Then your phone calls and tweets. It is live at 7 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan. I think theyre moving extremely fast. Expires after five or 10 years. There is no facebook or twitter. Historically what we have done is we have sliced human life into four slices. There is a resting phase. Them alle should have at the same time. We should play. We should learn. The world moves so fast. We really have to stay upto date. New years day on cspan. Ceos of the deaths of the, twitter and others on Higher Education and data. Hutchison on who shape texas. On cspan three, American History television. The of civil rights leaders share their memories of the Civil Rights Era at 8 00 30. 8 30 p. M. As 2013 began a, the issue of gun violence was fresh on americans mind. The newton shootings had just happened in connecticut. Over the next hour, on year in review, a debate on gun violence and gun policy and we will start with january 16, 2013. He also talks about what his administration plans to do with the issue. I started getting a lot of letters from kids. Four of them are here today. They are pretty representative of the messages that i got. These are some pretty smart letters from some pretty smart young people. A third grader, you can go ahead and ways. Thats you. I feel terrible for the parents who lost their children. I love my country and i want everyone to be happy and safe. Go ahead and wave, brad. We should learn from sandy hook. Im not scared for my safety. Im scared for others. I have Four Brothers and sisters and i would not be able to bear the thought of losing any of them. These are our kids. This is what they are thinking about. When we should be thinking about is our responsibility to care for them. To shield them from harm and give them the tools they need to grow up and do everything they are capable of doing not just to pursue their own dreams but to help build this country. This is our first task as a society, keeping our children safe. This is how we will be judged. Their voices should compel us to change. That is my last month i asked joe to lead a left for lead the effort to come up with concrete steps we can take right now to keep our children safe, to help prevent mass shootings, to help prevent the broader epidemic of gun violence in this country. We cannot put this off any longer. Just last thursday as tv networks were covering one of his meetings on this topic, news broke of another School Shooting in california. In the months since 20 precious children and brave adults were finally taken from us at sandy hook elementary, more than 900 of our fellow americans have reportedly died at the end of a gun. 900. In the past month. Every day we wait, that number will keep growing. Im putting forward a specific set of proposals based on the work of joes task force. In the days ahead, i intend to use whatever way this office holds to make it a reality. Because while there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every sense was violence, no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy, every act of evil, if theres even one thing we can do to reduce violence, if theres even one life that can be saved, then we have an obligation to try it. As soon as im finished speaking here, i will sign a directive giving my enforcement, schools, Mental Health professionals and the community is tools they need to reduce gun violence. We will make it easier by strengthening the background system. We want them to hire more School Resource officers if they want. We had knowledge that someone with a Mental Illness is far more likely to be a big them of violent rhyme than the perpetrator. I will direct the centers for Disease Control to go ahead and study the best ways to reduce. They should look into the effect of violent bitty violent video games have. We dont benefit from not knowing the science of this epidemic or violence. These are a few of the 23 executive actions im announcing today but as important as they are, they are in no way a substitute for inaction of members of congress. To make a real and lasting difference, congress, too, must act. Im calling on congress to pass some very specific proposals right away. Its time to require universal background check for anyone trying to buy a gun. [applause] it already requires licensed gun dealers to run background checks. These gun sales are not safe, not smart, not fair to responsible gun buyers or sellers. If you want to buy a gun, whether its from a licensed dealer or private seller, you should at least have to show you are not a felon or someone legally prohibited from buying one. This is common sense. An overwhelming majority agree with us on the need for universal background checks. Congress should restore a ban on military style assault weapons and 810 a 10 round limit for magazines. [applause] the type of Assault Rifle used in or roar of when paired with highcapacity magazines has one purpose to pump out as many bullets as possible as quickly as possible, to do as much damage using bullets often designed to inflict maximum damage and thats what allowed the gunmen and a roar wrote to shoot 70 people. 