too many children who suffered the physical and mental trauma of
gunshot wounds and witnessing violence. Many of these shootings could
have been prevented, but it is going to take changes in our laws and
changes in our attitude for that to happen.
We have absurd loopholes in our gun laws that make it easy for
dangerous people to get their hands on guns. We have obvious gaps in
our gun background check system. We have inadequate Federal laws to
stop gun trafficking and straw purchases of guns. These factors allow a
flood of illicit guns to come into Chicago from other towns and States,
from gun shows in neighboring States where there is no background
check. These drug gangs drive over to these locations and fill up the
trunks of their cars with guns to take them and sell them in the
neighborhoods to kids who shoot and kill one another day in and day
out.
We have gun dealers--federally licensed gun dealers--who look the
other way when someone comes in to make a straw purchase. That is the
purchase of a gun that the purchaser is not going to use but is going
to give it to somebody who is prohibited from buying a gun.
In light of the epidemic of gun violence in our country, Congress
should be working around the clock to fix these gaps in our Federal
law. But the Republican-controlled Senate is doing nothing to address
gun violence in Chicago or anywhere else. Instead, look at what we just
did yesterday. Just yesterday, this Senate, on this floor, voted to
weaken the gun background check system instead of strengthening it. It
is hard to understand how the Republican Party can have its priorities
so wrong when it comes to gun violence.
We can respect Second Amendment rights of individuals. We can respect
the rights of people to own a gun for self-defense, for sporting and
hunting purposes. I have gone hunting. I have used a firearm. I
complied with every law in the books, all of them. The hunters who were
with me did too.
Why is it so hard to ask before we sell a gun to someone whether they
have a criminal record, whether they are buying it for another person
who might have a criminal record, or whether they have a history of
mental instability, which would disqualify them from owning a gun?
We are facing a crisis in Chicago and across the Nation because of
this violence. We in Congress have a responsibility to do everything we
can at the Federal level to protect our constituents, our neighbors,
from getting shot. We can't ignore this responsibility, and we
certainly shouldn't be weakening gun laws as the Senate did yesterday.
We also need the Federal Government to be an engaged partner with
cities like Chicago to help reduce violence and expand economic options
in depressed neighborhoods. You can pick out three neighborhoods in the
city of Chicago that account for almost 50 percent of gun violence--
three neighborhoods. I visited some of them. They warned me: Don't get
out of the car. They are right. Random gunfire is a reality of life in
those neighborhoods. We know where they are. We know where the shooters
live. We know where the victims are. We can do more.
President Trump sends out a lot of tweets. He likes to tweet about
Chicago, and I am not quite sure why. Tweeting doesn't save lives.
Saying that you are going to send in the Feds may be one of those short
tweets that is catchy, but it doesn't mean a damned thing to the people
who are being shot and are dying in the city of Chicago.
Last week I joined my colleague Senator Tammy Duckworth, and we sent
a letter to the President asking him to do more than tweet when it
comes to Chicago.
I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record this letter.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
United States Senate,
Washington, DC, February 10, 2017.
President Donald J. Trump,
The White House,
Washington, DC.
Dear President Trump: During the 2016 presidential campaign
and in numerous tweets and comments since the election, you
have lamented the recent surge of gun violence in Chicago and
said the federal government could help stop the violence.
While the level of shootings and homicides is clearly
unacceptable, tweeting alone will not fix it. Tweeting does
not break cycles of violence; tweeting does not help lift
people out of poverty; tweeting does not save lives. We urge
you instead to provide a surge in federal support and
resources for Chicago to reduce violence and expand economic
opportunities for neglected communities.
Public safety is primarily a local responsibility, but the
federal government must be an engaged partner in public
safety efforts alongside local officials, law enforcement,
and community stakeholders. There is much the federal
government can do to help.
Instead of tweeting, you could begin by directing your
Administration to enhance U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
programs that improve community policing, such as the COPS
Hiring Program to help local police departments put more cops
on the beat, and the Byrne-JAG grant program to enable local
law enforcement to purchase or upgrade equipment. We note
that in his first year in office, President Obama pushed for
a surge in COPS and Byrne-JAG funding through the Recovery
Act and the appropriations process that provided Chicago with
$13.256 million in COPS Hiring funding and $35.637 million in
Byrne-JAG finding. This is more than four times the amount of
COPS funding and 15 times the amount of Byrne-JAG funding
that the City received last year. You could push for a
similar funding surge.
We also urge you to direct DOJ to promote mentoring and job
training programs for youth and the formerly incarcerated. We
are ready to work with you to strengthen the Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to improve
mentoring and violence prevention initiatives and to boost
funding for recidivism reduction programs under the federal
Second Chance Act. We urge you to direct DOJ to abide by its
commitment to help implement policing reforms
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recommended by the Department's Civil Rights Division. We
also request your support for legislation to close gaps in
the FBI gun background check system and in federal firearm
laws that enable straw purchasers and gun traffickers to
flood Chicago's streets with illicit guns.
Federal efforts must also transcend law enforcement and
criminal justice programs to focus on causal factors,
including the lack of economic opportunity. We urge the U.S.
Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor to
prioritize important career and youth training programs that,
if properly funded and expanded, would address the role that
poverty plays in the violence epidemic facing Chicago and
other communities around the country.
Before you send your next tweet, you could request a surge
in additional federal resources for these public safety and
economic development efforts in Chicago. But so far, your
Administration has refused to commit to spend any additional
resources to combat Chicago's violence and has actually
threatened to cut federal funds for the City. Now is not the
time for the federal government to abandon its support for
Chicago and its people.
This week, you reportedly attributed Chicago's crime
situation to the presence of undocumented immigrants. This
coincides with your January 25 executive order that makes up
to eight million immigrants priorities for deportation and
seeks to create a mass deportation force by tripling the
number of immigration agents. The vast majority of immigrants
in our country are peaceful and have strong family values,
and studies have shown that immigrants are less likely to
commit serious crimes than native-born individuals. We are
aware of no evidence that undocumented immigrants are
responsible for any significant proportion of the murders in
Chicago, and claims otherwise do nothing but distract from
efforts to meaningfully reduce the City's recent increase in
violence.
We note that you have urged Congress to fund the
construction of a wall on the Southern border that would
reportedly cost at least $21.6 billion, even though the wall
would not fix our broken immigration system and even though
Republican Congressman Will Hurd, whose district covers 800
miles of the border, has said ``building a wall is the most
expensive and least effective way to secure the border.'' If
your Administration were to take even one percent of this
funding and devote the resources instead to help Chicago's
public safety efforts, it would make a dramatic difference in
reducing Chicago's violence. We urge you to reprioritize
federal resources that you would request for wall
construction and commit those resources instead to reducing
gun violence in Chicago and other violence-prevention efforts
around the nation. Doing so could save many more lives than
tweeting.
Thank you for your consideration on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin,
U.S. Senator.
Tammy Duckworth,
U.S. Senator.
Mr. DURBIN. We asked the President to put his twitter account down
for a few minutes and instead direct his Department of Justice to
enhance programs that improve community policing, such as COPS and the
Byrne-JAG grants. We asked him to provide a surge in these programs,
just like President Obama did in his first year through the Recovery
Act and the appropriations process.
We also asked the President to direct the Justice Department to
promote mentoring and job training programs. I want peace on the
streets of Chicago and every American city, and I know that one of the
keys to this is the belief that there is a chance in this economy for
you and your family.
We need to have mentoring and job training programs for young people
through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and
for former incarcerated persons through the Federal Second Chance Act.
We asked the President to support policing reforms recommended by the
Justice Department in Washington. We asked him to support our efforts
to close the gaps in Federal gun laws.
There is no denying that poverty plays a role in fueling violence and
in violating justice. We asked the President, also, to prioritize
funding for jobs programs under the Departments of Labor and Education.
These are concrete steps that would help reduce violence in Chicago.
So far, President Trump's administration has not committed any
additional resources to combatting Chicago's violence. Mayor Emanuel
was here a few days ago to meet with the Department of Justice and to
make the same plea. The administration instead is threatening to cut
funding, on top of the devastating funding cuts we have already seen in
Illinois under our current Governor.
Now is not the time for the Federal Government to abandon support for
the families living in this great city. I urge the President and his
administration to reprioritize Federal resources to reduce gun violence
in Chicago and around the Nation. It is going to save a lot more lives
than tweeting.
If you will not do it for two Democratic Senators, do it for these
families. Do it for the moms and the relatives who are now planning the
funeral services of these babies who were gunned down in the city of
Chicago this week.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. ROUNDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. ROUNDS. Mr. President, I rise to discuss Mr. Trump's nominee to
be Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma
Attorney General Scott Pruitt.
His background with the EPA regulatory process makes him well suited
to lead this Agency. He has an in-depth understanding of the impact
regulations have on landowners, American businesses and State and local
governments. As attorney general, Mr. Pruitt has been a leader in
standing up for the rights of State governments in the face of an
aggressive EPA that has imposed increasingly costly and burdensome
regulations on the States.
During his time as the attorney general, Mr. Pruitt established
Oklahoma's first Federalism Unit in the Office of Solicitor General to
more effectively combat unwarranted regulation and overreach by Federal
agencies. General Pruitt is a strong believer in federalism and States'
rights, which have been often overlooked by the previous
administration, often to the detriment of the U.S. economy and our
environment.
I am hopeful Attorney General Pruitt will take steps to improve the
Federal regulatory process to make certain Federal regulations are
promulgated with adequate public participation, underpinned by the best
scientific evidence available and in a transparent and open manner.
Attorney General Pruitt understands the importance of taking
stakeholder, State, and local government comments and expertise into
account when promulgating regulations. He understands that listening to
and considering the differing viewpoints of stakeholders will improve
the regulatory process and lead to better regulations. This will lead
to fewer burdensome and costly regulations for South Dakota farmers,
ranchers, and landowners, while at the same time making certain we have
clean air and clean water.
The Obama EPA's process for considering scientific information was
flawed and unbalanced. There was a lack of balanced opinion, geographic
diversity in State, local, and tribal representation on EPA's Science
Advisory Board, which is tasked with providing scientific advice to the
EPA. Attorney General Pruitt understands the importance of relying on
the most up-to-date science to underpin environmental regulations.
During his confirmation hearing, he affirmed to me that he would
uphold his obligations to use the most current, accurate data and sound
science when making decisions, especially when it comes to the
renewable fuel standard. The RFS has been successful in South Dakota in
encouraging investments and creating jobs in corn ethanol production.
Mr. Pruitt understands the importance of corn ethanol to the Midwest.
Throughout his tenure as attorney general, Attorney General Pruitt
witnessed firsthand the negative impact that EPA regulations, such as
the waters of the United States rule, have on U.S. landowners and on
our business owners. He saw how incomplete economic analysis did not
account for the full impact of regulations on U.S. citizens, and the
regulatory burden was often far greater than what the EPA claimed it
would be.
The attorney general can modernize the EPA's approach to regulation
and make certain that regulations are promulgated in a deliberate,
fair, and
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transparent process. A better regulatory process will lead to better
regulations. Better regulations will make certain our air, water, and
land is protected, our economy continues to grow, and American jobs can
continue to be created.
Attorney General Pruitt has had a rigorous vetting process since
first being nominated by President Trump. He has answered more than
1,200 questions from Senators, more than 1,000 more questions than
nominees for the EPA Administrator from the incoming Obama
administration to the Bush administration or the Clinton
administration. Additionally, his confirmation hearing was the longest
for any EPA Administrator.
I, personally, would like to thank Chairman Barrasso for spearheading
this fair and very transparent confirmation process. I would also like
to thank Attorney General Pruitt for taking the time to answer all of
the questions that were asked of him and meeting with Senators both on
and off the EPW Committee.
General Pruitt's impressive background and depth of knowledge on EPA
issues make him well suited to be the next EPA Administrator. As a
member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and
chairman of the subcommittee which has oversight of the EPA, I look
forward to his eventual confirmation and to working with him in the
future.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sasse). The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.