[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 186 (Tuesday, November 14, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7195-S7196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Texas Church Mass Shooting

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, 2 days ago, I visited the community of 
Sutherland Springs, TX, which is a small, rural community about 35 
miles from San Antonio, TX. We all remember the terrible shooting that 
occurred there just over a week ago at the First Baptist Church, an 
event that those in Sutherland Springs and across Texas and maybe even 
across the Nation will never forget. I hope we never forget it because 
I believe that those events were, by and large, preventable, and I will 
explain more about that in a moment.
  What I saw during my visit and what I found to be so remarkable is 
that the community has already started the healing process. Already, 
the church building that was riddled with bullets and the bodies of 
people who were killed and injured has been turned into a memorial 
which will forever mark the terrible events of that day and honor the 
lives of those who lost their lives.
  After an excruciating trial that the rest of us cannot even begin to 
comprehend, the attitude in Sutherland Springs is incredibly hopeful 
and resilient. First Baptist held its Sunday service just 7 days after 
the congregation lost 26 of its members. Can you imagine that--just a 
week later, showing up for another church service a week after a gunman 
shot up the church, killing 26 people and injuring 20 more.
  I went there for no other purpose than to lend a shoulder to the 
mourning and to try to offer what little encouragement I could. 
Strangely, what happened is that the reverse occurred: They gave me 
more hope and inspiration than I ever could have imagined. This shows 
how the shooter's ultimate plan failed. Evil never triumphs.
  Just ask Pastor Mark Collins, who pointed out that the First Baptist 
Church has been open for nearly 100 years but that on Sunday, the 
congregation smashed its alltime attendance record.
  Ask Pastor Frank Pomeroy, who lost his 14-year-old daughter in the 
attack but was already back doing the Lord's work of consoling other 
members of his church when he himself lost his own 14-year-old 
daughter. Pastor Pomeroy said: ``We have the freedom to choose, and 
rather than choose darkness, like the young man did that day, we choose 
the light.'' He said: ``Love never fails.''
  It was an emotional service, to be sure. It was an honor and, as I 
said, an inspiration to join the Sunday worship service and to visit 
the church that has been transformed into that stunningly beautiful 
memorial to commemorate the victims.
  The day before, I had had a chance to visit with a number of 
victims--and their family members--who are recovering in local area 
hospitals. We cannot forget them as they continue to heal or forget the 
rest of the 20 who were wounded by the gunman that day--a man who was 
clearly deranged, was a convicted felon, someone who had been 
hospitalized for mental illness and had escaped, and someone who had 
been found guilty of domestic violence against his wife, including the 
fracturing of his infant stepson's skull.
  We now know that when it comes to the shooter, there were plenty of 
warning signs. The gunman's former colleague has said that he was 
always on

[[Page S7196]]

edge and that he scared her both while he was in the Air Force and 
through disturbing social media posts afterward. There were multiple 
red flags along the way--school suspensions, threats of killing his 
superiors, depression, the abuse of animals, choking his wife, as I 
said, fracturing his stepson's skull, and doing time in a military 
prison. One thing is abundantly clear: We can do more when it comes to 
spotting these flags, including in the military.
  Where the law currently provides that an individual who is convicted 
of a felony or convicted of domestic violence or somebody who has been 
found to be mentally ill by a court--we can make sure and do better to 
make sure that those individuals do not purchase a firearm. Current law 
disqualifies them, but unless the results are uploaded on the FBI's 
background check system, there is no way to catch them when they lie. 
They are asked when they purchase a firearm at a firearms dealer: Have 
you ever been convicted of a felony? Have you ever been convicted of 
domestic violence? Have you ever been committed for mental illness? If 
they lie and the background check system is simply silent, then there 
is no way to know and no way to stop them, and that is what happened to 
this shooter.
  We know now that the Air Force and the other branches of the military 
are considering what additional steps to take to make sure this never 
happens again. I appreciate their prompt response, but it should never 
have come down to this.
  Now we have to do our part to ensure that this sort of preventable 
disaster never happens again. Don't get me wrong--I don't believe we 
can somehow wave a magic wand or pass a law that will prevent manmade 
disasters in every instance in the future, but this one could have been 
prevented. We could have kept this shooter from buying a firearm 
through a legal firearms dealer. If the background check system had 
been accurate, he would not have been able to do so.
  Today, I plan to introduce legislation to ensure that Federal 
agencies report and upload criminal records onto the background check 
system--records that are already required to be so but often that are 
not. As we know, this was a major problem that led to the rampage in 
Sutherland Springs. My bill would also reauthorize the two primary 
grant programs that help the States report and upload their own records 
and incentivize States to improve overall compliance.
  We know that just down the road in Virginia a few years ago, the 
records of a young man who had been adjudicated as mentally ill by the 
State of Virginia had never been uploaded into the background check 
system. Like this shooter in Sutherland Springs, when he went to 
purchase a firearm, there was never a hit on the FBI's background check 
system, and he simply lied about his mental health record.
  It has been estimated that some 7 million records--including at least 
25 percent of felony convictions and a large number of convictions for 
misdemeanor domestic violence--have not been posted on the background 
check system. That is outrageous. I doubt that any of us knew this 
beforehand, but we know it now, and it is within our power to fix it. 
We can all agree that this has to change and that this cannot stand.
  Let me be clear. I think that law-abiding gun owners, under the 
Second Amendment, can and should be allowed to purchase and possess 
firearms. As somebody who enjoys hunting and sports and shooting, I 
believe that every law-abiding American should possess the same right 
that I have to purchase firearms for recreation, for hunting, or for 
defending our families or property. In fact, that is what happened in 
Sutherland Springs. Sutherland Springs proves why guns can save lives 
when in the hands of law-abiding citizens. But if you have a long, 
documented history of dangerous behavior, if you are convicted of 
committing violent acts, under the law, you are not allowed to have 
guns. Today, we have to ensure that those laws will be enforced, and my 
bill will help to do that.
  This is really an incredible story. When I went to Sutherland 
Springs, I learned more about Stephen Willeford, whom I have spoken 
about before. Stephen Willeford lived about a block from the First 
Baptist Church, and he heard the shooting. I think it was his daughter 
who alerted him to it. He got his AR-15 out of the gun safe in his 
home, and he ran about a block away while barefoot. He saw the shooter 
exit the church. He, in turn, decided that it was up to him because 
there was not anybody else to stop him.
  Mr. Willeford, fortunately, is an NRA-certified shooting instructor 
and an expert marksman, and he shot and wounded the person who 
committed this mass atrocity, who then dropped his firearm, got in a 
truck, and led him on a high-speed chase. Thanks to Mr. Willeford and 
another Good Samaritan, they chased that shooter until ultimately the 
shooter took his own life. That shows you what can happen when law-
abiding citizens--gun owners--can come to the aid of others. When the 
police are not present and there is nobody else around, Good Samaritans 
can help save lives.