[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6265]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   VIRGINIA TECH ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CAROLYN McCARTHY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 16, 2008

  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
the 1-year anniversary of the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech 
University.
  Madam Speaker, today, April 16, 2008, marks one of the darkest days 
in our Nation's history. A year ago today, 32 innocent lives were 
mercilessly cut short in their prime. A year ago today, families and 
friends lost their loved ones in a crime of unspeakable horror. A year 
ago today, we, the American people once again lost a piece of ourselves 
and our sense of security.
  These poor people. Their poor families. These were real people that 
were killed. They were our sons and daughters. This was our American 
family that was impacted on April 16, 2007.
  The shooting at Virginia Tech was the deadliest school shooting ever 
seen on our soil.
  Far too many times we have stood here in this Chamber commemorating 
days like today. Days when we reflect on what evil can come to bear on 
good people and we make grand proclamations about how we will do 
everything we can to make sure that it will never happen again. Never 
again.
  And here we are--again.
  The cynics among us will no doubt throw their hands up in the air and 
claim that this is just the way things are. What can we do?
  Can we ever stop these nightmares from happening in the first place, 
so we don't have to hear about another life needlessly lost? The answer 
is most likely an unsettling no.
  The fact is that someday, somewhere, despite all of our best efforts, 
we will probably come together again sometime down the line and we will 
deliver similar speeches and we will once again feel the helpless 
confusion that we have become so uneasily and reluctantly accustomed 
to.
  No, we can't say that there will never be another shooting of major 
proportions like the one at Virginia Tech, but we can say that we will 
do everything in our power to close any loophole we can find that would 
make it easier for another individual to commit such a heinous crime.
   We have made strides in the right direction. In January, this 
Congress passed and the President signed into law the National Instant 
Criminal Background Check System Improvement Amendments Act.
  This bill was a step in the right direction toward keeping guns out 
of the hands of the people who stand to do the most harm with them. In 
fact, based on his diagnosed mental illness, it is possible that the 
killer, Mr. Cho, might not have been able to acquire the weapons he 
used on his murderous rampage.
  We can and will save lives as a result of the mechanisms put in place 
through the passage of this legislation. But in order for the 
Improvements to NICS to be truly effective, we must make sure that this 
Congress steps up to the plate and appropriately funds the legislation 
that we all supported. This measure is too important to play politics 
with, and I call on my colleagues to stand with me and do the right 
thing by fully funding the NICS Improvement Amendments Act.
  But beyond keeping guns out of the wrong hands, we need to make sure 
that systems are in place that will keep our Nation's college campuses 
safe.
  Last week I stood with the families of Virginia Tech victims and 
announced the introduction of the ``Virginia Tech Victims Campus 
Emergency Response Policy and Notification Act,'' H.R. 5735, also know 
as the VTV Act.
  The bill amends the Jean Clery Act and requires schools to provide 
warnings within 30 minutes after campus or local law enforcement 
officials have determined there is an emergency or dangerous situation 
on campus.
  Had Virginia Tech quickly warned students that there was a gunman on 
campus when first two murders were confirmed, many of the victims may 
have sought shelter or stayed put. Instead, people went about their 
normal day with no knowledge of the danger they were about to 
encounter.
  No notifications were sent until 9:26 a.m., when the school emailed 
students that there was a shooting, and to watch for suspicious 
behavior. At 9:45 a.m., the second round of shootings occurred. But by 
that time, students had already gone to their classes.
  Many believe if the students had been notified earlier, they might 
not have gone to class and some might not have been exposed to the 
shooter.
  If the warnings required by the VTV Act were in place on April 16, 
2007, lives might have been saved.
  Joe Samaha, father of Virginia Tech victim Reema Samaha said last 
week that, ``If we do not learn the lesson, we will have lost our 
students for nothing.''
  Let's honor the memories of those students and work to be proactive 
and do anything necessary to make sure that we can deliver fewer and 
fewer statements commemorating tragedies like Virginia Tech.
  This body has the duty to pass laws that protect Americans, and we 
can do just that, by supporting sensible legislation like the VTV Act 
to make sure that we do everything we can to avoid more gun violence.
  So let's mark today's unfortunate anniversary by upholding the memory 
of those lost at Virginia Tech last year and promise to do better, work 
harder, learn the lessons and not let them be lost for nothing.

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