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.
“STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S3147-S3148 on May 24, 2017.
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:
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Markey, and
Mr. Blumenthal):
S. 1212. A bill to provide family members of an individual who they fear is a danger to himself, herself, or others, and law enforcement, with new tools to prevent gun violence; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Gun Violence Prevention Order Act of 2017: At this time, I would also like to thank Senators Blumenthal, Gillibrand, and Markey for cosponsoring this legislation. Their support is sincerely appreciated.
Yesterday marked the 3rd anniversary of the horrific shooting that outraged the community of Isla Vista, California and the Nation. During this attack, the City of Isla Vista was struck by tragedy when 22-year-
old Elliot Rodger went on a shooting rampage after fatally stabbing his two roommates and a friend. Armed with a Glock 34 handgun and two SIG Sauer P226 handguns, the assailant drove through the streets of Isla Vista, shooting and killing 3 young students and injuring 14 others near the University of California, Santa Barbara campus before taking his own life. The Isla Vista community was in shock, and we as a nation struggled to comprehend how this tragedy could have been prevented.
As more facts emerged about the assailant, we learned that he had a history of mental health concerns and violent behavior. He had been prescribed medications used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and at age 18 Rodgers had begun to refuse the mental health treatment he had been receiving. Local deputies had also encountered him several times through conflicts and fights he had with friends and roommates. And less than a month before his deadly rampage, a concerned friend had called a county mental health staff member, and, after speaking with the assailant's mother, law enforcement conducted a welfare check at Rodger's apartment. At that point, Rodger's murderous plot was well underway, and had the police searched his room, they would have found a stockpile of guns and ammunition along with papers detailing his plans to kill. This individual should have never been able to obtain a firearm--and the bill I am introducing today would enable law enforcement and family members to intervene and prevent attackers like this assailant from carrying out atrocious acts of gun violence in the future.
Over 30,000 people die each year from gun violence, and on average, 7 children and teens are killed by guns every day. We know that families and friends are in the best position to recognize early signs of trouble before tragedy occurs. However, family members and law enforcement officials commonly have no legal means of taking preventive steps to stop a troubled individual from committing an act of gun violence before it occurs. To solve this problem, the State of California enacted a law in the aftermath of the Isla Vista attack that enables family members or law enforcement officers to ask a court for a gun violence prevention order.
Modeled on California's existing laws on domestic violence, when a judge believes there is sufficient evidence that an individual is a danger to themselves or others, the gun violence prevention order temporarily prohibits an individual from purchasing firearms or ammunition. And under a higher burden of proof, a court can also issue a warrant to remove any firearms or ammunition already in the individual's possession. Based on this California law and other State laws, the Gun Violence Prevention Order Act of 2017 would create a new law enforcement grant under the Community-Oriented Policing Services Program at the Department of Justice and incentivize States to take intervening measures to prevent gun violence. Specifically, this legislation would ensure that families and others can seek a gun violence prevention order from a court to temporarily stop someone close to them who poses a threat to themselves or others from purchasing a firearm. This legislation also ensures that a court can issue a gun violence prevention warrant requiring law enforcement to take temporary possession of firearms that have already been purchased if the court determines that the individual poses a threat. Because criminal background checks are critical to preventing gun crimes, this legislation also requires the Department of Justice and comparable state law enforcement agencies to keep their background check databases up to date and requires courts to notify these agencies when a gun violence prevention order is issued.
Importantly, this legislation also protects due process rights by providing written notice and multiple opportunities for the court to make independent determinations on the matter.
Additionally, the Department of Justice and State law enforcement agencies would be required to protect the affected individual's confidentiality. Finally, I would like to say a few words about the victims and survivors of the Isla Vista attack and what this legislation means to their community. Many of the victims and survivors of this attack were students and young adults. They had their whole lives ahead of them. As communities across California and our Nation mark the third anniversary of this terrible tragedy, let us remember the lives of Weihan Wang, Cheng Yuan Hong, George Chen, Veronika Weiss, Katherine Cooper, and Christopher Michaels-Martinez. The families of these victims will never be the same again, and I will never forget hearing their stories in the aftermath of this attack. As a mother and grandmother, I cannot imagine the pain they have gone through. As the elected leaders of this body, we must never forget what happened in Isla Vista and take steps to keep our communities safe from the gun violence that continues to endanger them. We have seen the costs of inaction, and the Gun Violence Prevention Order Act of 2017 is a step we can take to protect communities across America and ensure that other communities do not experience the pain that Isla Vista went through. I hope my colleagues will join me in remembering the victims of this attack and supporting this legislation.
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By Mr. KAINE:
S. 1224. A bill to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry out a Community Resilience Grant Program, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation to authorize a game-changing scale of investment in making America's infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters.
The BUILD Resilience Act would build on the National Disaster Resilience Competition first authorized in the 2013 Hurricane Sandy emergency supplemental disaster package. It would authorize $1 billion a year over 5 years to jumpstart large-scale investment in community resilience--supporting jobs, strengthening infrastructure, and reducing risk to communities from disasters like hurricanes and flooding.
This bill aims to follow the ``ounce of prevention'' principle. Cleaning up after a disaster is important, but if we invest in sturdier infrastructure before the disaster, there will be less to clean up after the disaster. This is borne out in two separate studies. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that every $1 invested upfront in resilient infrastructure saves $3 on the back end. The Multihazard Mitigation Council of the National Institute of Building Sciences estimates $4 of benefit.
The Sandy Competition supported resilience projects in low-lying coastal areas of Virginia and Louisiana; in Sandy-affected areas of New York and New Jersey, in flood-prone Midwest regions like Iowa and North Dakota, and elsewhere. But Virginia's grant illustrates the scale of the challenge. This grant is supporting innovative flood-control projects but only in two at-risk neighborhoods of Norfolk, which is only one part of a broader Hampton Roads region. Neighboring localities like Newport News and Chesapeake submitted proposals to address their own infrastructure needs, but funding was insufficient. Since there will always be risk of another devastating storm, we must learn from Sandy and take steps now to protect our communities later. This bill tries to do that.
With a range from 1\1/2\ to 7 feet of sea level rise projected by the year 2100, the Hampton Roads region is the second largest population center at risk from sea level rise in the Nation, behind only New Orleans. Residents are dealing with skyrocketing flood insurance premiums and flooding not only after a Sandy or a Matthew but from ordinary rainstorms. This is a direct Federal responsibility given the presence of the largest concentration of naval power in the world. An ODU study estimates that the main Norfolk city road leading into Naval Station Norfolk could be inundated by the tides a few hours per day by midcentury. That makes this not only an infrastructure issue but a national security issue.
I hope to work with the White House and Congress to advance a comprehensive infrastructure package that rises to this challenge.
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