[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 121 (Monday, July 12, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4811-S4812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Gun Violence

  Madam President, the Fourth of July, of course, is a night when you 
may not be able to get to bed early, with a lot of fireworks in 
celebration of our Nation's birthday, and it is celebrated from one 
corner of America to the next. But sadly, in many places on this Fourth 
of July, the noise you were hearing was not fireworks; it was gunfire.
  One hundred and four people were shot in Chicago. One hundred and 
four people were shot in Chicago on the Fourth of July weekend. 
Nineteen died. Among the wounded were 13 children and 2 Chicago police 
supervisors. The dead included, in Chicago, a National Guard member who 
was aspiring to join the Chicago Police Department.
  The week before the holiday, a 1-month-old baby girl was shot in the 
head during a mass shooting. A 20-year-old University of Chicago 
student, just riding on the L train, coming home from an internship at 
an investment firm in The Loop, was hit by a stray bullet. He, too, 
died.
  Two days after the Fourth of July weekend, two ATF agents and a 
Chicago police officer on an undercover operation were shot and 
wounded. It was the 36th Chicago police officer shot this year.
  This is madness. Chicago is not alone with this gun violence 
experience. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are just cruel 
taunts if anyone can be cut down anywhere in this great country by 
gunfire.
  Gun violence is a national crisis. At least 233 people were killed, 
and 618 people were injured by gunfire in the United States over the 
Fourth of July weekend, according to the Gun Violence Archive. 
Shootings are up this year in big cities but also in suburbs and rural 
areas. Don't believe it is only blue cities. It is blue cities and red 
cities and purple cities and small towns.
  Already this year, there have been nearly 23,000 gun violence deaths 
in America. Did you hear that? This year, 23,000 gun violence deaths in 
America--that includes more than 12,000 by suicide and fatalities from 
more than 340 mass shootings. Sadly, virtually every weekend there is a 
mass shooting in the city of Chicago, which I represent--340 mass 
shootings, nearly 2 a day.
  No other nation on Earth experiences this massive civilian slaughter. 
Neither should we. We must do more to keep guns out of the hands of 
criminals and others who are prohibited from having them.
  I met with the mayor of Chicago to talk about the Fourth of July 
weekend. We both agreed that more has to be done, and we are determined 
to work with President Biden, who is committed to this issue as well. 
But we also believe that we need to enforce the laws that are on the 
books. Specifically, we need to make sure that guns are not being sold 
to people without a background check.
  Convicted felons have no business buying a gun, nor do people who are 
mentally unstable. But, unfortunately, they can. There are many 
loopholes in the law. There are ways to sell these guns at a gun show, 
without a background check, or over the internet or ghost guns, which 
have no, basically, identifying serial number.
  We have to do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, and we 
can if we will just stand up--both parties stand up--and say: Enough. 
This is ridiculous, it is cruel, and it is heartbreaking.
  I have spoken with the mayor about the crisis in Chicago, and 
President Biden did the same when he came to Illinois last week. Today, 
the President is meeting at the White House with law enforcement, local 
elected officials, and others to discuss his administration's efforts 
to reduce gun crimes.
  The American Rescue Plan, which passed the U.S. Senate without a 
single Republican vote in support, included funding that communities 
can use for youth unemployment programs, mental health services, and 
other strategies to break the cycle of violence. The COVID rescue plan 
also included funding for local law enforcement to improve community 
policing practices.

[[Page S4812]]

  The Republicans like to make a big thing about the statements from 
some people about defunding the police. I never supported that, and 
most of the people I know had nothing to do with it. But here they are 
defunding the police themselves and voting against the American Rescue 
Plan.
  That plan is going to provide law enforcement more resources. We want 
that money to be spent properly, and we certainly want law enforcement 
to discharge their duties in a professional way. But additional 
resources can be and will be used effectively. I am sorry that not one 
single Republican Senator voted for that plan. I think it is not 
defunding the police; it is defending the police with the American 
Rescue Plan provisions.
  President Biden's American Jobs Plan, which we are now going to 
consider soon, is an opportunity for us to consider $5 billion to fund 
community violence prevention programs. I have introduced my bill, the 
RISE from Trauma Act, which would implement the proposal by funding 
trusted members of the community to tackle trauma and the pain that is 
at the root of violence.
  Last month, the President announced the creation of a new strike 
force, to be headed by the Justice Department, that will crack down on 
illegal drug trafficking in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, the San 
Francisco Bay area, and Washington, DC. I support this step.