Extensions of Remarks E25 HON. SHEILA JACKSON
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January 14, 2013 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E25 Johnson, Aaron Joiner, Barrett Jones, are not just in the hands of our men and enforcement agencies to develop and sponsor Christion Jones, Cyrus Jones, Harrison Jones, women in the armed services; they on our gun safety classes for parents and children. Ryan Kelly, Korren Kirven, Arie Kouandjio, streets. Many of them are in the wrong hands, These provisions, and others, can go a long Cyrus Kouandjio, Eddie Lacy, Darren Lake, and end up being the highly efficient tools of way toward making our homes, schools, and Dillon Lee, Robert Lester, Chad Lindsay, Wil- criminals and mass murderers. streets safer for children across this country. son Love, Isaac Luatua, Josh Magee, Cody Today marks a month since the Sandy We may not be able to prevent every gun-re- Mandell, Nathan McAlister, AJ McCarron, Hook Elementary shooting. In that time, at lated tragedy from occurring in the future, but Corey McCarron, Dee Milliner, William Ming, least 836 more people in America have died we have a responsibility to implement reason- Alec Morris, Taylor Morton, C.J. Mosley, Mi- from gun violence and accidental shootings. able standards that will prevent the loss of in- chael Newsome, Harold Nicholson, Kevin Nor- This isn’t a fluke; every day, on average, 33 nocent lives. wood, Michael Nysewander, Anthony Orr, Americans are murdered with guns, amounting As we call for legislation to address gun re- Tyler Owens, Jeoffrey Pagan, Tana Patrick, to more than 12,000 people a year. In ad- lated violence, it is also important to address Nick Perry, D. J. Pettway, Parker Philpot, dressing this issue, I recognize and respect another growing epidemic . the epidemic Marcus Polk, Reggie Ragland, Russell Raines, other cultures that exist in America; law-abid- of bullying. We live in a society where children Ty Reed, Trey Roberts, Jeremy Shelley, Aus- ing citizens who are responsible in their own- are exposed to so many different influences. tin Shepherd, Alex Shine, Marvin Shinn, Blake ership of firearms. Many of these citizens are Unfortunately, there are hundreds of children Sims, Geno Smith, Damion Square, Anthony reasonable with respect to the lethal capacity who have to face bullies in the classroom and Steen, Ed Stinson, Vinnie Sunseri, Bradley of their firearms, opting not to obtain assault in cyberspace. As we discuss the culture of vi- Sylve, Alphonse Taylor, MK Taylor, Carson weapons or to equip assault weapons with 30, olence, we must always remember the impact Tinker, Dalvin Tomlinson, Brian Vogler, Paul 50, 75, or 100-round magazines. that this culture has on our nation’s children. Our reaction to, God forbid, the next time a Waldrop, Chance Warmack, Jabriel Wash- BULLYING PREVENTION madman enters a crowded movie theatre with ington, Ranzell Watkins, DeAndrew White, Today Bullying is defined as unwanted, ag- the intent to kill, cannot simply be to wish that Wilson Whorton, Eddie Williams, Jarrick Wil- gressive behavior that involves a real or per- there was an armed good Samaritan in the liams, Jesse Williams, Kellen Williams, Mi- ceived power imbalance. The behavior is re- audience who had the courage, opportunity chael Williams, Nick Williams, Danny Wood- peated, or has the potential to be repeated, and ability to stop a psychopathic shooter son Jr, and T.J. Yeldon. over time. Those who are bullied and who wielding a semi-automatic weapon equipped And on behalf of Bama fans around the bully others may have serious, lasting prob- with a high-capacity magazine. world, Roll Tide! lems. It used to be that Bullying just happened I commend the President for convening a primarily among over youth but as we are see- f Gun Violence Task Force, and Vice President ing today even the elderly and adults are A CULTURE OF VIOLENCE Biden for his outstanding leadership. being bullied. This must stop. As the President develops policy rec- I introduced in the 112th Congress H.R. 83 HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE ommendations, as Members of Congress, we ‘‘Juvenile Accountability Block Grants Reau- need to act as well. thorization and Bullying Prevention and Inter- OF TEXAS H.R. 65: ‘‘THE CHILD GUN SAFETY AND GUN ACCESS vention Act,’’ which calls for the reauthoriza- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PREVENTION ACT OF 2013’’ tion of the Juvenile Accountability Block Monday, January 14, 2013 We have all been shaken by tragic events Grants at $40 million for each FY 2013–2017, in which children are the victims of gun vio- Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise which amounts to $200 million in funding. lence or accidents. Whether these events oc- today and join the Members of the Congres- In addition, my