70 people, killing 12, in a matter of minutes. Weapon is designed for the theater of war have no place in a movie theater. The majority of americans realize that. By the way, so did Ronald Reagan, one of the staunchest defenders of the Second Amendment who wrote to congress in 1994 urging them this is Ronald Reagan speaking urging them to listen to the public and to Law Enforcement community to support a ban on the further manufacture of military style assault weapons. [applause] finally, Congress Needs to help rather than hinder Law Enforcement as it does its job. We should get tougher on people who buy guns with the express purpose of turning around and selling them to criminals. We should severely punish anyone who helps them do this. Since congress has not confirmed a director of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms in six years, they should confirm todd jones who has been act in you and i will be nominating for the post. [applause] and at a time when budget cuts are forcing many communities to reduce their police force, we should put more cops on the job and back on our streets. We are rad the hill offices with rebecca. You have covered a number of gun related hearings and events through the year. The president from earlier this year in january, how did the nuclear shootings of last december propel the administration and congress into action . The fact that a number of children were killed, that was really the breaking point for lawmakers on the hill and the white house to do something about the gun issues in this country. The Aurora Shooting happened and they wanted to introduce something that would actually tried to move the the issue forward. President obama introduced a number of executive orders that day and they are still working on them today. Vice President Joe Biden announced 100 million for Mental Health services this week. You talk about the actions but how receptive was congress to any sort of change . They did take newton and thought they had to do it. A lot of them focus on the Mental Health aspects. The democrats did want to tighten them. You are talking about the coming together of joe manchin and pat toomey. What were they trying to do . Introduced an amendment that would have expanded background checks so that it would be applied to all gun sales including the private market. At the moment, the law says those background checks only applied to federal gun sales. That was really the breaking point for a lot of lawmakers and it kind of impeded the issue for a lot of the year. What about in localities and states . A lot of states didnt ask a number of gun laws. It was an interesting chart in the New York Times the other day. A majority of the 100 gun laws enacted across the country were actually loosening gun regulation. There were a number of gun laws that actually tighten them. It was the death knell for a lot of legislators in colorado. We are speaking with Rebecca Shabad at the hill offices. We want to show you some of our coverage of congressional debate and hearings regarding gun violence. Thank you for inviting me here today. This is an important conversation for our children, for our community, for democrats and republicans. Speaking is difficult, but i need to Say Something important. Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something. It will be hard but the time is now. The bold and courageous. Americans are counting on you. Nobody is committed more than we are about keeping guns of criminals hands. Its in our best interest. I assume you are as committed in keeping guns out of the hands of criminals. Do you agree with should prosecute and punish how they get guns at . We have said strawman sales should have been prosecuted for years. There are statutes on the books right now. You agree that we should prosecute. If someone is doing a strawman sale, they should be prosecuted absolutely. You supported mandatory criminal background checks for every sale and every gun show. You said no loopholes for anyone. Statistics show that when they do have a background check, nearly 2 million convict did criminals have tried to buy firearms and they were prevented. Let me ask you this. Do you feel as you did in 1999, still supporting mandatory background checks at gun shows . Yes or no . A we support the National Check system on dealers. We were here when one of your colleagues held a hearing in terms of who would be a dealer and he would be required to have a license. If you did it for profit, yes. Lets make it easier. We are talking about gun shows. Should be a mandatory background checks at gun shows for sales of weapons . If you are a dealer, thats already the law. Thats not my question. Im not trying to play games. Very quickly, if you could answer my question. I do not believe the way the way the law is working now that it does any good to extend the law to private sales between hobbyists and collectors. You do not support mandatory background checks out all in the instances of gun shows. We do not because fact is the law right now is failing the way its working. You could have 76,000 people who have been denied under the present law but only 44 were prosecuted. You are letting them go. They are walking the street. You said no loopholes anywhere for anyone but now you do not support background checks for all buyers of firearms. The check system the way its working now was a failure. They are not prosecuting the people that they catch. They are not even putting the records of those adjudicated mentally incompetent in the system. Assume that if you do not prosecute and you try to buy a gun, even if you catch them and you let them walk away, to assume they will not yet a gun they are criminals, homicidal maniacs, and they are mentally ill. With all due respect, thats not the question i asked. Nor did you answer. I think its the answer. I honestly do. Its your testimony. We presented a Model Training Program for School Resource officers that is an enhancement of what they currently undertake and are required. Its 4060 hours of comprehensive training for the School Resource officers. This is one item that catches everyones attention. Why is this part of our recommendations that we have this Model Training Program . First of all, there is the incident in Pearl High School in 1997 where an active shooter went into the school and