Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under Chapter 8 of Title United States Code, of the Rule Submitted By the Department of

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, 10 years ago today, when I first heard the news, I couldn't believe it. Then, as I heard the details and learned of what had happened in Connecticut, I thought to myself, This is the moment. This shooting is so outrageous and horrible, this is the moment when finally America will come to grips with the reality of gun violence.

What I am referring to, of course, is the Sandy Hook Elementary School. It was 10 years ago today that 20 beautiful little children and 6 teachers and staff were murdered in a classroom at this grade school. I thought, This was it. All of the gun violence and all the gun deaths notwithstanding, this will do it. It is the tipping point. America will come to the honest reality that gun violence is unacceptable and will do something about it.

Other nations have done something. Other nations have had incidents like this, maybe even fewer victims, and they have decided to change their nation's laws. They have done so, and they made their nation safer because of it.

We are gathering here this morning at the request of Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut to remember what happened 10 years ago. Senator Murphy was with the families of Sandy Hook, as was Senator Blumenthal, when they learned of the children's fate.

Can you imagine being the parent of one of these little kids and being asked to wait in a building across the street while they looked at the remains of these children and tried to identify them with their parents? I don't know if I would ever recover from that as a parent or a grandparent.

Senator Murphy and Senator Blumenthal tried to give the families comfort. I can't imagine that assignment. They both have brought much more than sorrow to this cause. Since that shooting 10 years ago, they have brought a fierce resolve to do something about it and to end the horrific carnage of gun violence in America.

This has been an important year for gun safety in this Congress. After the racism-fueled mass murders at a grocery store in Buffalo, NY, after the slaughter of 19 little children and 2 teachers in their elementary school in Uvalde, TX, Congress passed the most significant gun safety law in 30 years: the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. And the Senate did something that hadn't been done for 7 years: We actually confirmed a Director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. That is a position the gun lobby had fought to keep open and unfilled for 7 years. We have a man on the job now. So we have made some progress, but we have a lot more to do. The American people want us to do more.

It is hard to say, in this great Nation that we have been blessed to live in, that we are the only--only--Nation on Earth that accepts these horrifying levels of gun violence on a daily basis and mass shootings. A mass shooting is a shooting where at least four and sometimes more people are shot or killed.

Many times, because of the repetition of this horrific conduct, we think it is inevitable, unpreventable, and we in America shrug our shoulders and say: That is what happens in the United States of America. Just in the category of fatal shootings in schools, kindergarten through 12th grade schools, how many fatal shootings have taken place in America in those schools in the 10 years since Sandy Hook? There have been 189--189 school shootings since Sandy Hook in America.

Gun violence is now the leading cause of death of American children. Think about that for a second--the leading cause of death. Every year, more than 3,000 children and teens die by firearms--3,000 a year-- another 15,000 are wounded, and more than 3 million American children are exposed to gun violence every year. For many of these kids, the trauma of seeing friends, parents, siblings, classmates shot may result in lifelong damage to their physical, mental, and emotional health. That is what trauma does to the survivors.

This past June, 2 weeks after their 10-year-old daughter Lexi was murdered at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Kimberly and Felix Rubio testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. In their testimony, Lexi's mom Kimberly issued a prophetic warning. She said:

There's a mom listening to our testimony thinking, I can't imagine the pain that family is going through, not knowing that our pain will one day be their pain unless we do something.

While school massacres and other mass shootings tend to capture the Nation's attention, there are tens of thousands of Americans who die every year from the daily toll of gun violence, and many of these deaths barely make the news, they are so commonplace in modern America. They die in suicides, gun accidents--alone or in small groups--domestic disturbances, gang disputes, and crossfire.

There is no corner of the country that hasn't been impacted by the gun violence epidemic. Some of the politicians like to point and say: Oh, Chicago has got all of the problems. Sadly, that is not the case. We all face these problems. There are many so-called red States that vote on the other side politically that have terrible gunshot and violence statistics. It affects red States and blue States, big cities, suburbs, small towns, rural areas--you name it. America is awash in guns and gun violence.

So far this year in the city of Chicago, so far, 2,718 shootings have taken place. According to the Chicago Sun-Times tracker, 88 of those killed by guns in Chicago this year were children.

Last Sunday, I was at a vigil in the Hyde Park section of Chicago at Augustana Lutheran Church. We come together each year to pray for an end to this gun violence, but we know in our heart of hearts that prayer is not enough. I believe the Good Lord expects us to pray but expects us to take action, too.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which I chair, has held 11 hearings on gun violence in these last 2 years. We have heard from a lot of witnesses. One I remember was Ernest Willingham from the West Side of Chicago. After the Cabrini-Green housing project towers were torn down, Ernest and his family moved to the west side of town. Before he was 17, Ernest Willingham's father, brother, and cousin had all been shot. A few years ago, he lost his best friend to a stray bullet.

