OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Red Lake School Tragedy

Date: April 12, 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Indigenous Peoples Guns


RED LAKE SCHOOL TRAGEDY -- (Extensions of Remarks - April 12, 2005)

SPEECH OF
HON. BETTY McCOLLUM
OF MINNESOTA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2005

Ms. MCCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my deepest condolences to the Red Lake Nation of northern Minnesota for the profound tragedy that took place on March 21, 2005. On that day a young man killed nine people on the Red Lake Reservation and then he killed himself. This extreme violence shatters our own sense of security because we all know it can happen anywhere at any time. All Americans and all Minnesotans extend our prayers, condolences, and support for the families of the Red Lake Nation as they heal and rebuild their community.

Violence, untreated mental illness, the epidemic of alcohol and drug abuse, and the ubiquitous availability to guns are all scourges. They are potentially contributing factors to an environment throughout our nation in which rational problem solving is all too often replaced with irrational destruction and death. We will never know why this young man was driven to enter his own school and embark on a campaign of murder. We only know the outcome; the painful consequences and the bewildering agony of families and a community torn apart.

As adults we have a responsibility to our children. We must listen to them, talk to them, and look for the warning signs. We must work together as a community to ensure their basic needs are met because even parents who are doing all they can still need assistance. In this country, violence surrounds our children, our families, and our communities. Violence is a plague which is promoted, glorified, and condoned in popular culture through movies, music, video games, and the endless television news cycle. It is a disease that is killing our children in our streets and in our schools and it must be stopped.

The shooting at Red Lake is another tragic episode that is no longer rare or abnormal. It is now all too commonplace and we are not nearly as shocked by such tragedy as we once were. Sadly, Red Lake is another example of this very tragic trend. And as Red Lake knows all too well, our nation's children are at risk and America needs to be hearing their voices, investing in their future, and supporting their very real needs.

http://thomas.loc.gov

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