Joseph Woodrow Hatchett United States Courthouse and Federal Building--

Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Madam President, we are on the brink of passing meaningful gun safety legislation, and it is regrettable that it took the deaths of 31 people, including 19 children, in the recent Buffalo and Uvalde mass shootings to provide the needed momentum to break the hold that the National Rifle Association and the gun lobby has had over Congress.

I commend my colleagues on both sides who have stepped forward to reach a compromise. This bill is a big accomplishment that can save lives, but I feel an inescapable dread that we will face the horror of another mass shooting if we do not take further steps.

As a veteran, I have shot many of the weapons we have heard debated on the floor this week. I know their power, and I know they were designed for killing people.

Now, I know that some of my colleagues hold the view that more firearms in the hands of more people is the antidote to gun violence, but I have to ask: Will more and more guns and more and more people carrying guns in public make our schools, our churches, or our streets safer? Is that really a vision for this country? I don't think so.

According to an academic study by the Council on Foreign Relations, the United States, with less than 5 percent of the world's population, has 46 percent of the world's civilian-owned guns, and it has the highest homicide-by-firearm rate of the world's most developed countries.

Indeed, Americans kill each other with guns at a rate 25 times higher than other high-income countries. In addition, Americans use firearms to harm themselves in alarming numbers. According to the CDC, in 2020, there were more than 45,000 firearm-related deaths in the United States, and roughly half of those deaths were suicides.

That is the academic data. But what grips me and so many other Rhode Islanders are the mass killings of Americans, particularly children, over the last quarter century: Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland, and now Uvalde. Hospitals, concert venues, houses of worship, and military installations have also been targeted. People have been targeted based on race, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs. Innocent lives have been taken again and again, and many more lives have been shattered. The common element is a firearm; and while correlation isn't necessarily causation, these mass killings have become more and more common as more and more guns have been marketed and sold.

Roughly two-thirds of Americans do not own a gun, and the majority of Americans agree on a commonsense solution like expanding background checks. But groups like the NRA have lined up to block these efforts even in the face of devastating loss.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act before us today represents progress. It represents a momentary break in the NRA's stranglehold on reform. This bill will establish a 10-day waiting period for firearms purchases for individuals under 21 years of age. It will close the ``boyfriend'' loophole that allows abusers to access guns. It will strengthen requirements for gun sellers to obtain a Federal firearms license. It will establish clear penalties for straw purchases and gun trafficking, and it will invest in violence intervention programs and mental health solutions in communities across the country. Those are real changes that are worthy of support on their own.

I am also encouraged that the bill includes incentives for States to adopt extreme risk protection orders, or a red flag system, similar to the legislation I have introduced. State red flag laws have proven effective in keeping guns away from individuals who have demonstrated clear warning signs of danger to themselves and others, and we should be encouraging every State to adopt a red flag system.

I would also like to talk about the mental health aspects of the bill. First, it needs to be repeated that a person with a mental health condition is more likely to be a victim of violent crime, not the perpetrator. The most reliable predictor of future violence is actually a history of violent behavior, not a diagnosis of mental illness.

That being said, we do have a mental health crisis in this country that demands attention. In Rhode Island, families and providers have been asking for more resources for treatment and more training for mental health workers, particularly resources dedicated to children with mental health needs. I am pleased that the negotiations over the gun control package so far include new resources for mental health care, including a national expansion of the certified community behavioral health clinic model, which would provide sustainable funding to expand mental health and substance abuse treatment and services at the community level. I have worked with my colleagues Senator Stabenow and Senator Blunt for over a decade to move this provision forward.

I am also pleased that this agreement invests new funding in a National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Next month, the Lifeline will be making the switch to an easy to remember three-digit number: 988. We need to make sure that call centers have the staff and capacity to handle call volume and make sure people who reach out for help get appropriate follow-up care. As I mentioned earlier, half of all gun deaths each year are suicides, and firearms are the most lethal method of suicide. In addition to keeping guns out of the hands of people in crisis, we need to make sure we have well-funded and organized systems in place for people who reach out for help in these times of crisis, like the Lifeline. Again, I would hope every American, and particularly those who face these mental health challenges, remember 988. It could be a lifesaver.

I hope we are able to consider bipartisan efforts to strengthen our mental health care system over the coming weeks and months. For example, we should pass the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Improvement Act, which I introduced with Senator Moran last year. The HELP Committee reported the bill out of the committee unanimously nearly a year ago, but this bipartisan bill still has not yet come before the Senate.

The bill also includes critical resources for schools, not only to implement measures to address physical safety, but also to ensure that schools have the resources to address the social, emotional, and mental health needs of students and staff. Our educators have not just been on the frontlines of the pandemic. Too often--much too often--they are on the frontlines of the gun violence epidemic. And they are also on the frontlines of our mental health crisis. Finally, because of this legislation, some help is on the way.

The gun violence bill we are debating will hopefully prevent some tragedies going forward. Though we cannot help but celebrate any progress on gun violence, we should not lose sight of the fact that we need more comprehensive action than this bill if we are really committed to preventing gun violence in our Nation.

