Transcripts For CSPAN2 Highland Park Mayor Testifies On Acce

For the so many people from eleanor and Highland Park area. Im sorry we have to gather in this room for this purpose, but i salute you for your commitment, civic commitment and commitment w to sanity when it to laws of this country. I want to show some pictures. You will recognize them. This is aiden mccarthy, two years old. On the morning of the fourth of july, 16 days ago, aden and his parents kevin and irina went out to celebrate Independence Day as a family. They stop by their hometown parade of Highland Park. Shortly after 10 14 a. M. , aidan lost both of his parents. It happened when 21yearold gunman with a military style ar15 rifle began shooting. His father kevin used his body as a shield to protect aden. Kevin and aden mother was killed by gunfire. When shooting stopped aden was found wandering along the parade routeen with his fathers blood smeared on his leg. About this from mayor rotering when i called her after hearing the news that you talked about aden, the little boys they were still trying to identify. As of the photo is cooper roberts, eight years old. He was at the parade that day with his twin brother, and a bullet severed his spinal cord. We pray that he will recover. But for the time being he is battling paralysis from theuf waist down and is undergone at least seven surgeries as result of injuries, including one to reclosable wound in his esophagus. His twin brother luke had betrayed for shrapnel wounds to one of his legs. My heart is broken for these little boys and for the families and all the families mourning their loved ones and struggling to recover from this unspeakable act. Our nation was still reeling from the horrific Mass Shootings in buffalo, new york, and uvalde, texas, when the horror came to Highland Park the fourth of july. 83 rounds fired in less than 60 seconds. The gunman had perched himself on a rooftop and used a smith wesson semiautomatic assault ar15 variety, and three, 30 round highcapacity magazines to commit this massacre. He killed seven people. The names are katherine goldstein, kevin and irina mccarthy, jacquelyn sundheim, stephen straus, nicolas toledozaragoza, and eduardo uvaldo. Dozens more were injured, many are still hospitalized. Thousands experienced a trauma that day that will be with them forever. The attack in Highland Park was the 309th mass shooting in america this year. There h have been 47 more mass shooting since the fourth of july. This is a crushing number when you consider its reflection on life in america, and it is disgraceful that we have done so little to stop it. Too often the weapons that are used our military style assault weapons designed to kill large numbers of people in the matter of seconds. My colleague and the other senator from illinois senator duckworth will speak to the issue with her own special personal knowledge of it. I would like to turn to a short video that shows the threat our community face wendys war weapons, one of which was turned loose on Highland Park. He indiscriminately fired at the crowd and struck people at random. Stopping to reload his rifle similar to this one seen here twice. Texas rampage comes ten days after another shooting massacre at a supermarket in buffalo, new york,. Another mesh shooting this time at a church in california on sunday. There are at least three Mass Shootings in this country, 212 this year this year. In many parts of the u. S. You will have to be 18 to purchase weapon of work, and assault style rifles like the ar15. The style of weapon used in many Mass Shootings including the ones in sandy hook, las vegas and uvalde. Waffle house ar15. Buffalo ar15. Boulder, orlando, aurora, colorado, midland and odessa, the seneca, tree of life synagogue, Sutherland Springs, ar15. Thats how fast so much can shoot 30 rounds, one magazine, from an ar15. Those bullets from highpowered rifle have a velocity of summer around 3000 ft. s. I am an emergency room doctor. I can tell you firsthand that damage from ar15 bullet is almost indescribable. It creates gaping holes. It liquefies organs. You cant hunt with an ar15 and eat the dread afterwords. And thats what the surgeons and the doctors and First Responders are facing when they are dealing with these mass shooting victims. They are weapons of t war. Why do we allow our citizens to have such easy access to weapons of war . This is the tenth hearing te Senate Judiciary committee has held this Congress Come how to reduce gun violence in america, the tenth. Today well discuss the threat our community face when civilians as young as 18 years ofe age have easy access to military style assault weapons like ar15s and no legal requirement for training. How did we get to this point . What why are these killing ms flying off the shelves after they were banned for a decade until 2004 . Maybe it is the ads that market the assault weapons, symbols of independence, freedom, or the promise that owning an ar15 style gun will make you more of a man. Or could it be the enticing prospect of toting around the same style of weapon the soldiers and marines used to defend our country and combat . These are the Marketing Tactics used by gun manufacturers like mossberg, bushmaster, daniel defense. Its time to name and shame these companies. Its a disgrace that they have been shielded from accountability, even liability, for a a devastation that is been by their products. I called them out on the senate floor last week and will do it again. These weapons are killing our kids and our neighbors. In america this land of the free you can no longer go to the Grocery Store, a