[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14268]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it has been more than a year since the 
Columbine tragedy, but still this Republican Congress refuses to act on 
sensible gun legislation.
  Since Columbine, thousands of Americans have been killed by gunfire. 
Until we act, Democrats in the Senate will read some of the names of 
those who lost their lives to gun violence in the past year, and we 
will continue to do so every day that the Senate is session.
  In the name of those who died, we will continue this fight. Following 
are the names of some of the people who were killed by gunfire one year 
ago today.
  July 13, 1999: Debbie Ahl, 39, Nashville, TN; Desiree Battle, 
Detroit, MI; Antonio Darias, 49, Miami-Dade County, FL; Leonardo Duran, 
18, Houston, TX; Doug Harris, 31, Cincinnati, OH; Stefanie Harris, 29, 
Cincinnati, OH; Romero Jones, 19, St. Louis, MO; Sigmund Linberger, 34, 
Akron, OH; Michael McKinnon, 18, Nashville, TN; Rodolfo Recendez, 32, 
Fort Worth, TX; Dylan Sertich, 22, Toledo, OH; Unidentified male, 16, 
Long Beach, CA; Unidentified male, 35, Nashville, TN.
  One of the victims of gun violence I mentioned, 19-year-old Romero 
Jones from Missouri, grew up in tough circumstances and turned his life 
around after a troublesome childhood. Romero worked with his city's 
``Cease Fire Program'' to reach out to young people to encourage them 
to give up their involvement with gangs and pursue job training and 
careers. Romero sat on the stage with President Clinton during the 
President's 1995 visit to St. Louis to discuss the city's successes in 
addressing crime.
  Romero was shot and killed in what police say was a case of mistaken 
identity--no drugs or money were found in Romero's home following his 
tragic death.
  We cannot sit back and allow such senseless gun violence to continue. 
The time has come to enact sensible gun legislation. Our country cannot 
afford to lose more of its promising young leaders like Romero Jones. 
His death is a reminder to all of us that we need to act now.

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