[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Pages 29422-29423]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       THE TERROR OF GUN VIOLENCE

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the call to end gun violence has become all 
too commonplace during this session of Congress. It seems as if each 
day, another one of us comes to the floor to express our outrage. Last 
week, it was about workplace violence in Honolulu and Seattle--a total 
of nine dead. In September it was a church shooting in Texas--a total 
of seven dead. In August, gun shots were fired in a Jewish Community 
Center in Los Angeles--

[[Page 29423]]

five injured, and moments later, a federal worker was gunned down on 
the street. In July, another workplace shooting--again nine people 
killed, this time in Atlanta. The list goes on and on, including one 
shooting none of us can forget--15 dead in Littleton.
  Each month, we watch these tragedies unfold--we witness Americans 
running and screaming for their lives, toddlers being led hand-in-hand 
out of danger, even bloody teenagers dangling from windows. And as the 
helicopters and SWAT-teams come to more and more of our neighborhoods, 
we observe scenes that seem more suitable for a horror movie than the 
front page of our local papers.
  And, still, each month, we react in the same way. We express outrage, 
we condemn killers, we call for sensible gun safety legislation, but we 
do not act. Congress has done nothing this year to control these mass-
shootings or in any way, ease the agony that parents and families feel 
each day when they send their loved ones to school, church, or work.
  Mr. President, as Congress prepares to adjourn for the year, I send 
out this reminder: Americans have lost the sense of safety that they 
once felt in their schools and neighborhoods. They are frightened that 
the next breaking news story will be filmed on main street, rather than 
as a ``nightmare on elm street''. It is up to Congress to end gun 
violence and the all too familiar terror in the lives of ordinary 
Americans.

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