[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 178 (Friday, November 9, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1501-E1502]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




ON THE TRAGEDY IN THE THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA WHICH CLAIMED THE LIVES 
         OF TWELVE INNOCENTS LOST IN A SENSELESS MASS SHOOTING

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, November 9, 2018

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in sadness over the latest mass 
shooting, which occurred Wednesday evening, November 7, in Thousand 
Oaks, California when an armed 29-year-old man walked into the 
Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, opened fire, and 
killed 12 persons, including a 29-year veteran of the Ventura County 
Sheriff's Department who was on the eve of retirement.
  The location of the shooting is especially tragic because the 
Borderline Bar & Grill was a sanctuary for survivors of last year's Las 
Vegas mass shooting--which ended the lives of 58 people--to gather and 
reflect in fellowship and support, following the horror of that night.
  I am grateful to all first-responders for their quick work in 
containing this tragedy, including their valiance in limiting the loss 
of life.
  As has now almost become commonplace, a community will begin the 
process of mourning those lost, and burying those who perished.
  Then, before long, the country will return to life as normal, 
forgetting what transpired just outside of Los Angeles Wednesday night.
  Beyond the horror of last night, Americans from across the nation and 
from all walks of life must consider that this is the 307th mass 
shooting event on the 311th day of this calendar year.
  It comes less than two weeks after a gunman fueled by hate entered 
the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and killed 11 parishioners in 
what constituted the largest hate crime against Jews in the history of 
the United States.
  Americans are not more mentally-ill than citizens from other 
countries; we are not independently more prone to gun violence more 
than citizens from other countries; nor are the movies we watch and the 
music we listen to more violent than other comparable societies or 
countries.
  The common thread through all of these shootings is the ready, easy 
access to firearms, ammunition, and weapons of war.
  If we are to tackle this problem, we must be clear-eyed about the 
cause and harbor the resolve to forge a solution.
  Congress and leaders throughout the nation must tackle this scourge 
and stem the tide of gun violence in the country.
  If we do not, we are destined to be little more than helpless 
bystanders, and our citizens will continue to suffer and die.
  On October 24, 2018, in Louisville, Kentucky, a man fatally shot 
Maurice E. Stallard, inside a supermarket, and then killed Vickie Lee 
Jones, in the parking lot outside.
  Both were grandparents.
  There was no provocation to the killings, and the suspect was 
apprehended.
  He is white, and his two victims were African American.
  He had no connection to either victim, or the supermarket where he 
committed his murders.
  Reports indicate that prior to the shootings, the suspect attempted 
but failed to enter a nearby black church.
  Three of the deadliest mass shootings in American history have 
occurred within the last year, including one in a church in Sutherland 
Springs, in my home state of Texas.
  In early November of 2017, twenty-six people were killed at First 
Baptist Church in rural Sutherland Springs, Texas, authorities said.
  The church attacker was identified as 26-year-old Devin Patrick 
Kelley of New Braunfels, Texas.
  Kelley was a former member of the U.S. Air Force charged in military 
court in 2012 on suspicion of assaulting his spouse and their child.
  Kelley received a bad conduct discharge, confinement for 12 months, 
and was demoted to E-1, or airman basic.
  On the day of the attack, Kelley dressed in all-black ``tactical-type 
gear'' and was wearing a ballistic vest and was armed with two weapons, 
a rifle and a handgun.
  Kelley purchased the gun he used in the church shooting, a Ruger AR-
556 rifle, in April 2016 from an Academy Sports + Outdoors store in San 
Antonio.
  Earlier this year, a 17-year-old student armed with a shotgun and a 
pistol stormed Santa Fe High School, about 30 miles southeast of 
Houston, and opened fire in an art class, officials said.
  The gunman killed 10 people and wounded at least 10 others, including 
a school resource officer who was left in critical condition, police 
said, before surrendering to the officers who confronted him.
  Of those killed, eight were students and two were teachers, Santa Fe 
Independent School District Superintendent Leigh Wall said in a letter 
to parents.
  The mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 
Parkland, Florida, which occurred in early February, was the eighteenth 
such mass shooting event in the first month-and-a-half of 2018.
  The gunman, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, was believed to have been armed 
with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle and multiple magazines.
  Six months prior to the Parkland shooting, the FBI was alerted after 
a YouTube user named ``Nikolas Cruz'' posted a comment stating ``I'm 
going to be a professional school shooter'' on the video site YouTube.
  We see that these domestic terrorists have chosen to attack Americans 
in all facets of our daily lives.
  This year alone 328 Americans have died and 1,251 Americans have been 
injured in mass shootings around the country.

[[Page E1502]]

  The United States has 46 percent of the global firearms available for 
public use but only 4 percent of the global population.
  Social media has created a new avenue for bullying through cyber 
bullying thus creating a new set of mental health issues for 
professionals around the country to diagnose.
  I fervently encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
develop a bipartisan agenda to draft legislation aimed at protecting 
our families and children from the careless possession and usage of 
guns in this country.

                          ____________________