Political Quotes

On the recordApril 20, 2023
Mr. President, 24 years ago today, tragedy struck Littleton, CO. It was a day that began like any other but--in a matter of hours--would scar our Nation forever. Today, the word ``Columbine'' is synonymous with an act of terror that every parent fears: school shootings. If you had told me 24 years ago that the scenes we witnessed that morning--students and teachers being shot down, traumatized children being escorted out of classrooms by armed officers, if you told me this would become a common--almost weekly--occurrence in America, I wouldn't have believed you. But here we are. In the years since Columbine, hundreds of American students have died--or been injured--in school shootings, and thousands more have been traumatized. Gunfire has become the No. 1 cause of death for our Nation's children. And one in five Americans now say they have lost a loved one to gun violence. Some politicians have resigned themselves to the idea that this is just part of American life we must accept. Shame on them. This is a uniquely American crisis--and lawmakers have the power to resolve it. Yet Republicans in Congress actually want to take steps backwards. We are seeing that in the House right now, where the MAGA majority is trying to wipe off the books a gun law restricting braces that turn pistols into short-barreled rifles. This is the kind of weapon that was carried by the mass shooters in Dayton, OH; Boulder, CO; and just a few weeks ago at a school shooting in Nashville, TN.…
Said by
Dick Durbin
Democratic · Illinois

Share & report

More from Dick Durbin

Apr 29, 2025

I announce that the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) is necessarily absent. The result was announced--yeas 83, nays 14, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 221 Ex.] YEAS--83 Baldwin Banks Barrasso Bennet Blackburn Booker Boozman Britt…

govinfo.gov
Apr 29, 2025

I announce that the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) is necessarily absent. The result was announced--yeas 52, nays 46, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 222 Leg.] YEAS--52 Banks Barrasso Blackburn Boozman Britt Budd Capito Cassidy…

govinfo.gov
May 5, 2025

I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman) and the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray) are necessarily absent. The result was announced--yeas 51, nays 43, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 231 Leg.] YEAS--51 Banks…

govinfo.gov
Apr 29, 2025

I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) and the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) are necessarily absent. The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 62, nays 36, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 218 Ex.] YEAS--62 Banks Barrasso…

govinfo.gov

Other voices in this conversation