24th Anniversary of the Columbine Massacre

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, 24 years ago today, tragedy struck Littleton, CO. It was a day that began like any other but--in a matter of hours--would scar our Nation forever.

Today, the word ``Columbine'' is synonymous with an act of terror that every parent fears: school shootings. If you had told me 24 years ago that the scenes we witnessed that morning--students and teachers being shot down, traumatized children being escorted out of classrooms by armed officers, if you told me this would become a common--almost weekly--occurrence in America, I wouldn't have believed you.

But here we are. In the years since Columbine, hundreds of American students have died--or been injured--in school shootings, and thousands more have been traumatized. Gunfire has become the No. 1 cause of death for our Nation's children. And one in five Americans now say they have lost a loved one to gun violence. Some politicians have resigned themselves to the idea that this is just part of American life we must accept. Shame on them. This is a uniquely American crisis--and lawmakers have the power to resolve it.

Yet Republicans in Congress actually want to take steps backwards. We are seeing that in the House right now, where the MAGA majority is trying to wipe off the books a gun law restricting braces that turn pistols into short-barreled rifles. This is the kind of weapon that was carried by the mass shooters in Dayton, OH; Boulder, CO; and just a few weeks ago at a school shooting in Nashville, TN. Parents shouldn't have to worry that, when they send their kids to school, they may not return home. Children shouldn't be forced to live with the fear that their classroom could be the next target.

People of all political stripes are calling on Congress to act. Let's start by keeping assault weapons and short-barreled rifles off of our streets and out of our classrooms.

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