Frank Lautenberg: “I want to discuss a subject that is not terribly different than the remarks made by the distinguished Senator from…”

“I want to discuss a subject that is not terribly different than the remarks made by the distinguished Senator from Virginia just now. He talks about our responsibilities, what we have to do to protect our citizens. He talked about it in a slightly different way than I am going to discuss it now. But we are at a point in time, Mr. President, when there are 43 days on the calendar left until the 1-year anniversary of the shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado. On April 20, 2000, it will be 1 year since the country listened, in shock, to the news that two high school students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, had stormed into Columbine and systematically shot and killed 12 classmates and a teacher. When we talk about 43 days to go, those are calendar days. If we talked about the number of days left for us to enact legislation, there are somewhere around 23 days left. In addition to those 12 classmates and a teacher killed, 23 other students and teachers were wounded in the assault. It pains me--and I am sure it is true for all Americans--when I think back to the picture of that carnage: Young people running in a high school, fearful that their lives may be taken away, many weeping with terror as they fled. Who could ever forget the picture of that young man hanging out of a window to try to protect himself? But even in some ways more shocking is to see how quickly this Congress can dismiss those images.…”