movie theater, a fourth ofan july parade or sed your kids to School Without fear of falling victim to another senseless mass shooting. I want those of lost so much to gun violence to know that i hear you, icu, i stand with you in this fight for real change that goes beyond thoughts and prayers. Governor pritzker made a comment after the shooting in Highland Park which reflected the feelings all of us had. Heartbroken for the victims and families, but furious that a fourth of july parade could turn into a killing field in the United States of america. I want to salute some progress. In the last few weeks would pass the most significant federal gun safety law in nearly three decades. We have also confirmed in atf director foror the first time in seven years, seven years. We have got to do more. If we are serious about reducing gun violence we need to keep weapons of war where they belong, on the battlefield, in the Police Departments here not in our communities. Today we have distinguished panel of witnesses ready to make that case and i look forward to their testimony. Let me turn to senator grassley before recognizing my collie. Senator grassley. For all of us it was tragic year about the recent shootings in Highland Park july 4. Just like buffalo, uvalde, other places throughout the country, senseless acts of violence have no place in our country, particularly on on a day whee should be celebrating our community and solidarity as a people. On a day when we should be celebrating our community, in solidarity as people. Our hearts break for victims and the families. As a father and grandfather, i cant imagine what you are going through. Sadly we witnessed another shooting in indianapolis over the weekend. Thankfully, a lawfully Armed Civilian with firearms stopped the shooter before more harm could be done. The gunman and Highland Park shooting was 21 years old. Held a valid illinois firearm owners identification card, he legally purchased five guns in four different transactions, passing federal background checks each time. Yet, like several other mass shooters, this perpetrator showed numerous warning signs over the years. He had previous contacts with police, he attempted suicide. A Family Member reportedly threatened to quote unquote, kill everyone. And his collections of knives were seized, yet he was not arrested, and no red flags were implemented when he purchased a firearm. Illinois has some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the country. But that didnt stop these murders. A young man was showing obvious signs that he is considering violence. But no one knew what the signs were. No one knew when his actions meant. No one interceded. No one stopped him. He would be easy to say that system just failed. That the police should have done more, his family should have done more. But there actually is something that would have made a difference. We have to educate the institutions in a persons life about these obvious signs of distress. These obvious signs that a person is heading towards mass violence. Schools in many states have implemented threat assessment models, but more institutions, including churches, workplaces, want to need training. We need to take affirmative steps on legislation for threat assessment, and prevention services. A study of hundreds of mass shooting incidents, conducted by two professors, show eerie similarities, repeated over and over, that arent always recognized. I know every member of this committee has heard me talk about, gets tired of me talking about the eagles act. That is named after the parkland, florida killing. Eagles was their school mascot. I first introduced this bill in 2018, it ought to be very non controversial. This legislation would provide funding to support secret Service National threat Assessment Centers efforts to conduct Cutting Edge Research into the prevention of violence. It would also enable the National Threat Assessment Center to create more of our nations schools and institutions in conducting threat assessments. And early intervention. Eagles is a vitally missing case that we have to implement if we want to reduce these Mass Shootings. We cannot afford not to do it. We cannot keep seeing a shooter after shooter follow the same productive predictable past, with nobody doing anything about it. It could be because they did not know what they were looking at. They did not know what to do. We have to fill this information gap with public education, right now the National Threat Assessment Center cannot afford to train everyone who wants this information. That has to change. I am pleading for that to change. I am not alone in these thoughts. Eagles is cosponsored by ten of my fellow senators representing both political parties. I will also base admitting a statement from the United States the secret Service Association supporting this legislation. I know many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to not like guns. Some are not particularly oppressed by the appeals of americans who desperately worry that one size fits all gun control will impede their right to selfdefense. I have spoken with many who are worried about restrictions on their right to selfdefense. I will be submitting, for the record, statements from the Asian Pacific Gun Owners Association and a Family Member of one of the victims from the shooting in Highland Park. Both were very concerned about restrictions being imposed on their right to self defend. For those who see no need for an armed citizen ray, they solution to Mass Shootings could include a ban on assault weapons. This has already been tried in the 90s and early 2000s. I did not support it then. These bands would be ineffective and non consistent with the right of selfdefense. 