[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 24, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                 Benton, Kentucky, High School Shooting

  Finally, Mr. President, on a different note, I want to extend my 
condolences to the men and women affected by the school shooting 
yesterday at a high school in Benton, KY. Two 15-year-old students were 
killed and more than 18 more were injured.
  Sadly, my State is no stranger to these kinds of tragedies. There was 
a shooting in Italy, TX, outside of Dallas, on Monday. Of course, 
everybody remembers the shooting last fall at the First Baptist Church 
in Sutherland Springs, where 26 people were killed and 20 more were 
injured.
  Each time these events happen, I fear that we become more 
desensitized to these terrible tragedies, and when we are desensitized, 
we are paralyzed. But we must not be desensitized, and we must not be 
paralyzed. We must work together to do everything we can to meet this 
challenge. So it is important for us to work together to find common 
ground that will improve public safety by targeting criminals who 
perpetrate acts of mass violence--people who have been convicted of 
domestic violence, felons, people who have been adjudicated mentally 
ill.
  All of them are disqualified from purchasing firearms. When they lie 
to the federally licensed firearm dealer who runs the background check, 
unless those items are reported to the FBI and recorded on that 
background check, they can get away with a lie, as the shooter in 
Sutherland Springs did when he had at least three disqualifying events 
in his life. He had been in a mental institution; he had been convicted 
of domestic violence--fractured the skull of his stepson in the process 
and assaulted his wife; and he was a convicted felon. There is no way 
in the world he should have gotten access to a firearm--except he lied 
about it. Because the Air Force refused to do its duty and upload those 
convictions into the background check system, he got away with it.
  One way we can begin to address at least some of these horrific 
incidents is through commonsense bipartisan solutions, such as the Fix 
NICS Act bill that I introduced. I am beyond gratified to know that 
many of our colleagues on the Democratic side and on the Republican 
side have come together to cosponsor this legislation.
  When it comes to guns in America, so much of your attitude is a 
product of where you were raised and how you were raised. In Texas, 
most Texans believe strongly in the Second Amendment to the U.S. 
Constitution. I do too. I believe in the right of law-abiding citizens 
to keep and bear firearms, but I also believe the background check 
system needs to be fixed. Commonsense, bipartisan solutions like the 
Fix NICS Act are critical, and we need to act without further delay.
  I am gratified that the Democratic leader and the majority leader are 
among those who cosponsored this legislation, and I hope we will take 
it up as soon as possible. When these terrible tragedies occur--like 
this one in Kentucky or the one in Italy, TX, most recently--most 
people say: We need to do something. We do need to do something, but 
specifically, we need to fix the broken background check system and 
save lives in the process.
  I don't know how any of us can go home and look into the faces of 
families who have lost loved ones because people have lied and evaded 
the background check system because it doesn't work the way it should--
I don't know how we can go home and look these families and victims in 
the face and say we have done our duty. Until we pass this legislation, 
we will not have done our duty.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.