killed two students and wounded others. There was no School Resource officer. He retrieved his 45 caliber semiautomatic ir arm, return to school, and disarmed the assailant. Not to an example of where the responses critical land that is what saved lives. The key is reducing the response time. If he had been trained, if he had access on his person, he might have saved more lives even in that instance. In one of the findings of the team went through one school that did not have School Resource officers and they were already planning to Arm School Staff for the protection of the kids. Whenever the inquiry was made in terms of what kind of training they have, it was clearly insufficient and schools are undergoing that process all across america right now without adequate on what a good, Model Training Program is for arm School Personnel. Let me emphasize this is not talking about all teachers. Teachers should teach. There is personnel with good experience, and interest, and is willing to go through this training, again, 40 to 60 hours that is totally comprehensive, then that is an appropriate resource that a school should be able to utilize. The second recommendation is that we have to adopt in the states need to consider changing the laws so that it allows a firearm to be carried by School Personnel when they go through this Model Training Program. We attach as an appendix a model state law to be considered for this purpose in various states. Pat and i have an agreement. We have worked with senator kirk and schumer. We have an agreement to keep the mentally ill and insane from getting firearms and harming old. Its extremely important for all of us. We agree we need a commission on violence and it will be made up the eagle with expertise. People who have expertise in guns, Mental Illness, school safety, and video violence. We have a culture of violence and a whole generation that recently has been desensitized. If you go around and talk to the young people today, it is what it is and we have to find out how we can change in reverse at. We need to protect the legal gun owners like myself and pat who basically cherish the Second Amendment rights that we have. We have done that also but today is the start of a healthy debate that must end with the senate and house hopefully passing these commonsense measures and the president signing it into law. Back home where i come from, we have common sense and now we have gone cents. Thats what we are talking about. Truly, the events at newton changed us all. It changed our country, our communities, our towns, our hearts and minds. This will not ease the pain of these families who lost their children on that horrible day. Nobody here not one of us in this great capital of hours with a good conscience could sit by and not try to prevent a day like that from happening again. Thats when we are doing. Americans on both sides of the debate can and must find Common Ground. Thats what hat and i have been working on. We went to keep them out of the hands and keep our children safe. This is a bipartisan movement and amendment. A bipartisan solution is a lasting solution. No one could step by and tried to prevent this a day from ever happening again. Let mixed lane why im here today with senator mansion. Over the last few months let me explain why im here today. It is not something that i sought, but it is inevitable. Second, it became apparent that there are a number of gun control proposals that i think actually would infringe on Second Amendment right and i will tell you categorically that nothing prevents the ownership of guns by any lawful person and i would not support it if it did. Thats when i started talking with senator mansion, senator kirk thomas and others to see if we might be able to find a place where there is Common Ground. It rests on the simple proposition that criminals and the dangerously mentally ill should not have guns. I dont know anyone who disagrees with that premise. If we start with the notion that dangerous criminals and dangerously mentally ill should not have weapons, we are in agreement. From 19992009, 1. 8 million guns sales were drop blocked because they were not qualified to own a gun. I supported john checks in the past and i support them now. They already exist for all handgun purchases. It will not require recordkeeping by any private citizens. The national law that we have had and pennsylvanias experience has done nothing to restrain the lawful ownership by lawabiding citizens. We hear about background checks leading to an erosion of our Second Amendment rights and it simply has not happened. We have to make sure that it does. This amendment is a compromise and it includes a number of measures to secure Second Amendment rights that they have long sought. The bottom line for me is this. Its expanding background checks to include Internet Sales and gun shows can reduce the likelihood of criminals and mentally ill people from getting guns and we can do it in a fashion that does not infringe of the Second Amendment rights of lawabiding citizens, we should do it. Mr. President , earlier this week, we spoke about legislation to reduce gun violence. I came on the floor of the senate to filibuster the proceeding of this no. The senate should not have to overcome a filibuster to respond. Ive seen the debate on so many issues. I was encouraged by a number of Senate Republicans of they were prepared to debate these matters and will not support this wrongheaded filibuster. Even the wall street journal editorialized against this yesterday. Gop guncontrol misfire. I dont agree with much of the editorial but i will quote this. Conservatives want to prove this but the way to do it is to debate and vote on the floor. A small minority