Floor Statements

Mr. President, in the prayer given to the American people and to the Senate through our wonderful Chaplain, he basically said it all. We are still reeling from the senseless violence at the Boston Marathon yesterday. The one thing, though, we are united in is sympathy for the victims of this senseless attack and the families of the victims who are suffering today.

Adding to the horror of this tragedy are the questions of who did this and why. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security are investigating this attack as aggressively as possible.

As the President said last night, rest assured that the perpetrators will feel the full weight of justice for this terrible crime.

Mr. President, on the anti-gun violence legislation before the Senate, we are making good progress in the effort to schedule a series of votes on amendments.

I have had constructive conversations with my Republican counterpart, Senator McConnell.

The American people deserve to know where we stand on these important antiviolence proposals. There are disagreements as to what we should do with gun legislation, if anything, and I understand that. We have already spent a week and a half on this legislation, so it is time to begin processing these amendments.

I hope we will be able to reach an agreement earlier rather than later--hopefully, sometime by early afternoon--to hold votes on a number of amendments, including both Democratic and Republican amendments.

That series of votes would include a number of issues, not the least of which is the compromise background check proposal crafted by Senators Manchin, Toomey, Kirk, and Schumer. This bipartisan measure has the support of antiviolence advocates and law

enforcement groups as well as second amendment advocates, including the second largest gun rights group that exists, consisting of more than 650,000 members.

The measure would keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals by requiring background checks for private gun sales at gun shows and over the Internet.

Mr. President, whether you are from a pro-gun State such as Vermont or Nevada--even in those States, huge amounts, huge numbers of people support this legislation. Nationwide, about 90 percent of the people support this legislation, including 75 percent of NRA members.

So I am optimistic and hopeful that cooperation from both sides will continue and that victims of gun violence will get the debate and votes they deserve, including pro-gun advocates who want votes of their own liking.

So I hope we can move forward. It would be a shame if we got into a procedural hassle on all this stuff. We want to debate the issues. And as I have indicated to the Republican leader, we are not trying to cut off amendments. The ones we agree to start debating, that is not a limit as to what we are going to do. I want to have a full, complete debate on guns, and we will carry this on just as long as possible.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

I ask unanimous consent that the period for debate only on the firearms bill, S. 649, be extended until 3:30 p.m. and that I be recognized at that time.

We will continue to work on getting an agreement setting forth some initial amendments and votes in relation to the gun safety legislation. The Republican leaders said they needed to have their caucus first. We are hopeful that we will receive a positive response to our efforts soon after the two caucus lunches and begin moving forward on some initial amendments and votes in relation to gun safety legislation.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that we recess until 2:15 p.m. for our caucuses.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the Manchin-Toomey amendment No. 715 to be set aside and the following amendments be in order to be called up: Grassley substitute amendment consistent with the summary, which is at the desk; Leahy- Collins amendment No. 713, trafficking; Cornyn amendment No. 719, conceal carry; Feinstein amendment No. 711, assault weapons-clip bans; Burr amendment No. 720, veterans-guns; Lautenberg-Blumenthal amendment No. 714, high-capacity clip ban; Barrasso amendment No. 717, privacy; and Harkin-Alexander amendment relative to mental health, the text of which is at the desk; that following leader remarks on Wednesday, April 17, the time until 4 p.m. be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees to debate the amendments concurrently; that at 4 p.m., the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the Manchin amendment No. 715; that upon disposition of the Manchin amendment, the Senate proceed to votes in relation to the remaining pending amendments in the order listed; that all amendments be subject to a 60-affirmative vote threshold; that no other amendments or motions to commit be in order to any of these amendments or the bill prior to the votes; that there be 2 minutes equally divided prior to each vote, and all after the first vote be 10-minute votes.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that we now proceed to a period of morning business, and Senators be allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to S. Res. 99, which was submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 100, which was submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I understand that S. 743, introduced earlier today by Senator Enzi, is at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

I now ask for its second reading and object to my own request.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate recess subject to the call of the Chair.

Thereupon, the Senate, at 8:04 p.m., recessed subject to the call of the Chair and reassembled at 2:04 a.m. when called to order by the Presiding Officer (Mr. Durbin).

Mr. President, following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5 o'clock this afternoon. During that period of time, each Senator will be allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each, if they wish.

At 5 p.m. the Senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Beverly Reid O'Connell to be a district judge for the Central District of California.

At 5:30 p.m. there will be a rollcall vote on confirmation of the O'Connell nomination.

Mr. President, the debate over the best way to prevent gun violence in America raises strong emotions. Second amendment advocates--me among them--want to preserve and protect the right of every law-abiding citizen to bear arms. Victims of gun violence and family members of those killed by guns--me among them--want to ensure that guns are kept from the hands of criminals and those with mental illnesses severe in nature. These are both worthy goals, and they should not be mutually exclusive goals.

It is possible to uphold the second amendment while protecting innocent Americans from gun violence. Of course it is. The compromise background check proposal before the Senate--a measure crafted by Senators Toomey, Manchin, Kirk, and Schumer--achieves both goals. This bipartisan measure would keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals by requiring background checks for private gun sales at gun shows and over the Internet.

