[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 25, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2694-S2695]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Robb Elementary School Shooting

  Madam President, I can't leave the floor of the Senate today without 
talking about the heartbreaking shooting that took place at Robb 
Elementary School in Texas yesterday.
  Nineteen children, two teachers at an elementary school. These were 
kids who were excited for summer, playdates with their friends--
murdered by weapons of war.
  This carnage is happening right here in America in fourth grade 
classrooms.
  My heart breaks for the family and loved ones of these kids and their 
teachers, not to mention the kids and educators who will carry the 
trauma of that day with them for the rest of their lives.
  But I am also furious. A lot of people have characterized this 
tragedy as ``unthinkable.'' But at this point, this kind of tragedy is 
not unthinkable. Parents in Washington State and everywhere else in 
America think about this all the time. They think about it every day 
when they drop off their kids at school. How can you not? They thought 
about it after the shooting in Buffalo at a grocery store 10 days 
earlier. They think about it every time there is another mass shooting, 
which is far, far too often--3,865 times since the Sandy Hook school 
shooting 10 years ago, to be exact.
  What is unthinkable is that every time this happens, nothing changes. 
Every time, Republicans stand in the way of meaningful action. That is 
not just unthinkable; it is unacceptable.
  But we don't have to live like this. This is a solvable problem. 
Republicans need to have the courage, the decency, the basic concern 
for the lives of our kids to work with Democrats on commonsense gun 
safety reforms.
  They need to decide should school be a place where our kids and 
teachers feel safe, where they can talk about homework and class 
projects, where they can be kids and laugh about whatever happened 
during lunch or art class? Or will they continue to be a place where 
school shooter drills are as routine as recess or algebra for our kids?
  I want my colleagues to consider that.
  What message are you sending to parents and kids, to teachers and 
students if you won't even allow a debate on commonsense measures like 
universal background checks?
  I have heard Republican lawmakers talk about the need to have police 
officers at every school. I wish it were that simple, but we know it is 
not.
  We saw yesterday that having an armed officer onsite at schools will 
not solve this crisis, despite the best efforts of law enforcement.
  Some Republicans have suggested arming teachers. Are you kidding? Can 
you hear yourself? Teachers did not sign up to be soldiers, and guns 
have no place in our classroom.
  Some Republicans will say: Well, this is a mental health issue. So 
let me be clear: America is facing a mental health and substance use 
disorder crisis. It is serious. It requires urgency, and I am actively 
working on bipartisan legislation to expand access to prevention and 
treatment and recovery services.
  But I want to make this plain: The majority of people with mental 
illness do not commit violence against others.
  Treating gun violence as a mental health issue rather than a gun 
issue will never get us to the root cause of these horrific shootings.
  If we want to get at the heart of really stopping gun violence, I beg 
my colleagues to pull their heads out of the sand and finally start 
talking about what can really address this crisis of gun violence: 
commonsense gun safety legislation--and there is no getting around it--
universal background checks and an assault weapons ban.
  Now, I am ready to work with any Republican to make any kind of 
meaningful progress here. States like mine have made good progress on 
gun safety measures to keep our communities safe, but we cannot count 
on a patchwork of laws where one State requires background checks and 
another one right next door does not. We need Federal action. We need 
to get something done.
  To my constituents in Washington State and the American people, I 
know and understand it can be disheartening to parents around the 
country to see the continued Republican obstruction on gun safety in 
Congress. Change is not easy, but let me be clear: Doing nothing and 
letting this continue to happen is the most extreme option on the 
table.
  I have come to the floor of the Senate countless times to call for 
action to keep our kids and our families safe from gun violence, just 
to have Republicans block our efforts again and again. It is 
frustrating. It is infuriating. But I will keep pushing for gun safety 
laws that the majority of Americans do support because we cannot give 
up. That is what the NRA and other extremists want us to do. The vast 
majority of Americans have made clear, they want an end to gun 
violence.
  And I refuse to let Republicans get away with this yet again, to 
dance around the real issue, to distract us with conversations about 
arming teachers or tripwires outside elementary schools. Enough. 
Enough.
  We need to force Republicans to bear witness to the tragic 
consequences of their inaction. We need people and families across the 
country to do the same. No one gets to look away. No one gets to change 
the subject. I promise all of the students and parents, grandparents, 
teachers, everyone in Washington State that despite the obstruction and 
silence from my Republican colleagues, I will not stay quiet and I will 
keep pushing for change and I really hope the American people will do 
the same.
  Using our voices and our votes, we can change things. We can hold 
Republicans accountable, and we can make progress to end gun violence.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ossoff). The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, it seems very appropriate that Senator 
Murray, our chair of the HELP Committee--she and I--I am the chair of 
the Finance Committee--often work together on these issues. As 
Northwest colleagues, we see how serious and how incredibly damaging 
the last 24 hours have been to our country.
  I am going to speak in a few minutes about a Health and Human 
Services nomination, but I want to pick up where Senator Murray left 
off with respect to guns and specifically talk about the atrocity--the 
atrocity--that took place yesterday in Texas.
  I think Senators can barely begin to imagine the pain the families in 
Texas are feeling at this moment. They are living every parent's worst 
nightmare.
  This morning, around the country millions and millions of parents 
dropped kids off at school, and they were fearful. In a country that we 
all believe is and must continue to be the greatest country on Earth, 
parents drop their kids off at school in fear that a gunman would walk 
into their classrooms and murder them.
  Let's think about that.
  And it has been going on for decades--decades--in our country. We can 
remember the sinking, empty feeling after Sandy Hook. For a few days, 
there was a glimmer of hope that the Senate would do something on a 
bipartisan basis, but then the other side caved to the gun lobby. 
Congress has done nothing in response to all this carnage in our 
schools, in our grocery stores, in our churches. Atrocity after 
atrocity after atrocity, and yet people still live in fear that their 
kids are next. They live with hopelessness due

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to the fact that their elected officials are unwilling to act.
  There are no excuses left. This happened in a State that is flooded 
with guns. There was armed security at the school and still 19 kids and 
two teachers are dead, still their families are broken. No excuses.
  Perhaps that is why I have heard multiple Republicans say today that 
there is nothing you can do to stop the shootings; that they are just 
going to happen. That is the way it is. They are going to happen 
regardless.
  I just believe with all my being that is just nonsense, and it is 
ridiculous coming from so many Senators who haven't lifted a finger to 
do anything about the violence.
  My wife always says I am a glass-half-full guy. I try to be positive, 
always about bringing the two sides together. But on this issue, I 
don't know what else to say. The truth is that if we act, then maybe--
maybe--it will be possible to prevent another massacre in another 
school. That should be enough. That should be enough.
  The 100 of us here in the Senate are the ones with the power to act--
not anybody else. It is about us. So, Senators, we have got a choice, 
either we can choose to act on moral courage or just let the fear and 
hopelessness win out. As far as I am concerned, if you don't have the 
moral courage to act here on the Senate floor or at least try to 
prevent more of these massacres, then you ought to hang it up, go home, 
and let somebody else have the job.