of republicans are trying to prevent this from even happening. None of these threaten Second Amendment rights. None of them call for gun confiscation or government registry. Two of these three have had bipartisan support. With regards to the third proponent, closing loopholes in the current background system. They will have a bipartisan amendment with this component as well. The senior senator from maine, senator collins, and i were able to announce another step towards consensus. We have engaged in discussions with Law Enforcement and more recently, we have been engaged in discussions and we have agreed to stop illegal trafficking to address substantive concerns while doing what we want to do by providing the tools they need to investigate and prosecute illegal trafficking. Senator collins and i are both strong supporters and advocates of Second Amendment rights for lawabiding americans. It seems absurd that they insist in the filibuster of the bill. The American People expect us to stand up and face our responsibilities. Whether we like having to vote or not, we have an oath of office. We have the solemn privilege of meeting with some of the families who lost loved ones in the sandy hook shooting. As a father, i can hardly begin to comprehend the enormous grief that these individuals have suffered losing such a young child, spouse, or mother in an act of what would appear to be senseless violence. Bearing your varying your child is something that no parent should have to do. Burying your child. The families and friends of the victims of sandy hook are owed the dignity and respect of a transparent, goodfaith effort to address gun violence. I do believe there is a Common Ground upon which republicans and democrats can come together. The issue of Mental Health of the gun owner is that Common Ground for me. Along with enforcing current laws that are on the books. If there is one thread that connects the horrific series of gun violence episodes in our country, particularly in recent times, it is the Mental Illness of the shooter. In every case, the perpetrators Mental Illness should have been did and, in some instances, it was but not reported. These individuals should never be allowed access to a gun. This is actually something we can and should do something about. We need to make sure that the mentally ill are getting the help they need not guns. As i said, this is something that i believe all of us can agree on. In response to the tragedy at Virginia Tech in 2007, the senate and congress unanimously passed legislation to bolster background checks. Texas has received high marks for their compliance but many states have essentially been noncompliant and the department of justice has failed to adequately backup implementation of the law. Essentially the law we passed in the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting requiring the reporting of those people who are adjudicatory ill is not working as it should. Rather than string along and in effect new program, i think this is a wonderful opportunity to fix it. We should fix it. Im glad that we are proceeding in this very important legislation. They might be wondering why they are not reporting on any amendments to the pending legislation. They voted to proceed to the bill. This followed calls that the senate should debate the bill and that is why i just said im glad we are getting there. There has been very little debate. The president has said that various proposals deserve a vote. On this side of the aisle we do not stand to and tend to stand in the way of those votes particularly in the amendments and i hope we are able to vote very soon. Last week, senator mansion and to me unveiled an amendment. Senators manchin and toomey amendment. They said it would be the one we would first vote on. We have not voted so hopefully we will get to the vote. We have not voted because despite claims from the other side, background checks are not and have her never have been the sweet spot of gun control debate. We have not voted because they do not have the votes to pass it. I think they know it. They do not have the votes even though published reports indicate that Vice President biden, the Vice President of the senate, they have been calling and asking to support the manc hintoomey bill. I do not have the votes for background checks even though the Vice President has stated that the opposition to the proposal comes only from the black helicopter crowd. Manchintoomey would oppose new impose new obligations and it would do so even though expanding background checks would have done nothing to stop newton or other mass shootings. It would do so even though expanding background checks would do nothing to prevent these killings in the future. I often quote the Deputy Director of the National Institute of justice and that institute and that person recently wrote that background checks could work only if they were universal and accompanied by gun registration. Most oppose Gun Legislation. They know what has happened historically with don legislation. Members of the senate but more importantly, they do not want to go down that role. It claims to strengthen the rights of gun owners. In fact, it does not. The fact is the opposite is true. Mr. President , we are accompn registration. And, of course, most members of the Senate Oppose gun registration. They know what has happened historically with gun registration. It has led in other countries to confiscation, and members of the senate, but more importantly, lots of people appearing at our town meetings fear that and dont want to go down that road. The background check amendment claims to strengthen the rights of gun owners, but in fact it does mr. Durbin thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , we