[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 113 (Monday, July 11, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3189-S3191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Highland Park Shooting

  Madam President, on June 8, 15 days after their 10-year-old daughter 
Lexi was murdered--murdered--at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, 
Kimberly and Felix Rubio testified before the House Committee on 
Oversight and Reform.
  In their testimony, Kimberly and Felix recalled the last time they 
ever saw their daughter. There was a school assembly. Lexi had received 
a Good Citizen Award and had been recognized for receiving straight 
A's. The family said: We are going to celebrate tonight. We are going 
to take the whole family out for ice cream, her parents told her. She 
was overjoyed. Then they said goodbye and sent her off to the 
classroom.
  Less than an hour later, in Uvalde, TX, an 18-year-old man armed with 
a military-style assault rifle stormed into Lexi's fourth grade 
classroom and shot and killed her and 18 of her classmates, along with 
2 teachers who tried their best to protect the kids. It was the 
deadliest school shooting in America in the decade since Sandy Hook in 
Connecticut.
  In her remarks to Congress, Lexi's mom Kimberly issued a prophetic 
warning. She said:

       There's a mom listening to our testimony thinking, ``I 
     can't even imagine [the pain of this family]''--not knowing 
     that our pain will one day be [her pain], unless we [do 
     something] now.

  That happened before our Fourth of July break, and I will have to 
tell you that there was an occurrence during that break, which I will 
never forget.
  If I had to choose one town to take one of my kids or grandkids to 
for a Fourth of July parade, it would be Highland Park, IL. What a 
great little town it is. People really care in that town, and they care 
for one another. It is a beautiful little suburban community in 
Chicago. I happen to know the mayor, Nancy Rotering, personally, and I 
know how hard she works to make that a great town to live in.
  Fourth of July was the day for their parade, and, as usual, thousands 
came out, carrying little American flags, proud of their country, 
wanting to celebrate not just America but Highland Park, that great 
community. Unfortunately, 1 week ago today, a young man armed with a 
military-style assault rifle climbed onto the roof of a building in 
Highland Park, IL, and, from his sniper's perch, opened fire on 
families gathered to watch the Fourth of July parade. Listen closely. 
He fired more than 80 rounds in less than a minute--80 rounds in less 
than a minute. He killed seven people and injured dozens more.
  I called the mayor of Highland Park a couple hours after this 
happened. I was in Michigan on a family vacation and was on my way as 
quickly as I could drive back to Highland Park in my home State.
  I reached Mayor Nancy Rotering and said: Can you tell me anything?
  She said: It is horrible. It is terrible. We are still looking to 
find the shooter.
  Can you imagine, she said they found a 2-year-old toddler wandering 
about, covered in blood. Fortunately, that toddler, the little boy, 
hadn't been shot, but they were circulating photos of his face in the 
hopes that they could identify family members. They figured the worse--
that little boy would be out alone because he had lost his parents.
  Kevin and Irina McCarthy were among those victims on the Fourth of 
July. They went to the parade with that 2-year-old boy, whose name is 
Aiden. When the shooting started, Kevin placed his body over Aiden to 
protect him. He died protecting his son. His son's mother died right 
next to him.
  Another parade-goer saw Aiden, his little legs smeared with his 
father's blood, and carried him to safety. The poor little boy could 
not even say his full name. They started searching for relatives and 
family. Aiden is now with his grandparents. He lost both his mom and 
dad at that parade.

