May 21, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 85 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page S3011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 217--EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE DESIGNATION OF JUNE 7 
 THROUGH JUNE 9, 2019, AS ``NATIONAL GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS WEEKEND'' 
       AND JUNE 2019 AS ``NATIONAL GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH''

  Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Booker, Mr. Blumenthal, 
Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Harris, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Markey, Mr. 
Murphy, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. Van Hollen) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 217

       Whereas, each year in the United States, more than--
       (1) 36,000 individuals are killed and 100,000 individuals 
     are injured by gunfire;
       (2) 12,000 individuals are killed in homicides involving 
     firearms;
       (3) 22,000 individuals commit suicide by using firearms; 
     and
       (4) 500 individuals are killed in unintentional shootings;
       Whereas, since 1968, more individuals have died from guns 
     in the United States than have died on the battlefields of 
     all the wars in the history of the United States;
       Whereas, by 1 count, in 2018 in the United States, there 
     were--
       (1) 340 mass shooting incidents in which not fewer than 4 
     people were killed or wounded by gunfire; and
       (2) 103 incidents in which a gun was fired in a school or 
     college;
       Whereas gun violence typically escalates during the summer 
     months;
       Whereas nearly 2,900 children and teens are killed by gun 
     violence every year;
       Whereas more than 6,300 people in the United States under 
     the age of 25 die because of gun violence annually, including 
     Hadiya Pendleton, who, in 2013, was killed at 15 years of age 
     in Chicago while standing in a park;
       Whereas, on the first weekend of June 2019, to recognize 
     the 22nd birthday of Hadiya Pendleton, people across the 
     United States will recognize National Gun Violence Awareness 
     Weekend and wear orange in tribute to--
       (1) Hadiya Pendleton and other victims of gun violence; and
       (2) the loved ones of those victims; and
       Whereas June 2019 is an appropriate month to designate as 
     ``National Gun Violence Awareness Month'': Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) supports--
       (A) the designation of June 2019 as ``National Gun Violence 
     Awareness Month'' and the goals and ideals of that month; and
       (B) the designation of June 7 through June 9, 2019, as 
     ``National Gun Violence Awareness Weekend'', in remembrance 
     of the victims of gun violence; and
       (2) calls on the people of the United States to--
       (A) promote greater awareness of gun violence and gun 
     safety;
       (B) wear orange, the color that hunters wear to show that 
     they are not targets, on June 7 through June 9, 2019;
       (C) concentrate heightened attention on gun violence during 
     the summer months, when gun violence typically increases; and
       (D) bring community members and leaders together to discuss 
     ways to make communities safer.

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