The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“Gun Violence (Executive Session)” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S4811-S4812 on July 12.
The Department is one of the oldest in the US, focused primarily on law enforcement and the federal prison system. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, detailed wasteful expenses such as $16 muffins at conferences and board meetings.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
Gun Violence
Madam President, the Fourth of July, of course, is a night when you may not be able to get to bed early, with a lot of fireworks in celebration of our Nation's birthday, and it is celebrated from one corner of America to the next. But sadly, in many places on this Fourth of July, the noise you were hearing was not fireworks; it was gunfire.
One hundred and four people were shot in Chicago. One hundred and four people were shot in Chicago on the Fourth of July weekend. Nineteen died. Among the wounded were 13 children and 2 Chicago police supervisors. The dead included, in Chicago, a National Guard member who was aspiring to join the Chicago Police Department.
The week before the holiday, a 1-month-old baby girl was shot in the head during a mass shooting. A 20-year-old University of Chicago student, just riding on the L train, coming home from an internship at an investment firm in The Loop, was hit by a stray bullet. He, too, died.
Two days after the Fourth of July weekend, two ATF agents and a Chicago police officer on an undercover operation were shot and wounded. It was the 36th Chicago police officer shot this year.
This is madness. Chicago is not alone with this gun violence experience. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are just cruel taunts if anyone can be cut down anywhere in this great country by gunfire.
Gun violence is a national crisis. At least 233 people were killed, and 618 people were injured by gunfire in the United States over the Fourth of July weekend, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Shootings are up this year in big cities but also in suburbs and rural areas. Don't believe it is only blue cities. It is blue cities and red cities and purple cities and small towns.
Already this year, there have been nearly 23,000 gun violence deaths in America. Did you hear that? This year, 23,000 gun violence deaths in America--that includes more than 12,000 by suicide and fatalities from more than 340 mass shootings. Sadly, virtually every weekend there is a mass shooting in the city of Chicago, which I represent--340 mass shootings, nearly 2 a day.
No other nation on Earth experiences this massive civilian slaughter. Neither should we. We must do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and others who are prohibited from having them.
I met with the mayor of Chicago to talk about the Fourth of July weekend. We both agreed that more has to be done, and we are determined to work with President Biden, who is committed to this issue as well. But we also believe that we need to enforce the laws that are on the books. Specifically, we need to make sure that guns are not being sold to people without a background check.
Convicted felons have no business buying a gun, nor do people who are mentally unstable. But, unfortunately, they can. There are many loopholes in the law. There are ways to sell these guns at a gun show, without a background check, or over the internet or ghost guns, which have no, basically, identifying serial number.
We have to do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, and we can if we will just stand up--both parties stand up--and say: Enough. This is ridiculous, it is cruel, and it is heartbreaking.
I have spoken with the mayor about the crisis in Chicago, and President Biden did the same when he came to Illinois last week. Today, the President is meeting at the White House with law enforcement, local elected officials, and others to discuss his administration's efforts to reduce gun crimes.
The American Rescue Plan, which passed the U.S. Senate without a single Republican vote in support, included funding that communities can use for youth unemployment programs, mental health services, and other strategies to break the cycle of violence. The COVID rescue plan also included funding for local law enforcement to improve community policing practices.
The Republicans like to make a big thing about the statements from some people about defunding the police. I never supported that, and most of the people I know had nothing to do with it. But here they are defunding the police themselves and voting against the American Rescue Plan.
That plan is going to provide law enforcement more resources. We want that money to be spent properly, and we certainly want law enforcement to discharge their duties in a professional way. But additional resources can be and will be used effectively. I am sorry that not one single Republican Senator voted for that plan. I think it is not defunding the police; it is defending the police with the American Rescue Plan provisions.
President Biden's American Jobs Plan, which we are now going to consider soon, is an opportunity for us to consider $5 billion to fund community violence prevention programs. I have introduced my bill, the RISE from Trauma Act, which would implement the proposal by funding trusted members of the community to tackle trauma and the pain that is at the root of violence.
Last month, the President announced the creation of a new strike force, to be headed by the Justice Department, that will crack down on illegal drug trafficking in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, and Washington, DC. I support this step.
