[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 38 (Tuesday, April 12, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 12, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1220
 
             HEAVY OPPOSITION FROM NRA TO CRIME LEGISLATION

  (Mr. SCHUMER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. Speaker, the debate on the crime bill begins 
tomorrow in this House, but the national debate has already begun, and 
unfortunately the National Rifle Association is at it again. The NRA is 
sinking to the cheap shot, the smear, the big lie. I am specifically 
talking about this ad sponsored by the National Rifle Association.
  The purposes of this full-page NRA ad, $70,000, are clear. The NRA 
wants to frighten the American people with the lies in this ad. The NRA 
wants to bully the Members of Congress with lies.
  Let us be clear, the NRA ad is not about the crime bill. They have 
not spoken to me, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime, once on 
this issue. The truth is that our crime bill already contains an 
unprecedented array of tough punishment measures. Our crime bill hits 
violent criminals with a ton of bricks, but our crime bill is also 
smart, which NRA is definitely not.
  Our crime bill cuts violent crime off at the roots. It protects 
America's children from drugs and guns and violent crime. It gives them 
hope.
  The NRA ad is really not about gun control. It is about the ban on 
deadly military style assault weapons that we are going to be 
considering in the weeks to come. It is about a comprehensive attack on 
gun runners who sell thousands of guns to criminals, the subject of a 
bill I am introducing next week.
  Mr. Speaker, I say to my colleagues that if they want to stop violent 
crime it should not be this ad they heed. To really attack crime, we 
must first, pass the crime bill now; second, pass the assault weapons 
ban; and third, pass the Schumer-Bradley gun bill. Let us not be 
intimidated by NRA's big lies.
  Mr. Speaker, I say to the Members, let us stand up for reason. 
Support our crime bill.

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