It strengthens the existing instant check system by encouraging States to put all their criminal and mental health records into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, a step supported by gun rights groups. And it would establish a National Commission on Mass Violence to study all causes of mass violence in our country. School safety, mental health, video games--whatever is appropriate should be looked into.

This legislation has the backing of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. It has 650,000 members. It is the second largest gun rights group in the Nation.

On this proposal--background checks--the National Rifle Association is not being very talkative. Why? Because they have supported this measure in the past. And while they are not publicly supporting it now, they have done it in the past.

This measure has the support of antigun violence advocates such as Mayors Against Illegal Guns, consisting of hundreds of mayors around the country. It has the support of law enforcement groups, such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Although this compromise does not go as far to expand background checks as some had hoped, the nature of compromise is what it is. That is what legislation is all about. It is not perfect, but it certainly is a long, big, heavy step forward.

Expanding background checks to cover gun shows and Internet sales is common sense. It will help protect the innocent from gun violence. And it will also protect firearms sellers. No responsible firearms dealer wants to unwittingly put a gun in the hands of a murderer.

One need only ask a man by the name of Bruce Daly. Mr. Daly sold the shotgun that was used in a shooting rampage at the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse in Las Vegas a few years ago.

Seventy-two-year-old security guard and retired police officer Stanley Cooper was murdered by a felon who bought a gun at a gun show in Kingman, AZ--90 miles from Las Vegas. I repeat, the shooter was a convicted felon, who had no right to own a gun and could never have passed a background check. But because Mr. Daly sold the shotgun at a gun show in Arizona, he never had to perform a background check.

After the shooting at the Las Vegas courthouse, Mr. Daly was found to have an expired Federal permit for selling weapons, and because of that he

was convicted. But Mr. Daly, admirably, has stepped forward. He admits to having sold dozens of guns that were linked to violent crimes. I repeat, today Mr. Daly, admirably, wishes he had done more to keep the guns he sold out of the hands of criminals, and he has stated many times that expanded background checks are the best way to do that.

Most gun owners--and most gun dealers--are responsible, law-abiding people. They love and respect firearms. They are sportsmen who hunt. They may take their weapons when they go fishing. These are people who enjoy target shooting, who no longer hunt, but they like to go out and plunk or they like to go to a range and shoot. They are citizens who simply want to protect themselves, their homes, and their families.

A better background check law will not infringe on second amendment rights in any way. But it will prevent the small minority of people who want to obtain guns for the wrong reasons from buying these weapons. And it will stop troubled people who, because of an illness beyond their control, would be a danger to themselves or to others if they possessed a firearm.

This compromise legislation should not be controversial. Nine out of 10 Americans--including a majority, a vast majority, of gun owners and 75 percent of NRA members--support stronger background check laws. This is not the background check law that was reported out of the committee that is in the underlying bill. But Manchin, Toomey, Kirk, and Schumer think they can improve that, and that is what this amendment is all about.

A number of my colleagues oppose this measure. I am sure that is the case. It is their right to vote against it. We continue to work--I continue to work--toward an agreement to vote on this compromise and to consider other amendments. We need to do that. Democrats are not going to offer all the amendments. Republicans want to offer amendments. They feel the law in the country today is too weak. In their minds, they want to make it weaker but they think that is a strength. Most people, a majority of us, would disagree, but they have a right to do that.

I hope there are not going to be a few unreasonable extremists who are going to try to prevent an up-or-down vote on legislation in this bill. We should not have a filibuster on this legislation. I, of course, can always file cloture. I hope we do not have to do that. That would be a shameful tribute to the memory of 27 people who died in Newtown: little boys and girls--in the minds of many, babies--and school teachers, administrators who were killed; 27 of them.

Newtown deserves a vote, and so do the mothers and fathers, loved ones and friends, of the 3,300 victims of gun violence in America since that terrible day at Sandy Hook. Mr. President, 3,300 people have died because of gunshots since Sandy Hook.

Don't we have an obligation to the American people to do some correcting of what is not right in this country? I believe so.

Mr. President, I know the chairman of the committee, who has worked hard to get this matter before us, is here. He also has an amendment. I hope we can get to his amendment, which I wish to do next; and that is an amendment that I am told is even supported by the National Rifle Association to improve what is in this bill that was reported out of the committee dealing with Federal trafficking.

Mr. President, I, like every Member of the Senate, am shocked and saddened by the news from Boston today. There were explosions near the finish line at the Boston Marathon. My thoughts go out to all those who were injured, and my condolences go to the families and friends of those affected by this tragedy.

I commend the first responders and the observers who rushed toward danger to help those who were hurt. We will continue to monitor the news from Boston.

President Obama has spoken to a number of people, including the mayor of Boston and Governor Deval Patrick. They have pledged every resource available to help those who were affected and to find and bring to justice the perpetrators. The President will be speaking to the Nation in about 20 minutes.

I will do whatever I can to support the people of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as we all will, during this difficult time.

I ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back on the nomination, and following a moment of silence in observance of the tragic events which took place in Boston earlier today, the Senate then proceed to vote on the confirmation of the nomination.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, following leader remarks the Senate will resume consideration of the gun legislation. The time until 11 a.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. At 11 o'clock there will be a cloture vote on a motion to proceed to S. 649, which is the gun safety legislation.

If cloture is invoked, I hope we can reach an agreement to begin debate on the bill today. We have people waiting in the wings to offer amendments. The first amendment that will be offered is one that has been being negotiated for quite some time between Senator Manchin and Senator Toomey and Senator Kirk. I have had calls from my Republican colleagues indicating they have some amendments they want to offer. So let's get on the bill. Let's not waste 30 hours. I hope that can happen so we can start legislating today.

Mr. President, life can change in a moment. In Carson City, NV, a little over a year ago--actually, time goes quickly; it was in September of 2011, September 6--shortly before 9 o'clock in the morning, a deeply disturbed man with an automatic weapon stepped out of his car outside of a Carson City, NV, restaurant. In the few brief seconds that followed, he fired nearly 80 rounds from an automatic weapon, spraying bullets over the parking lot and into an IHOP restaurant that was packed with customers for breakfast. He killed four people instantly, wounded seven others, and then he took his own life after that. That took 85 seconds. In those 85 seconds, 5 lives ended, and countless more were altered forever.

Three Nevada Army National Guardsmen were on their way to work that morning: 31-year-old SFC Miranda McElhiney, 38-year-old SFC Christian Riege, and 35-year-old MAJ Heath Kelly. Florence Donovan-Gunderson, who was eating breakfast with her husband, was also killed--murdered.

In 85 seconds, Carson City joined the likes of Tucson, AZ, Fort Hood, TX, Blacksburg, VA, Columbine, CO, and scores of other cities and towns in America rocked by mass shootings in recent decades. And as were those other cities and towns, Carson City was left asking, Why? Maybe we will never know.

The gunman had been diagnosed earlier with schizophrenia. He had been involuntarily committed by law enforcement officials to a mental institution. He recently confided to a priest that voices he heard in his head told him to continue to do bad things. A lot is not clear.

What is clear is how the shooter obtained two assault rifles, two handguns, and almost 600 rounds of ammunition he took to the IHOP that day. I don't know--no one really knows--what happened. It is not clear what happened. Where did he get those weapons--two assault rifles, two handguns, and about 600 rounds of ammunition that he took with him to the parking lot to start shooting people?

Even though all of that is not clear in terms of how he obtained those assault weapons, this much is clear: We have a responsibility to do everything in our power to keep guns out of the hands of those who suffer from mental

illness. I think it is clear we mean severe mental illness. Within our families we all have individuals who have periods of time when they are depressed. We must keep weapons out of the hands of those with illnesses that make them a danger to themselves and others. We have a responsibility also to keep the guns out of the hands of criminals-- convicted felons.

The measure before the Senate today would institute universal background checks that would prevent people with severe mental illness from buying firearms--those with severe mental illness; I want to make sure we stress that--and criminals. This legislation would also crack down on anyone who buys a gun to funnel it to criminals and it would give schools the resources to improve security to keep children safe.

This bill won't stop every madman determined to take innocent lives. I know that. We all know that. Nor is this bill the only suggestion to prevent gun violence. In the coming days we will debate other proposals to make Americans safer.

An assault weapons ban will be debated and voted on. Improvements to our mental health system will be debated and voted on. A ban on high- capacity clips such as those used to kill four people in Carson City at the IHOP, and how the man in Columbine, CO, was able to get a magazine with 100 bullets in it--that is the only reason the people in Colorado weren't massacred even more. The gun jammed.

There are powerful feelings about each of the proposals I have mentioned, both strong support and strong opposition. But whichever side one is on, we ought to be able to agree to exchange thoughtful debate about these measures. Let's engage in it. We ought to be able to agree to a careful examination of the culture of violence that is growing in this Nation.

I am pleased a number of reasonable Republicans have joined Democrats in welcoming this debate saying they are not going to debate cloture. I hope we have enough to have cloture invoked. I feel fairly confident that, in fact, is the case.

As I have indicated for the last many weeks, we are going to have an open amendment process, as much as possible, on this bill. As always, the process will depend on the goodwill of all Senators. Somebody could come and do all kinds of things to stop us from doing anything on the bill. I hope that is not the case.

Once we are on the underlying bill, the first amendment, as I have indicated, will be on a substitute compromise background check proposal offered by Senators Manchin, Toomey, Kirk, and Schumer. I thank the Senators for their diligent work on this issue. They have been working a long time.

I am hopeful we will be able to debate and vote on a reasonable number of amendments offered by Senators who feel passionately about reducing gun violence or respecting Americans' second amendment rights. I also respect those who want to weaken the laws that now exist. They have a right to try to do that. But three soldiers--Miranda, Christian, and Heath--and Florence, who was not a soldier but was one of those killed--deserve some attention. There were seven people who were hurt as a result of these bullets as well as those killed. That was a terrible day in Carson City. Each one of them deserves a thoughtful debate, and they deserve votes.