  Jacki Sundheim was a beloved preschool teacher at North Shore 
Congregation Israel. You should see the outpouring of letters talking 
about these people whose names I have mentioned here, how beloved they 
were in their community. Jacki was one of them.
  Katie Goldstein went to the parade with her daughter Cassie. When the 
shooting started, Katie and her daughter starting running, but Katie 
was shot in the chest and fell. Cassie said she leaned over her dying 
mother and told her she loved her, but she couldn't stop running 
because the gunman was still shooting.
  Stephen Strauss, what a story--a financial adviser who still worked 
full time at the age of 88 because he loved his work, and he loved 
life. He used to take the train in from Highland Park to downtown 
Chicago every single day. He and his wife Linda were 2 months shy of 
their 60th wedding anniversary.
  Nicolas Toledo-Zaragosa came to Highland Park 2 years ago from Mexico 
to visit his family. He was in a wheelchair following a recent 
accident. He was shot in the chest and killed in that same wheelchair.
  Eduardo Uvaldo was a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He 
and his wife had just celebrated their 50th anniversary. The Fourth of 
July was Eduardo's favorite holiday. He couldn't wait to go to the 
parade. He was shot in the back of the head and died 2 days later in 
the hospital.
  Now there is an additional story I want you to hear. It is about this 
little boy. Cooper Roberts was among the 46 parade-goers who were 
injured. He went to the parade with his twin brother Luke and his mom 
and dad. He is 8 years old. He loves playing baseball and soccer. His 
brother Luke suffered shrapnel wounds in his arm, and his mom Keely was 
shot in her leg and in her foot.
  I want to read from an article in the Chicago Sun-Times that was 
printed just within the last 2 days to tell you what has happened to 
this little boy.


[[Page S3190]]


  

       The bullet that hit [this little boy] Cooper Roberts in the 
     mass shooting at Highland Park's Fourth of July parade tore a 
     ``very perilous'' path through his small body.

  You see, the military-assault weapon which was used by the shooter is 
not just another gun; it is a military-style weapon. Smith & Wesson, 
which makes the weapon, advertised it as an M&P weapon. I didn't know 
what that meant. Now I do--military and police weapon. The bullets that 
leave that gun, shot from that gun, travel at two to three times the 
velocity of an ordinary gun. When they hit the human body, they don't 
just pass through it; they shred the organs in the body on the way out 
the other side.
  For poor little Cooper who was shot:

       [I]t caught his liver and esophagus, severed his spinal 
     cord and caused so much internal bleeding that doctors had to 
     take extraordinary measures to save his life.
       Despite the horrific injuries, his doctors said Sunday that 
     Cooper's condition has been stabilized. He was scheduled for 
     more surgery Monday at the University of Chicago's Comer 
     Children's Hospital.

  The family put out a written statement that said:

       He is in a great deal of pain--physically and emotionally--
     especially as the family had to share with him the 
     devastating news that he is paralyzed from the waist down.
       Cooper's twin and ``best friend'' Luke also was wounded, 
     struck by shrapnel in his leg. Their mother, Keely Roberts, 
     was injured as well.
       Seven people were killed and dozens were injured. . . . The 
     bullet that struck Cooper entered his upper abdomen, just 
     below his diaphragm, ``not his chest as originally 
     believed,'' according to the doctors, who said it damaged the 
     left side of his liver, his esophagus and his abdominal 
     aorta. That last injury--

  To his aorta--

     was so bad that the doctors had to replace a section of the 
     large blood vessel with a ``synthetic graft in adult size so 
     he can grow into it.''
       A hole in his esophagus was sewn closed, and the portion of 
     his liver hit by the gunshot was repaired. The surgery 
     planned Monday was for more repairs on his esophagus.
       Cooper's abdomen was temporarily kept open with a 
     ``specialized vacuum dressing'' because of the ``severity'' 
     of his wounds and the number of blood transfusions he 
     underwent, according to his family.
       They said the bullet exited his back, severing his spinal 
     cord. While he is paralyzed from the waist down, [they report 
     he] suffered no brain damage and has experienced no effect on 
     his cognitive function.
       He was able to breathe on his own and speak by Friday after 
     being kept on a ventilator for four days. He remains in 
     serious condition.
       ``The family wishes to acknowledge and thank the many, many 
     people--emergency medics, police, fire department, nurses and 
     doctors and both hospitals--who did'' [such extraordinary 
     work].

