[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 83 (Monday, May 21, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2783-S2784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Santa Fe High School Shooting

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on Friday morning there was yet another 
shooting in a school in America. Another community was torn apart by 
senseless violence. It was another week when parents must bury their 
children. We are still learning the tragic details of what happened in 
Santa Fe, but the basic reality in America remains unchanged: Far too 
many people are dying from gun violence.
  What we need now more than ever is real, substantive debate on gun 
violence in America--a real debate about universal background checks, a 
real debate about protective orders, and a real

[[Page S2784]]

debate on regulating assault weapons, which are often the weapon of 
choice in the most deadly mass shootings.
  In the wake of Parkland, it looked like President Trump would finally 
get religion on this issue. He promised a serious debate on gun 
violence, but as soon as the NRA and their special interest cronies 
closed ranks around him, he backed off. That seems to be the pattern of 
this administration. The President says something one day, and then 
some powerful interest says: Don't do it, and he backs right off. That 
is not the kind of strength he wishes to show, and he sure hasn't shown 
it on this issue.
  After this most recent tragedy in Santa Fe, we have heard no new 
calls for commonsense gun safety from the White House, but this Chamber 
can still act. I implore my friends across the aisle to take up this 
debate. We owe it to the people of Santa Fe, TX, to the people of 
Parkland, FL, and to every other community that lives at the mercy of 
the gaping loopholes in our gun laws.