[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 22, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2802-S2803]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Santa Fe High School Shooting

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, last Friday, America watched in horror 
as the news story broke of yet another school shooting, this time at 
Santa Fe High School in Texas.
  Eight students and two teachers were fatally shot. Thirteen victims 
were wounded in another devastating tragedy. The alleged gunman was a 
student who came into the school with his parents' shotgun and handgun 
and used them to commit mass murder.
  Of course, we grieve for the families and victims in Santa Fe, and, 
of course, we are grateful for first responders who ran toward the 
sound of gunfire. But let's be honest--the shooting in Santa Fe High 
was, by one count, the 22nd school shooting in America this year. We 
are in the 21st week of this year. We have had more than one school 
shooting a week in the United States of America. America's 
schoolchildren, sadly, now go to school expecting that there will be a 
shooter on the premises.
  After the Santa Fe High School shooting, a reporter interviewed a 
student named Paige Curry at the school. The reporter asked: ``Was 
there a part of you that was like, this isn't real, this could not 
happen at my school?''
  Paige Curry replied: ``There wasn't.''
  When the reporter asked why so, she said: ``It's been happening 
everywhere. I've always felt it would eventually happen here too.''
  Can you imagine we have reached this point in America if that is how 
many of our Nation's high schoolers think? Sadly, in Paige Curry's 
case, she was right. Her school was the target last week.
  On Sunday, the New York Times posted an article titled ``New Reality 
for High School Students: Calculating the Risk of Getting Shot.''
  The article discussed how students across America, from Iowa to 
Oklahoma, from Illinois to Mississippi, from Seattle to New York, are 
now forced to go through their day planning what they would do if the 
shooting starts in their school.
  The article quotes one student, a sophomore in a New York high 
school, describing how vulnerable her desks were in each class where 
she sat.
  She started making mental calculations about when the gunman came to 
the door whether she would be in the line of fire. She said her English 
class is the safest class for her each day because it is down a 
hallway, and it makes it hard for the shooter to find it, but her math 
class makes her particularly vulnerable because she said she sits in 
the second desk in the second row in a direct path from the door. The 
student, whose name is Emily Rubenstein, said:

       It's like the front lines of a war. Being seated in front 
     of the classroom could be what makes you live and what makes 
     you die.

  It is not just high schoolers who think this way; my 6-year-old 
granddaughter came home and told her mom recently that she had been 
warned that if there is a shooter in the school--she is a first-
grader--if there is a shooter in the school, stay away from the windows 
and get down on the floor as quickly as possible.
  Is there any sane person in America who thinks our kids should be 
going

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through this? Is there any sane person in America who believes this is 
expected by the Second Amendment to our Bill of Rights?
  Let's be clear. Addressing our Nation's epidemic of gun violence and 
school shootings should be a top priority. About 300 Americans are shot 
every day, a third of them fatally. Gun violence is a public health 
crisis. It is traumatizing an entire generation of America's kids.
  In recent weeks, students across the country have marched in the 
streets, walked out of their classrooms to call on us--elected 
leaders--to step up and do something to reduce gun violence. The 
students are having an impact. At least 15 States have passed 
legislation to close gaps in their State gun laws since February 14, 
which was the date of the Parkland shooting in Florida. Four States--
Maryland, Florida, Vermont, and Washington--have passed bills to ban 
bump stocks. Congress has not. Seven States have passed bills to make 
it harder for domestic violence abusers to get guns--Kansas, New York, 
Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington. Congress has not. Three 
States have passed red flag laws to temporarily remove guns from people 
who pose extreme risks--Florida, Maryland, and Vermont.
  These State-level reforms are significant, and they are even 
happening in States such as Florida and Kansas, which have a reputation 
of being friendly to the gun lobby. I hope my State of Illinois will 
soon join the ranks of the States that have passed meaningful State-
level gun measures this year. We came close in Illinois when the 
General Assembly passed a landmark, bipartisan bill to provide more 
accountability for gun dealers' sales. Governor Bruce Rauner 
unfortunately vetoed that bill, but the General Assembly is working 
hard to put a revised bill back on his desk.
  In addition to these State law reforms, the student movement has 
brought major changes in corporate behavior. Major gun retailers, such 
as Dick's Sporting Goods and Walmart, have voluntarily changed their 
sales practices. Companies such as Delta, United, Hertz, and Avis ended 
affinity relationships with the National Rifle Association. 
Institutional investors and financial companies are now pressuring the 
gun industry to change its behavior. These businesses understand that 
inaction is not an option. The student movement for gun safety has 
helped them realize this.
  Unfortunately, it is extremely unlikely that this Congress will take 
any meaningful action this year to reduce gun violence in America. Why? 
Because President Trump and the Republican majority in Congress still 
won't push for any gun reforms that the gun lobby opposes. They are 
letting the gun lobby dictate Federal policy. That is a mistake. It is 
disgraceful. The gun lobby cares about one thing above all else: 
selling guns. They are not going to support any reforms that might 
reduce their sales.
  On Sunday, the incoming president of the National Rifle Association, 
Oliver North--you may remember him from the Iran-Contra controversy--
blamed everything from video games to Ritalin for our epidemic of 
school shootings. He blamed everything except guns.
  In fact, rather than support efforts to strengthen our gun laws, the 
gun lobby is gearing up for their last big push this year to urge 
Congress to weaken our gun laws even further. On April 16, the 
Washington Examiner reported that longtime NRA board member Grover 
Norquist ``said he has received assurance from the Republican 
leadership'' that Congress will put the NRA's concealed carry 
reciprocity bill on the agenda this year before the August recess.
  Make no mistake--as appropriations bills and the Defense 
authorization bill move through Congress, the gun lobby and their 
allies are looking to weaken the gun laws on the books even more than 
they already have. America, keep your eye on Congress.
  To all the students and young people across America who are asking 
for leadership when it comes to reducing gun violence, many of us hear 
you loud and clear, and we are not giving up. Congress may not get the 
job done this year when it comes to closing the enormous gaps in our 
gun laws, but this movement of young people is making incredible things 
happen in statehouses across America. They are rapidly becoming a major 
force for change in corporate behavior, and they are soon-to-be voters. 
This movement is getting results, and Congress is going to have to 
choose whom it will listen to--the students who are spending their 
class time thinking about whether their desks are in the line of fire 
or the gun lobbyists who want to further weaken gun laws on the books 
so they can make more gun sales.
  I know where I stand. I am going to keep doing everything I can to 
put the safety of my granddaughter, my grandson, and kids in our 
neighborhoods across America ahead of the gun lobby's agenda of selling 
more guns. We may not be able to stop every shooting in our schools and 
in our streets, but if Congress takes meaningful action to close the 
gaps in our gun laws, we will save lives.