[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1531-1532]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              GUN VIOLENCE

  Mr. MURPHY. Madam President, over the course of the last year and a 
half, I have come down to the floor fairly regularly to tell some 
simple stories about victims of gun violence all across the country. 
The idea is that if the overwhelming data of those killed through gun 
violence--31,000 a year; 2,600 a month; 86 a day--if these mind-numbing 
numbers don't move this body to action, then maybe the voices of the 
victims, the stories of the victims of gun violence may eventually thaw 
the ice of this Congress and cause us to act in some way, shape or form 
to reduce this scourge of gun violence--whether it be tightening the 
Nation's gun laws, which are the loosest in the world, whether it be to 
pass mental health legislation that will address those who are 
wrestling with demons manifested eventually in gun homicides or whether 
it be giving more resources to gun enforcement to simply enforce the 
laws on the books. We have done nothing. We have done nothing since the 
murders of Sandy Hook, CT, to address this epidemic of gun violence. It 
is about time that we do.
  On New Year's Eve, I spent most of that day tweeting out the 370-plus 
instances of mass shootings over the course of 2015. Think about that 
for a second. There were more mass shootings in 2015 then there were 
days in the year. Just to be honest, I will tell you what I believe to 
be a mass shooting. I am talking about a shooting in which there were 
more than four people shot. If there were more than four people shot in 
your neighborhood, that would probably be something you would be 
talking about, that would probably rise to the level of being something 
serious enough to change behavior or to call for a change in policy. 
There were 370 instances in 2015 where more than 4 people were shot at 
one given time--more than one per day. So I tweeted out to every single 
one of them on the day before the year turned to 2016 just to give 
people a sense all in one place of how big this problem of mass 
shootings is. Of course, that is only the tip of the iceberg.
  If on the average day there are 4, 5, 6 or 7 people being shot in 
episodes of mass violence, there are another 80 that are killed through 
other episodes

[[Page 1532]]

of gun violence. Many of those are suicides, but many of those are just 
the day-to-day gun violence incidents that happen across this country, 
most of which happen in our cities.
  So I want to share a few of those stories here with you today.
  A lot of attention gets paid to those who die in episodes of mass 
violence. This is a binder that is basically full of the stories of the 
individuals who were killed in mass shootings over the past couple of 
years. This doesn't even begin to account for the individuals who are 
killed every day on the streets of Chicago and New Haven and Los 
Angeles and New Orleans, people such as Jonathan Aranda, who was 19 
years old when he was killed just before Christmas of 2015. He was 
killed in the morning hours of December 8. He had just graduated from 
Eli Whitney Technical High School, which is located in Hamden, CT.
  His cousin said:

       He was getting out of work, stopped at a friend's house to 
     talk about cars and this senseless act of violence happened. 
     He was quick to lend a hand when you needed help without 
     asking for anything in return. He worked a third shift job to 
     come home, rest and help at home.

  His younger sister, Genisis, said that her brother was ``a humble and 
loving person, he was a person who never picked fights. He was quick to 
lend a hand when you needed help without asking for anything in 
return.''
  Jonathan's cousin Edgar said he was a ``very, very likeable kid. . . 
. He didn't have a problem with anybody.''
  The community has been devastated by this loss. He was liked by 
everybody. He cared deeply for his family. Jonathan was 19 years old 
when he was killed after stopping at a friend's house--after getting 
off of work--to talk about cars.
  Treesa Wiley was killed just a few days ago in Rockford, IL. She was 
fatally shot while she was visiting a friend in her home. An unknown 
person forced entry into the home and shot Wiley and her friend. She 
lived paycheck to paycheck, but she was still immensely generous with 
her friends and family, showering them with love, attention, and gifts.
  Her uncle said of Treesa:

       She didn't have children herself, but every child that she 
     met was her child. That's why she enjoyed that work so much. 
     She enjoyed giving back to the community because it had given 
     her so much.''

  Her friends described her as ``bubbly,'' ``angelic,'' and 
``lovable.'' Her favorite color was purple. Her favorite team was the 
Green Bay Packers. She loved red lipstick. She had overcome a learning 
disability to get a 2-year degree. She was killed while she was 
studying to get her bachelor's degree.
  A friend said:

       She was the most loving and honest friend you could hope 
     for. . . . I can't think of one person who didn't like 
     Treesa.