  I read the details of this because I want those who are following 
this debate to hear them and take a look at this.
  What did he do wrong? He went to the Fourth of July parade with his 
mom and dad. I am sure he was as happy as you see him in this picture. 
And because a man with a military-style rifle went berserk and fired on 
his family, his life has changed forever.
  Why? Why do we put up with this in this country? This break--Fourth 
of July break--will always be remembered by me as not just another 
recess from the Senate but a moment when my State was under attack from 
the madness that we have in this country when it comes to weapons under 
the Second Amendment.
  The Senator from Kentucky said earlier we need originalists, we need 
textualists in the U.S. Senate. The Presiding Officer has heard that 
many times.
  Stick with the words of the Constitution. Just go back and find out 
what they meant. Let me read the Second Amendment so there is no 
question what it says:

       A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security 
     of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear 
     Arms, shall not be infringed.

  Do you think, in their wildest imagination, the Founding Fathers 
conceived of a weapon that could fire off 90 rounds in less than a 
minute? At a time when you are dealing with muskets and it took minutes 
to load the musket even if you were skilled, do you think they even had 
that in a concept they could imagine? I don't.
  Originalism? Keep and bear arms? How did it come to the point now 
where that has been a rationalization for the sale of a military 
assault weapon? AR-15s are the generic class of these weapons, these 
military assault weapons. I set out on a journey to figure out just how 
many there were in America. I started asking. The honest answer is 
people don't know. Somewhere between 10 and 20 million--10 and 20 
million military assault weapons already sold in America. The total 
number of firearms in this country: 400 million for a nation of 350 
million people, more than 1 firearm for every living American. That is 
the point we have reached.
  And if you want the right to bear a firearm for sport or hunting 
purposes, count me as supporting that effort. It is a tradition in my 
family in the Midwest and many, but I can tell you this; it is a 
tradition which was treated very, very sensibly. Guns--and they were 
possessed by most members of my family--were always under lock and key 
for fear that a child could get their hands on it.
  What is happening now when these young people below the age of 21 are 
turning around and buying these weapons?
  And let's take a look at what the industry is doing with these 
weapons because it tells us the story of what is happening. According 
to the Gun Violence Archive, the Highland Park parade shooting was the 
309th mass shooting this year in America--309 already in 27 weeks, more 
than 11 mass shootings each week, more than 1 a day.
  What is a mass shooting? When four people are injured or killed by 
gunfire. And while mass shootings get the most headlines, they are far 
from the only shootings in America. At least 220 people were killed and 
close to 570 others were injured in shootings over the Fourth of July 
weekend, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
  We have come to accept this as the reality of life in America. Other 
countries look at us and shake their heads: How can these great 
Americans, as smart as they are, let this situation spin out of 
control?
  Thirty miles south of Highland Park on the Fourth of July in the city 
of Chicago, 10 people were killed, 62 injured by gun violence over that 
weekend.
  Now, the new bipartisan gun law, which the President highlighted 
today at the White House, passed last month. It didn't go as far as 
many of us liked, but it will save lives. And it certainly doesn't 
violate any aspect of the Second Amendment. It is the most significant 
gun law we have considered and passed in 30 years.
  So what do you think if I ask you the question: What are the symbols 
of American freedom and independence? What would you say? Oh, the 
Declaration of Independence? I agree. The Constitution and Bill of 
Rights? Certainly. The Emancipation Proclamation? I might include that. 
Fireworks and a Fourth of July parade?
  Well, let me show you what the marketing giants in the shooting 
industry have identified:
  ``Engineered to the specs of freedom and independence.''
  The MMR tactical rifle, part of the same class of weapons used by the 
killer in Highland Park--this is what one gun manufacturer, Mossberg, 
wants you to believe is the epitome of American freedom and 
independence. This is an actual ad for an AR-15-style semiautomatic 
assault rifle shown here. And, incidentally, it has a high-capacity 
magazine.