Despite the horror around him, Ernest became the first in his family to go to college. He is now a premed student at Northeastern University in Boston. He has been accepted to medical school.

Ernest said that when he grew up, young people ``attend a lot more funerals than weddings,'' and parents ``live in constant fear that their [kid] will be the next'' victim.

Since Sandy Hook, millions of Americans have advocated to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and people with mental instability and to protect their kids, but the gun lobby has worked to put more guns in more hands across America.

Many gun manufacturers and sellers have launched aggressive marketing campaigns for their deadly guns.

One of the more notorious ads showed a photo of an assault weapon-- this is a military-style weapon--with the words under it ``Consider your man card reissued.'' The assault rifle in that ad is a Bushmaster XM-15, the same kind of semiautomatic assault rifle used to commit that mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School. ``Consider your man card reissued.''

Another ad showed soldiers in combat with the words ``Use what they use.'' Use the same weapons that soldiers and marines use in combat, but use them here in America. The ad came from the company called Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of one of the semiautomatic assault rifles used to murder those 19 little kids and teachers in Uvalde.

It gets worse. AR-15s and AR-style weapons have become the weapons of choice for mass shooters.

This is an ad for a JR-15, a junior model of the AR-15. It is 20 percent smaller and lighter. It is designed for children--children-- under the age of 18.

Look at the logos in this ad. I hope you can see it. They are also on the weapon. This gun manufacturer uses cartoon skulls sucking on pacifiers to try to hook children on using military-style assault weapons.

If I made that statement without this ad, you would say: Durbin is making up a lie. That can't be true. They really want to sell these guns to adults to give to little kids, and they have them festooned with these images that children will find interesting?

On July 4 this year, a 21-year-old with a Smith & Wesson AR-15 military-style rifle went up on a rooftop during a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, IL.

Now, Highland Park, IL, is one of these idyllic suburbs, a beautiful little place, wonderful families, a great community. And a Fourth of July parade is like a rite of passage. You take your kids out to see the flags, hear the bands, and enjoy every single moment of it.

This Fourth of July that we just witnessed was different. Up on top of the roof, he pulled out his AR-15. He fired off 83 rounds in less than a minute. Don't tell me about good shooters with guns, good guys with guns that stop bad guys. There were good guys with guns all over the place, in uniform, with firearms by their side. What could they do in the 60 seconds when he fired off 83 rounds? Nothing to stop him. That gunman killed seven people and injured dozens more.

Fourth of July parade, Highland Park, IL--he left a little 2-year-old boy, Aiden McCarthy, an orphan. He killed his mother and his father. He paralyzed an 8-year-old boy with a bullet that severed his spine.

The Fourth of July attack in Highland Park was the 309th mass shooting in America in 2022. Do you know how many we have had since the Fourth of July? We have gone from 309 on the Fourth of July to 627 mass shootings in the United States of America this year.

Not every shooting is committed with an assault weapon, but if a gunman wants to cause mass harm, assault weapons are the weapon of choice. And you ought to see, if you haven't already, the ``60 Minutes'' segment of what happens to the human body when it is hit with a bullet from one of these guns. It doesn't pass through neatly and cleanly. It does damage inside the body which is almost impossible to repair.

Doctors know the harm these bullets cause when they tear through the flesh. They don't just pierce bones and organs; they pulverize them.

I will make it clear: I support banning these military-style assault weapons from civilian use. We have banned them before, and I voted for that. It saved lives. It is time to ban them again.

Military assault weapons belong in the hands of the military, not in the hands of an 18- or 19-year-old on a roof in Highland Park, firing off 83 rounds in less than 60 seconds.

One other point: Federal law gives the firearms industry broad and unjustifiable immunity from civil liability. I am embarrassed to say that the laws of the United States protect the manufacturers of these weapons from liability. There may be a way around that, and I hope there is. Firearm manufacturers should not have a license to recklessly peddle high-powered killing machines to those who shouldn't have them. They should be held accountable.

Every other product in America is held accountable. Why do guns get off the hook?

The brave families of Sandy Hook took assault weapon manufacturers to court for their marketing practices. The families prevailed, leading to a landmark settlement earlier this year.

Congress should do more to allow victims of gun violence and negligence to seek justice in our courts. If naming and shaming won't cause the gun industry to act responsibly, a day in court just might.

As we mark the grim anniversary of that devastating day 10 years ago in Newtown, CT, we have got to recommit ourselves to do more--more to protect our kids, more to prevent mass shootings, more to reduce the daily toll of shootings in our homes and neighborhoods. Our work is not done. Families across America are counting on us. Let's do something. Let's stop this carnage in America.
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