[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 126 (Monday, July 19, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4939-S4940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        NATIONALS PARK SHOOTING

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, on Saturday night, baseball fans at 
Nationals Park here in Washington, DC, not far from where we stand, 
were sent into a panic by a sound that has become all too familiar in 
American cities: the sound of gunfire.
  In the middle of the sixth inning, the teams left the field when it 
was reported that three people were shot outside the stadium on South 
Capitol Street. That burst of gunfire reverberated throughout the 
stadium. It could be heard on television and radio broadcasts of the 
game. It was bad; it could have been worse. Thankfully, nobody inside 
the stadium was harmed, and many thanks to the first responders for 
keeping the attendees safe.
  But the photos and videos from Saturday night tell a clear story. We 
are a nation that has become traumatized by gun violence.
  The Fourth of July weekend, the city of Chicago, a city I dearly love 
and am honored to represent, there were 104 gunshot victims that 
weekend, 19 deaths.
  We have come to accept, sadly, mass shooting as a possibility 
anywhere in America, at a baseball park, in a movie theater, in houses 
of worship, even in our schools.
  Mass shootings happen on the streets of Chicago almost every weekend. 
Just this last weekend, more than 50 were shot in our city, including 7 
children and teenagers. The sad reality is gun violence has become as 
American as baseball.
  The question before this Senate again and again and again is, Will we 
do anything about it? Will we take minimum steps to reduce gun violence 
in America, steps like making it more difficult for convicted felons 
and unstable people to buy firearms?
  Nearly every American supports that, and yet the gaps in the Federal 
gun laws continue. Right now, it is simply too easy for a convicted 
felon or person with a history of serious mental illness to buy a gun 
from an unlicensed dealer. A person--no questions asked--can easily buy 
a gun from an unlicensed seller just minutes away from the city of 
Chicago, in the State of Indiana, and that gun will be sold and resold 
many times over in our city of Chicago--many times the same day.
  In March, the House passed H.R. 8, a bipartisan measure to close the 
gaps in our background checks system. Senator Chris Murphy of 
Connecticut and Senator Manchin of West Virginia have been leading 
negotiations to get bipartisan support for that bill in the Senate. I 
am waiting for their signal, and I hope to receive it--that we are 
ready to move on that legislation.
  I hope Senate Republicans will join us in supporting this and other 
commonsense measures, like confirming a Director for the Agency that 
enforces the gun laws on the book--ATF--for the first time since 2015. 
Too many lives have been lost to gun violence in

[[Page S4940]]

this country. It is time for us to come together and put an end to the 
senseless violence.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Duckworth). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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