bill would add purpose area curred in Newtown, CT, Aurora, CO, or on the sional Black Caucus to address the pervasive to provide for grant funding to States for pro- streets of Chicago, IL, we need to effectively culture of violence that exists in America grams that address bullying, cyberbullying pre- address the safety of our children immediately. today. vention, and gang prevention and intervention Urban, suburban, or rural, guns have impacted The community in Newtown, Connecticut— in addition to expressing a Sense of Congress children across the demographic spectrum. along with the rest of the country—is still reel- on the importance of best practices. While the nation’s attention has often been The JABG program authorizes the Attorney ing from the inconceivable tragedy that took drawn toward some of the more high-profile General to make grants to states and units of place at Sandy Hook Elementary on Decem- events, the broader statistics are disturbing, local government to strengthen their juvenile ber 14, 2012; our hearts still ache with sad- demonstrating a real need to address how we justice systems and foster accountability within ness and disbelief for the families and loved protect our nation’s children from gun vio- their juvenile populations. The program fo- ones of the children and women who lost their lence. cuses resources on holding juveniles account- lives in this senseless act of violence. Every 30 minutes, a child or teenager in able for their actions and building up the juve- As the Founder and Co-Chair of the Con- America dies or is injured by a gun. Every 3 nile justice system in the states. gressional Children’s Caucus and a senior hours and 15 minutes, a child or teenager It also essentially signifies the high-water Member of the Judiciary Committee, I have lis- loses their life to a firearm. In 2010, 82 chil- mark of the federal government’s movement tened to the tragic testimony of individuals dren under 5 years of age lost their lives due away from an emphasis on rehabilitating juve- who have survived or lost loved ones as a re- to guns. To put that in perspective, 58 law en- niles and toward the idea that juveniles need sult of gun violence. forcement officers died in the line of duty that to be punished for their crimes; indeed, the In the words of President Obama after the year. only core mandate of the JABG program is Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, ‘‘We’re As the 113th Congress debates various pro- that states must begin to implement a system going to have to come together and take posals for gun legislation in light of recent of graduated sanctions in order to be eligible meaningful action to prevent more tragedies tragedies, we can act now to pass H.R. 65, a for funding. like this, regardless of the politics.’’ bill with common sense standards that is fo- Many of the deadly cases of bullying arise While it is certainly true that violent crime cused on protecting our nation’s children from when children are teased and tormented sim- and homicide rates in this country have been gun violence and accidents. ply for being different. There has been a re- declining in recent years, they are still far H.R. 65 will raise the handgun eligibility age cent upswing of suicides amongst lesbian, above those in other industrialized nations. from 18 to 21, and will prohibit persons under gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) Moreover, in America, there exists a per- the age of 21 from possessing semiautomatic teens as a result of bullying. nicious culture of violence; a subculture that assault weapons or large capacity magazines. Almost 85 percent of LGBT teenagers are with today’s technologically advanced weap- Moreover, H.R. 65 increases penalties on harassed in high school because of their sex- onry is far more dangerous to public safety individuals who knowingly transfer a handgun, ual orientation, with 61 percent of gay youth than ever before. At no point in our nation’s ammunition, semiautomatic assault weapon, reporting that they felt unsafe in school and history has a single human been more capa- or large capacity ammunition feeding device to 30% staying home to avoid bullying. ble of inflicting massive death and misery, and a person under age 21. By law, we require our children to go to our society is producing more individuals who In addition, H.R. 65 will also prohibit import- school. Therefore, we have a duty to maintain wish to employ such means to carry out their ers, manufacturers, and dealers from transfer- a safe and healthy environment for children, ill intentions. ring firearms without providing the purchaser one in which they should not be afraid. It is Far too often, the tool of choice for would- with a gun storage or safety device. important that our children know that bullying be killers is a firearm.