2004 department of justice study concluded that after ten years of assault weapons bans there was no statistically significant evidence that banning assault weapons reduced gun murders. We also know restricting gun control will hurt vulnerable communities that need to defend themselves against the horrible spite and Violent Crime that began two years ago. According to the National Shooting sports foundation, they primary trade association from the gun industry and gun sales during the first half of 2020 increased year over a year 52 for whites, 59 for African Americans, 49 for hispanics, 42 to 43 for asians. These numbers continue to grow and restricting gun control only affects lawabiding citizens and will affect this new population of gun owners. Hs based on evidence that respects the need for selfdefense. There are bipartisan things we can do and i hope the eagles act will be one of them. I hope that will be very soon. I yield. Thank you, senator grassley. I want to acknowledge and i am sure i am going to miss someone in this incredible turnout on behalf of Highland Park, lake county, and illinois. I want to acknowledge the presence of state representative bob morgan. County sheriff john idol burke, the states attorney from lake county, eric reinhart, Daniel Shapiro who i met with earlier. Sandy heart, lake county board chair, and catherines islam, i hope i got close to pronouncing your name correctly from north brook. Lauren beth gauge, and i know the mayor will be here in just a moment. We will have to opening statements, one from senator duckworth and another from senator cornyn. I will recognize senator duckworth first. Thank you, mister chairman. Mister chairman, Ranking Member grassley, thank you for holding todays very important hearing. It has been 16 days since Good Samaritans found two year old aided mccarthy lying bloodied and pinned beneath his unconscious father in the chaotic aftermath of a deadly mass shooting at Highland Parks fourth of july parade. Just a toddler, aidan had somehow lost one shoe and was down to just one blood soaked sock. As he kept asking for his mom and dad. Tragically, we learned that arena and Kevin Mccarthy were among the seven people murdered in what has become a uniquely american phenomenon. Mass murderers wielding weapons of war to inflict terror and death upon innocent americans. My constituents and yours, as well, mister chairman, were eager to celebrate america at her best. Instead, they joined a rapidly growing number of victims who have experienced our nation at her worst. I still cannot get the image of athens one bloodied sock out of my mind. I am unable to stop thinking about what his future holds now. Or what his parents final thoughts might have been as they shielded their son from bullets writing down with their own bodies. That is why im here this morning, as the senator representing eight, and i refused to let my colleagues ignore how a weapon of war forever changed this little boys life and the lives of so many others. And, as a mom raising two little girls who are attending school, i refused to do nothing in the face of a deadly epidemic of gun violence that is now the leading cause of death of young americans, let me say that now. The leading cause of death of americans under the age of 16 is a cancer, is not cant car accidents, it is gun violence. Only in america, i am urging this committee to demonstrate courage in supporting a ban on assault weapons at large pasty magazines, we cannot stop every mass shooting, they Ranking Member spoke about identifying those with Mental Health issues, i agree we should do all of that, there are predictable steps that he mentioned which is part of it. Part of those predictable steps also includes, unfortunately, in recent years, they purchasing or building of assault weapons. It does not change the simple fact, after the assault weapons ban expired in 2004 and the Ranking Member quoted the statistics from 2004 that said there had been no significant change as of 2004. However, since that ban was allowed to expire Mass Shootings in this country have tripled. We have more recent data, the data shows that Mass Shootings in this nation have tripled since the assault weapons ban was allowed to expire. I want to be clear, restoring the assault weapons ban would not prevent sportsman from continuing to access more than 2000 bottles of powerful hunting whales, we are not talking about your 30 of sixes, no mass shooter is going to grab a 30 ought six to conduct a mass shooting. They are grabbing ar15s, they are buying the lower assemblies and building their own weapons of war. It will not stop a parent from teaching their child to shoot with a 22 like my dad did with me when i was seven years old. I grew up shooting, i enjoyed going to the range, but my enjoyment of going to the range should not outweigh a childs right to life, to live the fray from the scourge of assault weapons. My focus is on reducing our streets of a rifle that eugene stone are literally designed to meet Army Requirements for use in combat, when he designed the ar15 it was de opted by the military to become the and 16 that i carried as my weapon of war for my 23 years as a soldier. Large capacity magazines also need to be banned. These are the items that are fueling the rising rates of Mass Shootings. The armor light rifle 15 and the semi auto successors it spawned our weapons of war, from their portability, accuracy, rate of fire, ability to penetrate body armor and ease of reloadi