There is no single law or regulation that we can pass that would have stopped every single one of these tragedies we have seen over the past few decades. But in my view, Congress should do more, including reinstating the assault weapons ban, cracking down on illicit ghost guns, and, most importantly, eliminating the near total immunity of the gun industry, which has an unparalleled level of liability protection.

The gunman in Buffalo bought a semiautomatic weapon, but he was able to ``illegally'' transform it into a fully automatic weapon. If you go to your cell phone and get YouTube, put in something like ``transform AR-15 to fully automatic,'' you will have a host of videos. One of them lasts 1 minute and 38 seconds. Why is this happening? Well, when you have no liability for the consequences of building a weapon that can be easily transformed from semi to fully automatic and you can wink-wink to your potential market and say, ``Yes, this is semiautomatic,'' we need legislation to get that immunity removed.

Now, I am proud that in the days following the tragedy, my home State of Rhode Island took the decisive action of banning magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, raising the minimum age for buying shotguns and rifles from 18 to 21, and prohibiting loaded rifles and shotguns from being carried in public. Congress should do the same by passing the bill before us and then pressing on with additional reforms.

I will vote for this bipartisan bill. It is a significant step, but it cannot be the last step. 50th Anniversary of the Pell Grant Program

Madam President, I rise to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the enactment of the Pell grant, which was named in honor of its author and my predecessor, Senator Claiborne Pell--I might add, a mentor, a friend, and a remarkable example to me.

Senator Pell believed in the power of education to transform individuals, communities, and our Nation. He worked to put the power of education in the hands of the people.

When Senator Pell introduced the legislation to create what would become the Pell grant, he said:

There is no greater investment this country can make than in the education of its youth. Our young people, who are simultaneously our responsibility, our legacy, and our key to problem-solving in the future, must be enabled to pass easily into the realm of postsecondary education, and our institutions of higher education must be equipped to accommodate and train them.

His words were prophetic and profound. The Pell grant became the cornerstone for broadening access to postsecondary education. Because of the Pell grant, over 80 million students and counting have been able to attend college. In 1972, before the Pell grant, less than half of high school graduates immediately enrolled in college. Today, two- thirds make that transition. Since the establishment of the Pell grant, the percentage of people ages 25 to 30 with a bachelor's degree has doubled.

Today, the Pell grant supports nearly 7 million students across the Nation, including nearly 24,000 in Rhode Island. It remains one of the most effective Federal programs in assisting low-income families, with most recipients coming from families with annual incomes of $40,000 or less. It is one of our greatest tools to promote equity and opportunity in the United States. Yet, despite this success, today we find ourselves at a crossroads when it comes to fulfilling the promise of the Pell grant.

We have seen declining enrollment over the past 5 years. Even more alarming is that the institutions that enroll the lion's share of low- income and first generation college students--our community colleges and public 4-year colleges--have seen some of the most significant declines.

We have seen an explosion of student loan debt, now standing at more than $1.7 trillion--debt that threatens to foreclose on educational opportunity for this generation of Americans. We need to correct course.

We have made a start with the bipartisan, $400 increase to the maximum Pell grant in the fiscal year 2022 appropriations act, but we need to do much more. The Pell grant used to cover over three-quarters of the cost of a public 4-year college. Today, it covers less than a third.

When I was growing up and later with the passage of the Pell grant, it was relatively--I wouldn't say easy--but less challenging to go ahead and work your way through college with a summer job and a Pell grant, graduating with very little debt and moving on in the community and this society and this economy. Today, it is much, much more difficult. So it is time to double the grant.

We also need States and institutions to step up. Affordability is a shared responsibility. Fifty years ago, Senator Pell led the effort to ensure costs did not keep talented and committed students from pursuing a college education. In his farewell speech in the Senate, he called on us to continue his commitment to educational opportunity. He said:

In education, I want us to be known as the nation that continually expanded educational opportunities, [the nation] that brought every child into the education mainstream, and [the nation] that brought the dream of a college education within the reach of every student who has the drive, talent, and desire. We should always remember that public support for education is the best possible investment we can make in our Nation's future. It should be accorded the highest priority.

So, as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Pell grant, it is time to renew our commitment to college access and affordability. Let's work together to double the Pell grant, rein in college costs, and reduce the burden of student loan debt. Let's do our part to realize Senator Pell's vision for a country that continually expands opportunity.

One final point: Getting to know Senator Pell, it always impressed me that, I think, one of the formative periods in his life was the beginning of World War II. Senator Pell came from an old family. Pelham, NY, was named after his family. I was once with him when he informed me that his family once owned Fort Ticonderoga, but then they donated it to the State of New York.

He could have very easily, in 1941, gotten a promotion, gotten a rank, and served comfortably in some office. He chose not to.

He enlisted in the Coast Guard as a cook and sailed across the Atlantic in multiple convoys in dangerous waters. I think there, he learned the potential of the American people--those other cooks who would never be able to go to college because they didn't have the money, but they had talent and, in some cases, more talent perhaps than the Senator himself. I think that image, that impression, drove him in many respects to make the Pell grant a reality.

Now, of course, it is quite a tribute to a gentleman who could have avoided the difficulties and dangers of war and chose, just like other Americans, to go into the fight. And we have to have that same spirit as we address the Pell grant.

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