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Senate Section E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 113 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 159 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2013 No. 51 Senate The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act, the Senate through our wonderful called to order by the President pro with the time until the recess for the Chaplain, he basically said it all. We tempore (Mr. LEAHY). caucus meetings for debate only. are still reeling from the senseless vio- The Senate will recess from 12:30 p.m. lence at the Boston Marathon yester- PRAYER until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly day. The one thing, though, we are The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- caucus meetings. united in is sympathy for the victims fered the following prayer: Today we will continue to work on a of this senseless attack and the fami- Let us pray. path forward to consider amendments lies of the victims who are suffering Eternal Lord God, the explosions at to the gun safety bill. Currently, the today. the Boston Marathon remind us that Manchin-Toomey amendment on back- Adding to the horror of this tragedy we live in a dangerous world and that ground checks is pending to the bill. are the questions of who did this and human life, regardless of the level of Senators will be notified when any why. The Federal Bureau of Investiga- physical excellence, is fragile. The votes are scheduled. tion and the Department of Homeland knowledge that You, O God, can bring I suggest the absence of a quorum. Security are investigating this attack order from chaos inspires us to number The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. as aggressively as possible. our days so that we may have hearts of KING). The clerk will call the roll. As the President said last night, rest wisdom. Use our lawmakers as instru- The legislative clerk proceeded to assured that the perpetrators will feel ments of Your Providence. May they call the roll. the full weight of justice for this ter- labor with such faithfulness and integ- Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unan- rible crime. imous consent that the order for the rity that You will surround them and f our Nation with the shield of Your quorum call be rescinded. favor. Remind them that it is better to The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without ANTI-GUN VIOLENCE fail in a cause that will ultimately suc- objection, it is so ordered. Mr. REID. Mr. President, on the anti- ceed than to succeed in a cause that f gun violence legislation before the Sen- will ultimately fail. MEASURES PLACED ON THE ate, we are making good progress in We pray in Your merciful Name. CALENDAR—S. 729 AND S. 730 the effort to schedule a series of votes Amen. on amendments. Mr. REID. Mr. President, there are f I have had constructive conversa- two bills at the desk due for a second tions with my Republican counterpart, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE reading. I would ask, if it is appro- Senator MCCONNELL. The President pro tempore led the priate, for the clerk to report whatever The American people deserve to Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: the Chair advises. know where we stand on these impor- I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the The PRESIDING OFFICER. The tant antiviolence proposals. There are United States of America, and to the Repub- clerk will read the titles of the bills for disagreements as to what we should do lic for which it stands, one nation under God, a second time. with gun legislation, if anything, and I indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The legislative clerk read as follows: understand that. We have already f A bill (S. 729) to protect law abiding citi- spent a week and a half on this legisla- RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY zens by preventing criminals from obtaining firearms. tion, so it is time to begin processing LEADER A bill (S. 730) to prevent criminals from ob- these amendments. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The taining firearms through straw purchasing I hope we will be able to reach an majority leader is recognized. and trafficking. agreement earlier rather than later— hopefully, sometime by early after- f Mr. REID. Mr. President, I would ob- ject to any further proceedings on noon—to hold votes on a number of SCHEDULE these two bills at this time. amendments, including both Demo- Mr. REID. Mr. President, following The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- cratic and Republican amendments. any leader remarks the Senate will be tion having been heard, the bills will be That series of votes would include a in a period of morning business for an placed on the calendar. number of issues, not the least of hour. The majority will control the f which is the compromise background first half, the Republicans the final check proposal crafted by Senators half. BOSTON MARATHON VIOLENCE MANCHIN, TOOMEY, KIRK, and SCHUMER. Following morning business the Sen- Mr. REID. Mr. President, in the pray- This bipartisan measure has the sup- ate will resume consideration of the er given to the American people and to port of antiviolence advocates and law ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S2657 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 23:39 Apr 16, 2013 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A16AP6.000 S16APPT1 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S2658 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE April 16, 2013 enforcement groups as well as second notion that attacks like the one that number of third graders reading below amendment advocates, including the rocked Boston yesterday only happen grade level in Baltimore is double the second largest gun rights group that on the field of battle or in distant State average. This is especially trou- exists, consisting of more than 650,000 countries. With the passage of time, bling in light of the numerous national members. however, and the vigilant efforts of our studies showing that for every six stu- The measure would keep guns out of military, intelligence, and law enforce- dents who are not reading proficiently the hands of dangerous criminals by re- ment professionals, I think it is safe to by third grade, one will not graduate. quiring background checks for private say for many the complacency that Across the United States, research gun sales at gun shows and over the prevailed prior to September 11 has ac- has shown that students in schools Internet. tually returned. So we are newly re- with good school libraries learn more, Mr. President, whether you are from minded that serious threats to our way get better grades, and score higher on a pro-gun State such as Vermont or of life remain. standardized tests than their peers in Nevada—even in those States, huge Today, again, we recommit ourselves schools without libraries. amounts, huge numbers of people sup- to the fight against terrorism at home We have a program, the qualified port this legislation. Nationwide, about and abroad. zone academy bonds, that is available 90 percent of the people support this Another point: As always, we marvel to help school districts in areas such as legislation, including 75 percent of at the courage and the selflessness of improving their libraries. Since 2001 NRA members. those who rushed to the scene after Baltimore City has used those funds. So I am optimistic and hopeful that yesterday’s blasts. In moments like Recently we extended the program cooperation from both sides will con- this, we see the worst of humanity and through 2013. Academy bonds are im- tinue and that victims of gun violence the best of our fellow citizens: whether portant, but much more needs to be will get the debate and votes they de- it was the exhausted marathoners who done to help our students. Let me share with my colleagues a serve, including pro-gun advocates who became helpers and healers the mo- wonderful initiative, the Baltimore El- want votes of their own liking. ment they realized what had happened; ementary and Middle School Library So I hope we can move forward. It the doctors and nurses who had ex- Project, which is leveraging academy would be a shame if we got into a pro- pected the usual marathon day uptick bonds and bringing in additional part- cedural hassle on all this stuff. We in cases of dehydration or exhaustion ners to maximize the resources avail- want to debate the issues. And as I but who spent the rest of their day able for hard-pressed schools and stu- have indicated to the Republican lead- handling far worse; or the first re- dents. The Harry and Jeanette er, we are not trying to cut off amend- sponders and law enforcement officials Weinberg Foundation is spearheading ments. The ones we agree to start de- who rushed to the scene with total dis- this initiative. The Weinberg Founda- bating, that is not a limit as to what regard for their own safety, including tion is one of the largest private chari- we are going to do. I want to have a those who tore down a fence to get to table foundations in the United States. full, complete debate on guns, and we the wounded before they were even The Weinberg Foundation provides ap- will carry this on just as long as pos- sure the area was safe. proximately $100 million each year to sible. We honor all of them today.
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