  Raven White was 16 years old when about a month ago she was killed in 
Birmingham, AL. She was fatally shot in her car in the early morning 
hours of January 8. It looks as if it was a robbery. She was a junior 
in high school, and she was 6 months pregnant.
  Her mother said Raven was very outgoing.

       I know she loved school. Even after getting pregnant, she 
     made good grades and didn't miss a day of school.

  She was planning to go back to the volleyball team that she played on 
after giving birth. She had just gotten off work at Walmart hours 
before the shooting. ``All I want is to hold my grandbaby once, but I 
can't,'' said Raven's mother, Tangee Dixon.
  Miguel Arguelles was 22 when he was killed in Bridgeport, CT. He was 
shot in the neck and the shoulder during a shooting at the Charles F. 
Greene Homes housing complex. Police say he wasn't a target, but he was 
hit by stray bullets. He was 22 years old. At the hospital, Miguel's 
mother pounded his chest, urging him to come back to life, saying: 
``Mommy's here. C'mon, baby, c'mon, baby. Mommy's here.''
  A veteran officer said the nurses were crying, the priest was crying, 
and even the police were crying while watching this.

       It was one of the saddest things I've seen. You feel so 
     helpless.

  His mother said he lit up the room when he walked in.

       You saw his teeth every time he smiled--he brought a smile 
     to your face. . . . I just want to hug him. I just want to 
     tell him I love him.

  ``He was my protector,'' said his sister. ``He loved to make people 
laugh.''
  Jabari Saunders was 30 when he was killed in December of 2015 in 
Wilmington. He was shot on the very same street on which he used to 
walk his children to school every morning. He was a devoted father of 
four. His life revolved around his kids. The neighbors said the only 
time they would see him is with his kids. He was always smiling. It is 
sad. You can't even let your kids walk to school--walk to afterschool 
stuff now.
  When a neighbor's son was shot, irony of all ironies, the victim's 
mother recalls that Jabari visited her home every single day the week 
after the shooting.

       He just came to pay respect. . . . I know the love he 
     showed me when my son was killed.

  Another neighbor said:

       I can't say anything bad about him. He was just a nice guy.

  That is 5 stories out of 2,600 a month. There is no antidote to this 
epidemic. There is no one law that we can pass that makes it all 
better, that makes this all go away. But that can't be the excuse. The 
excuse cannot be that because there is no panacea legislatively, we 
shouldn't even try. The excuse can't be that because it is impossible 
to erase gun violence, we shouldn't take some commonsense steps to make 
it all better. The excuse also can't be that laws don't make a 
difference, because they do.
  I will leave you with this because my point really is to tell the 
stories of these victims, not to expound on the data, but the data is 
pretty irrefutable. Here are all the States where background checks are 
required in order to buy a gun through a private gun sale. That is a 
purchase at a gun store or a purchase at a gun show. Here are all the 
States with no additional background check laws besides the Federal 
floor. The data is pretty irrefutable. On average, there is 1 
additional death per 100,000 in the States with no additional 
background check laws than there are in the States that have additional 
background check laws. It is a 30-some-odd percent increase for the 
States that don't take extra steps to make sure criminals don't get 
guns.
  So when people say that we shouldn't pass a background check law that 
90 percent of the American public support because it won't make a 
difference, the data doesn't tell us that. The data actually tells us 
that if we take steps to make sure criminals don't get guns, fewer 
criminals will get guns and fewer people will be killed, because I will 
assure you that one of these five people whom I just listed was killed 
with a gun that was purchased legally. It might have been purchased in 
a gun show, put in the back of a van, and sold on the streets of 
Wilmington, Bridgeport, or New Haven.
  Laws won't save all 31,000 of these lives, but they certainly will 
save a handful. And for the individuals, the nurses, the clergy, and 
the police officers who witnessed Miguel Arguelles's mother pressing on 
his heart trying to get him to come back to life--simply one less death 
would make a debate on the Senate floor worth it.
  I hope that we take some steps this year, perhaps, to pass a mental 
health reform bill. I hope we get to where 9 out of 10 of our 
constituents are and pass legislation that keeps guns out of the hands 
of criminals. If we don't do it because of the statistics, maybe we 
will do it because we will start to hear the real voices of these 
victims.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in 
morning business for up to 20 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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