are debating one of the most important bills weve had before the is that the in a long time before the senate in a long time. The reason were debating this is because of what happened in newtown, connecticut, on december 14. Gun violence takes its toll every day in america, in cities all across the country and in my home state of illinois. And we know, because we read and hear in the news of the victims. At this moment, our nation is saddened by what happened yesterday in boston. We still dont know what the cause of that was, who was responsible for it. I just have to say that were stunned by it. Members of the senate that i work with on the immigration bill had planned to announce it today in a press conference. Weve postponed that, in respect to the people who have fallen and been injured and their families in boston. It is a moment of grave concern across america, expressed well by the president last night. We wait for the information and details to build a case for those who are responsible. I, for one and im sure my colleagues feel the same way dont want to rush to judgment until we have the facts as to the partie parties responsible t the sadness we feel for the victims and thed isness w the sl for americans who stand on the side lines and cheer on the runners is profound. The issue of bus is gun safety. It comes before us because 20 beautiful first graders were massacred at their grade school at sandy hook in the town of newtown, connecticut. And six of their teachers and administrators literally gave their lives in defense of those children. Theres not a parent or grandparent alive who didnt identify with that horrible loss. Last week i met with a group of parents from Sandy Hook Elementary School who in their continuing grief still had the courage to come to congress and to beg us to do something, to spare future families and future children from this type of massacre. I met with them early in the morning. There wasnt a dry eye in the room, as you can imagine. As they showed me the photographs of their beautiful little children who were gone. I commend him for their courage for stepping forward. Now the question is whether the senate has the courage to step forward. This isnt an easy vote. I come from a pretty diverse statement i comstate. I come from down state, illinois, more gun owners than the great city of chicago. For 14 years i ran in an area where the gun issues were very volatile and very important to many people. I took some positions which the gun lobby didnt care for. Several times they decided that they would wage a campaign against me when i ran for reelection. I survived their attacks and eventually was elected to the senate here. This is the first meaningful gun safety legislation that weve taken up since i was elected to this body over 16 years ago. Were here because of newtown, connecticut. Theres no question about it. I of coursi often remind peoplee of our own, gabrielle giv giffo, congresswoman, was gunned down pointblank in the face, and we did nothing. No hearings, no changes in the Law Enforcement it was just another gun statistic to many the needed 60 senators to bring it to a final vote. It fell short. 48 dennis democrats voted yes. They voted against 41 republicans and five democrats. Represented moderation and common sense. Thats why 90 of the people supported it. The gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill. They claim it would create some kind of dig brother registry even though the bill did the opposite. It outlawed denny registry, plain and simple. But that did not matter. Unfortunately, this pattern of spreading untruths served a purpose. That intimidated a lot of senators. I spoke to them over the past few weeks. They are all good people. I know all of them were shocked by tragedies like newtown. They come from states where there is a regional difference when it comes to guns. Both sides have to listen to each other. There was no way we could make this happen. It came down to politics. They worried that it would avert the Second Amendment. Democrats have that fear also. They caved to the pressure. They had any excuse to vote no. No piece of legislation can stop every act of violence and evil. But if action can save one person, one child, a few hundred, a few thousand, if it could for vent those people from losing their lives to gun violence in the future, we have an obligation to try. This legislation meant that test. Ive heard some say that blocking this step they dont have a right to weigh in on this issue. We think their emotions and their loss is not relevant to this debate . All in all, this was a pretty shameful time for washington. This effort is not over. I want to make it clear to the American People. We can still bring about changes to reduce gun violence so long as the American People dont upon. Even without congress, my administration will keep doing everything it can to protect everyone. We are going to do everything we can to protect our children in schools. We can do more if Congress Gets its act together. If this congress refuses to listen to the American People and pass common sense Gun Legislation then the real impact is going to have to come from the voters. To all who supported this legislation, democrats and republicans, responsible gun owners, urban moms, rural hunters, whoever you are you need to let your representatives in Congress Know that you are disappointed and if they dont act you will remember, election time. You need to let your leadership in washington know that they did not represent your views on this. What this means is this issue is not going away. People behind me have been hurt physically and emotionally by violence and they will continue working with us