There are two problems with what happened today.
First has to be the question of how the gunmen acquired the firepower that they did. The gunmen -- who are said to be juniors at the school -- were said to be armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades. According to survivors of the shooting, members of the Trenchcoat Mafia bragged about owning guns and even produced a video about the guns that they had.
Second has to be the question of why, if it were common knowledge that members of the group owned guns, were they not being monitored by school officials more closely. With the rash of school shootings that have been occuring for the past two years, this was a bomb waiting to happen.
This is, without a doubt, the most tragic school shooting in United States history. The number of people who have died in this senseless shooting are staggering compared to the attacks on Pearl, Mississippi (in which two people were killed), West Paducah, Kentucky (three people), Jonesboro, Arkansas (five people), and Springfield, Oregon (two people). What we are now seeing are the beginnings of a serious national problem that needs very serious attention. U.S. President Bill Clinton perhaps words it best: "Perhaps now America will wake up to the dimensions of this challenge, if it could happen in a place like Littleton."
Although the individual states are responsible for the administration of the schools within their borders, it is time for the federal government to lead the effort to prevent an event like this from happening today. Within 90 days, I will send to the President of the United States, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Education, recommendations on how the United States should deal with this crisis. In the meantime, I call upon President Bill Clinton to appoint an interdisciplinary task force to look at school security, teenagers who are able to acquire automatic weapons and explosives, and disciplinary measures for troubled students.
To the people of Littleton, Colorado:
Tonight, please accept my condolences on what you have experienced today. No child should ever experience what the students of Columbine High School experienced today. I hope that you will strengthen as a community and help one another to recover from today's tragedy.