[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

[[Page S1239]]

     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

[[Page S1240]]

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.