  The shooter in Highland Park had three of these high-capacity 
magazines and was able to fire 90 rounds because of it. Take a look at 
this advertisement from the same industry telling civilians, ``Use what 
they use''--use the same guns that soldiers and marines use in combat 
but use them, sadly, in towns like Highland Park, IL, and Uvalde, TX.
  This ad is from a company called Daniel Defense. One of their 
semiautomatic assault rifles was used to murder those 19 children in 
Uvalde, TX. Daniel Defense semiautomatic assault rifles were also found 
in the room of the killer who murdered--murdered--60 concertgoers and 
injured more than 400 others at the Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas 
in 2017, the worst mass shooting in the history of the United States. 
But, with pride, they advertise these weapons.
  These kinds of reckless ads for assault weapons didn't exist 30 years 
ago. That is when gun manufacturers looked into the future and saw a 
problem. They realized that Americans

[[Page S3191]]

weren't going out hunting like they used to or even sport shooting. So 
they had to create a new craving, a new appetite for a weapon. They 
needed to attract a new customer to new sorts of weapons. So they 
created ads like these, equating freedom and independence with these 
little killing machines.
  It gets worse. Here is an ad for a new assault rifle that came out 
this year. The AR-15 is the weapon of choice, as I mentioned, for mass 
shootings. This is an ad for a JR-15, a junior AR-15. It is 
manufactured by Wee 1 Tactical. I am sorry to say it is an Illinois 
company. It is like an AR-15, but it is designed for kids--20 percent 
smaller and lighter. It is designed for children under the age of 18.
  Look at the logos in this ad and look closely. They are the same 
logos that are imprinted on the weapon. They show these skulls of 
children with pacifiers in their mouths. You will find that same symbol 
on the gun that they sell.
  Today, the tobacco companies are creating vaping products with 
flavors like cotton candy and gummy bears to hook kids on nicotine. 
This gun manufacturer uses cartoon skulls sucking on pacifiers to try 
to hook children on using military-style assault weapons. Those weapons 
belong not at towns like Highland Park but on the battlefield--not in 
our communities and certainly not in the hands of children.
  Current Federal law affords the firearms industry broad and 
unjustifiable immunity from civil liability. What would you think if a 
major automobile manufacturer sold a car in this country and the brakes 
did not work? Should they be held liable? Few would question that. But 
if a gun manufacturer makes a gun that is inherently dangerous or 
negligently manufactured, that is dangerous in and of itself, the gun 
industry has bought immunity in the law at the Federal level so they 
cannot be sued for that dangerous product. Dangerous car? The 
manufacturer can be sued. Dangerous gun? No liability.
  Current Federal law allows the firearm industry broad and 
unjustifiable immunity from civil liability, but that immunity is not 
unlimited. Firearms manufacturers do not have a license to recklessly 
peddle high-powered killing machines to those who should not have them. 
They should be held accountable, and, believe me, the Senate Judiciary 
Committee is going to look at that law.
  These assault rifles, these weapons of war, are killing our kids and 
threatening our communities in Buffalo, Uvalde, Highland Park, and so 
many other places. The death tolls and the tragedies will continue to 
multiply until we act.
  Madam President, I will close by saying today I saw our Governor, JB 
Pritzker, who came to the ceremony at the White House, together with 
Nancy Rotering, the mayor of Highland Park. I want to commend both of 
them for their leadership, and I want to thank the first responders. 
One week ago, the night of the shooting, I finally made it to Highland 
Park and went through and thanked all of the first responders--the ATF 
agents who so quickly identified this rifle as belonging to the man who 
was ultimately charged. I say to my colleagues: Let's waste no time and 
put a director at ATF. We need him now more than ever.
  And to all those who responded, gave up their Fourth of July and did 
what they were asked to do so many times, risked their own lives for 
the safety of others, our heartfelt thanks. We owe them everything. 
From the medical crews who turned around on an emergency basis and did 
such miraculous things for all the people who were injured, our thanks 
are there and will be forever.
  But now it is our turn not just to praise those who showed courage 
but to show courage ourselves. Can we summon the courage to put an end 
to these military assault rifles and say that this is not part of any 
Second Amendment right in America; that these are killing weapons? 
Sadly, we have too many lost lives to show for it.
  I will close with Cooper's picture again. This perfect little boy--8 
years old--went to the Fourth of July parade to celebrate our country 
and be with his family, and his life will never be the same.
  What are we going to do about it?
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Duckworth). The Senator from Illinois.

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