[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 183 (Thursday, November 9, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S7138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Texas Church Mass Shooting

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, only 4 days have passed since the 
terrible tragedy in Sutherland Springs occurred, and, of course, the 
grieving and pain of the families who have lost loved ones and who had 
loved ones injured during the course of that terrible shooting 
incident--our thoughts and prayers are still with them. I am going to 
be traveling to Sutherland Springs this weekend to offer my condolences 
and ongoing support in person. It is important that we give the 
community the time and space they need to grieve.
  By now, we all know that 26 people lost their lives during a church 
service at the First Baptist Church. This included an unborn child. 
Twenty more were injured, and some of them still remain in critical 
condition. What is amazing to me is that First Baptist will hold a 
church service this Sunday, just 7 days after a gunman stormed the 
building and committed the deadliest mass shooting in Texas's history. 
What resilience, what incredible resolve to come together 7 days after 
this terrible shooting and have the congregation that lost 26 of its 
members come together for a church service.
  One little guy many of us will be praying for is 5-year-old Ryland 
Ward. Ryland was shot four times and was partially shielded by his 
mother, Joann, who, tragically, did not survive. Ryland is fighting for 
his life at University Hospital in San Antonio, and he remains in 
critical condition. I know we will all continue to think of him and 
pray for his recovery.
  We continue to hear more about what led to this atrocity--a gunman 
with a history of domestic violence, animal cruelty, and mental 
illness. Because of his troubled history, which included convictions 
for domestic abuse in the military, he was legally prohibited from 
purchasing a firearm, but he lied about it. Unfortunately, the 
background check system, which is supposed to alert the dealer not to 
sell a firearm to a person with disqualifiers such as his, simply did 
not come back at all to demonstrate that he was, in fact, disqualified 
from purchasing a firearm. He was legally disqualified because he had 
beaten up his wife, had fractured the skull of his stepson, and he was 
legally disqualified because a military court in New Mexico had handed 
down a felony sentence for his attacking his own family. But as we know 
now, and as I have said, that information was not uploaded by the U.S. 
Air Force or the Department of Defense in the Federal background check 
database. Under the law it was supposed to be uploaded, but it wasn't. 
So he got away with lying about his record.

  That is what we have to fix. After terrible incidents like this, the 
most common question I hear people ask or the most common statement I 
hear them say is this: We have to do something. But here that something 
we have to do is crystal clear. Troubled individuals like this monster 
should never have gained access to a gun. When he tried to purchase 
them, the person who checked the Federal database should have seen his 
name and criminal convictions and said: No way, no how.
  I have had conversations with many of our colleagues across the aisle 
and in the Chamber about this problem and what we need to do to fix it. 
Next week, I plan to introduce legislation to fix these flaws in the 
National Instant Criminal Background Check System and to ensure that 
all Federal agencies upload required conviction records like these in 
the NICS system as fast as possible. Clearly, that is not being done 
now, and we must do it and do it quickly to make sure that other 
potential killers will not be sold a firearm because of the defects in 
our National Instant Criminal Background Check System. It is imperative 
that this information be shared, that violent felons' convictions be 
uploaded, and that dangerous individuals not gain illegal access to 
firearms. Unlike law-abiding citizens, these individuals can't be 
trusted to do what is right because we know that in the wrong hands, 
guns can do tremendous harm.
  I must add that in the right hands lives can be saved too. All we 
need to do is regard the actions of Stephen Willeford. When he heard 
the gunshots going off in the church, he grabbed his AR-15--what some 
people call an assault rifle. It is a semiautomatic legal weapon. He is 
an NRA, or National Rifle Association, certified instructor. He took 
that gun and shot at this killer to try to stop him from killing more 
people, and he was successful. He wounded the killer and put himself in 
harm's way. To me, this demonstrates not only the heroism of Mr. 
Willeford, but it demonstrates another reason why law-abiding citizens 
should be able to keep and bear arms, in the terminology of the Second 
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Law-abiding gun owners are not a 
threat to the public safety. It is only so when they get in the hands 
of felons, the mentally ill, and domestic abusers, like the killer in 
Sutherland Springs. So in the right hands, guns can save lives too.
  As somebody who is a sportsman and believes in the Second Amendment 
and believes that law-abiding citizens ought to be able to keep and 
bear arms to defend their families and communities, I am proud of the 
work that Stephen Willeford did on that terrible day. I know there are 
those who believe that the NRA is somehow complicit in some of these 
terrible events, but I will tell you that the NRA did us all a favor by 
training somebody like Stephen Willeford so he was prepared on that 
horrible day to stop the shooter before he killed more innocent people. 
I applaud him for it, and I applaud them for teaching people gun safety 
and self-defense so they can protect their families, their property, 
and their communities as well.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.