Order of Business

ORDER OF BUSINESS -- (Senate - July 28, 2005)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, today I rise on behalf of my constituents to oppose the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. It should be called the Special Interest Protection Act because it puts one industry's bottomline ahead of the families and victims of gun violence. It also slams closed the courthouse door to those seeking justice for victims of gun violence.

Remember when--not to long ago--the citizens of Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia were terrorized by a sniper. Remember when 10 innocent people were killed while they were going about their daily routines, mowing the lawn or getting gas, shopping, and getting ready to drive a bus. Their families have experienced tremendous loss and the Nation mourned with them.

Now, Congress is considering legislation that inflict further pain on families like those of the sniper victims. This legislation will literally slam the courthouse door on the families of gun violence victims and on all Americans who believe they were harmed by negligent actions related to guns. It gives gun dealers and manufacturers a free pass. And it will prevent families and survivors from holding irresponsible gun stores accountable, if they are negligent. It actually would prohibit families from going to court, from letting a jury of their peers decide if the gun store or manufacturer was negligent.

If this legislation passes you could still go to court over a toy gun but not a real gun. That is wrong.

Let me tell you about one of these families who have been victimized by gun violence. Conrad Johnson was the sniper's last victim. Do you remember hearing the news that he was shot at a bus stop in Montgomery County? Killed by the sniper getting ready for his route.

He was beloved by his family, friends and community. Two thousand people attended his funeral.

He worked hard as a bus driver. He drove 35 miles before dawn every day for work. He was known for his friendly smile and can-do attitude.

And he loved his family--his Jamaican immigrant parents, his wife Denise--his high school sweetheart, his two sons and his big extended family. Over 30 members gathered at the hospital after he was shot. He was full of life. He was always finding ways to take care of his family and help his community. He was a volunteer coach for the boys and girls clubs of Fort Washington. He loved being a DJ for functions thrown by family and friends, and he was always washing the family car on the weekends.

Conrad Johnson was the snipers last victim. Conrad's family is one of many

[Page: S9247]

Maryland families still grieving because of the snipers' reign of terror. Five Maryland families lost loved ones in the sniper's first 24 hours.

Today, I stand here for the rights of families like those of the sniper victims to have their day in court, the rights of families like James Martin's. James was shot when he stopped to buy groceries for his church program. Or James ``Sonny'' Buchanan's family. Sonny, a landscape architect, who was engaged to be married, was shot with one bullet as he worked early one morning. Or the wife, son, and daughter of Premkumar Walekar. He was a taxicab driver, shot that same morning as he went about his normal fill up routine at a local gas station on Aspen Hill Road. Or the husband and 7 year old son of Sarah Ramos, who was shot just 25 minutes later, as she sat on a bench waiting for a ride to her babysitting job. And the family of Lori Ann Lewis Ramos, shot just a short time later, as she stopped at a gas station to clean her car.

Today, I also stand here to protect all the victims who were and are severely injured by gun violence. They also deserve their day in court. There is the young boy who was a victim of the DC area sniper--Iran Brown, who was shot in the chest as he was dropped off at Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie, Iran spent over a month in intensive care because of the gunshot to his chest or Rupinder ``Benny'' Oberoi, a young man who was shot in the back as he closed the store he worked at for the night. Benny needed 26 staples in his chest and extensive surgery to repair the damage caused by the bullet that pierced his back.

These families have been through so much. They can never recover that tremendous loss. We owe it to them to make sure families all over American who are like them can have their day in court.

That is why we need to oppose this legislation today.

Now, there has been a lot of talk about language was added to S. 397 to protect this case or that case. The U.S. Congress should not be in the business of deciding which negligence actions should be allowed into a court. That is up to the courts to decide. That is what our civil justice system is all about. It gives these families the right to offer evidence to prove the gun shop was negligent.

We need to reject this legislation and protect that right.

We need to ensure that the families of victims and the victims themselves, who have faced such unprecedented tragedy, are not victimized again by having the courthouse doors slammed on them.

We stood with law enforcement during the dark and dangerous days of the snipe; now today they stand with us. People feared for their lives. Thanks to the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and local law enforcement they found the snipers. Thanks to brilliant forensic work they traced the weapon. This legislation makes a mockery of everything law enforcement tried to do.

If this legislation passes, irresponsible dealers get off scot-free and victims of gun violence are left without the protection of our justice system. I believe families of victims of gun violence deserve their day in court, like the sniper victims' families had--like Conrad Johnson's family, and Sarah Ramos' family, and all the families.

They may not win their case, but they have the right to make their case. The courts should decide based on the facts and the evidence.

Let me be clear, I do not believe Congress should stand in the way by offering special protection, by offering blanket protections for the negligent actions of the gun dealers, sellers and manufacturers. It is my duty to my constituents to fight with them and to fight against passage of this bill. It would be irresponsible for the Congress not to allow these victims of terror to seek redress in the courts. Gun violence terrorizes our citizens and we owe them nothing less.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov/