[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1620-1621]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY SHOOTING

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, 3 years ago today, a mentally disturbed 
gunman walked into a campus lecture hall at Northern Illinois 
University in DeKalb and shot 22 students, killing 5 of them.
  John Peters, the president of Northern Illinois University, the 
students, families, faculty, and employees pulled together after that 
tragedy, and I joined them at an observance with then Senator and now 
President Obama to acknowledge the grief they all felt and we shared. I 
am proud to report that the Northern Illinois University community is 
stronger and more resilient today than ever.
  In the aftermath of the shooting, we asked a lot of questions about 
what led to it. Naturally, there were so many innocent victims. We 
asked what we could have done to prevent it. Three years later, we are 
still trying to make sense of it.
  Some believe that nothing can be done if a disturbed person is 
determined to commit an act of violence. But I believe something can be 
done.
  For a long time, we have overlooked a very obvious and very 
compelling fact. Many young people do not demonstrate serious mental 
illness until they have left their home and high school and go off to 
college. We have overlooked the mental health of students on campuses.
  Many mental illnesses manifest in this period when young people leave 
the security of home, regular medical care, and the support of a 
network of family and friends.
  A friend of our family, a young man, went to the same university over 
30 years ago. Gary was a peculiar kind of his own type of person in 
high school. But within 30 days at the university, living in a college 
dorm, certain mental illnesses we were not even aware of manifested 
themselves and he suffered from schizophrenia the rest of his short 
life. It manifested itself at that campus.
  It is easier for a young person's problems to go unnoticed when they 
are away from parents, old friends, and the high school community. 
Sometimes they get worse. People do not even notice.
  The consequences of not detecting or addressing mental health needs 
among students are very real. Forty-five percent of college students 
report having felt so depressed it was difficult to function. Ten 
percent even contemplated suicide.
  But while the needs for mental health services on campuses are 
rising, colleges are facing financial pressures of their own and are 
having trouble meeting the demand. A recent survey of college 
counseling centers indicates the average ratio of professional staff to 
students is 1 to 1,952, and at 4-year public universities it is 1 to 
every 2,600 students. It is little wonder that many young people with 
these problems go unnoticed.
  Shortly after the tragedy at Northern Illinois University, I wrote a 
bill called the Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act to help schools 
meet the needs of their students. The bill would provide resources for 
colleges and universities to improve their mental health services and 
would call for the development of a public nationwide campaign to 
educate campus communities about mental health. We know troubled 
students who receive appropriate counseling and support can succeed in 
college and life. These services make an impact. Students who seek help 
are six time less likely to kill themselves.
  By providing critical resources to colleges, the Mental Health on 
Campus Improvement Act would ensure that more young people receive the 
help they need before facing a crisis.
  The main elements of this bill were included in a proposal to 
reauthorize the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act last year. I will 
continue to work on this legislation to get it enacted so we can give 
colleges the help they need to identify and treat students with mental 
health issues.
  We also know from Northern Illinois University, as well as from the 
tragedies at Virginia Tech and Tucson, that we need to fill the gaps in 
the Federal gun background check system.
  No one is proposing to take guns away from responsible American 
hunters and law-abiding citizens. The Supreme Court has made it clear 
that individuals have a right to own guns. I respect that decision. But 
the Court has also said that the second amendment is ``not a right to 
keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for 
whatever purpose.''
  For years, laws on the books have prohibited those with histories of 
serious mental illness and substance abuse from buying guns. State 
agencies and Federal agencies need to work more closely together to 
make sure the background check system is fully updated with this 
critical information.
  Today is a time for our country to remember the lives and mourn the 
loss at Northern Illinois University of five promising young Americans 
whose life stories were cruelly cut short 3 years ago. But as we look 
back, we must also--as they say at Northern; their slogan--move 
``Forward, Together Forward'' in the true Northern Illinois University 
spirit.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.

[[Page 1621]]

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, might I ask, what is the pending 
business?

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