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.
“NATIONALS PARK SHOOTING” mentioning Joe Manchin, III was published in the Senate section on pages S4939-S4940 on July 19.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
NATIONALS PARK SHOOTING
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, on Saturday night, baseball fans at Nationals Park here in Washington, DC, not far from where we stand, were sent into a panic by a sound that has become all too familiar in American cities: the sound of gunfire.
In the middle of the sixth inning, the teams left the field when it was reported that three people were shot outside the stadium on South Capitol Street. That burst of gunfire reverberated throughout the stadium. It could be heard on television and radio broadcasts of the game. It was bad; it could have been worse. Thankfully, nobody inside the stadium was harmed, and many thanks to the first responders for keeping the attendees safe.
But the photos and videos from Saturday night tell a clear story. We are a nation that has become traumatized by gun violence.
The Fourth of July weekend, the city of Chicago, a city I dearly love and am honored to represent, there were 104 gunshot victims that weekend, 19 deaths.
We have come to accept, sadly, mass shooting as a possibility anywhere in America, at a baseball park, in a movie theater, in houses of worship, even in our schools.
Mass shootings happen on the streets of Chicago almost every weekend. Just this last weekend, more than 50 were shot in our city, including 7 children and teenagers. The sad reality is gun violence has become as American as baseball.
The question before this Senate again and again and again is, Will we do anything about it? Will we take minimum steps to reduce gun violence in America, steps like making it more difficult for convicted felons and unstable people to buy firearms?
Nearly every American supports that, and yet the gaps in the Federal gun laws continue. Right now, it is simply too easy for a convicted felon or person with a history of serious mental illness to buy a gun from an unlicensed dealer. A person--no questions asked--can easily buy a gun from an unlicensed seller just minutes away from the city of Chicago, in the State of Indiana, and that gun will be sold and resold many times over in our city of Chicago--many times the same day.
In March, the House passed H.R. 8, a bipartisan measure to close the gaps in our background checks system. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Senator Manchin of West Virginia have been leading negotiations to get bipartisan support for that bill in the Senate. I am waiting for their signal, and I hope to receive it--that we are ready to move on that legislation.
I hope Senate Republicans will join us in supporting this and other commonsense measures, like confirming a Director for the Agency that enforces the gun laws on the book--ATF--for the first time since 2015. Too many lives have been lost to gun violence in this country. It is time for us to come together and put an end to the senseless violence.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. TUBERVILLE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Duckworth). Without objection, it is so ordered.
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