[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 9, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6294-S6297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NRA'S FUNDRAISING LETTER
Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, recently, the National Rifle Association
issued a widely circulated fundraising letter over the signature of
Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and that letter is full of
questionable overheated language. I wish to focus on one paragraph in
particular. The letter states, and I am quoting exactly:
In Clinton's administration, if you have a badge, you have
the Government's go-ahead
[[Page S6295]] to harass, intimidate, and even murder law-
abiding citizens.
Now, as if the force of the words ``even murder'' as applied here
were not repugnant enough, the letter underlines the words ``even
murder.''
This assertion that the U.S. law enforcement personnel have been
authorized by President Clinton ``to harass, intimidate, even murder
law-abiding citizens'' is without foundation, and it is an offensive
outrage that should be condemned by members of the NRA and all other
decent Americans.
On April 28, I wrote a letter to the president of the NRA, Mr. Tom
Washington, asking that the statement be retracted. The statement is
inflammatory; it is inappropriate. I do not think there is a single
Member of this body who would stand in the Chamber of the Senate and
speak such words, asserting that our President has authorized law
enforcement personnel to murder law-abiding citizens. I do not believe
the overwhelming majority of NRA members would countenance such
language.
My letter to Mr. Washington asked, ``Can you honestly justify your
organization's characterization of law enforcement officials with such
language, describing them as on a mission sanctioned by the Government
to murder law-abiding citizens?''
Madam President, on May 3, I received a reply from Mr. Washington,
and his letter says:
While I concede that some of the language in the NRA
fundraising letter might have been rhetorically impassioned--
as is most political direct mail--that in no way disparages
the NRA, nor diminishes the seriousness of the alleged
federal law enforcement abuses to which the letter refers.
The letter goes on to relate the history of the NRA's interest in the
investigation of Federal law enforcement abuse. The letter concludes
with the statement that ``blaming the rhetoric, whether in a
fundraising letter or anywhere else in political discourse, serves only
to silence dissent and aggravate that distrust.''
Well, Madam President, I have no interest in silencing dissent. I
never have. There is nothing more American than the conscientious
expression of dissent. There is no more sacred right guaranteed by our
Constitution to all Americans than freedom of speech, and I will defend
the NRA's right to say what it said. The point is that the reply that I
have received from Mr. Washington did not answer the question that I
asked. I asked Mr. Washington, ``Can you honestly justify your
organization's characterization of law enforcement officials with such
language, describing them as on a mission sanctioned by the Government
to murder law-abiding citizens?'' The question was not answered.
I ask unanimous consent, Madam President, that the NRA letter written
by Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and my letter of April 28 to
Mr. Washington and Mr. Washington's letter of May 3 to me be printed in
the Congressional Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC, April 28, 1995.
Mr. Tom Washington,
President, National Rifle Association,
Lansing, MI.
Dear Tom: Over the years we have agreed on some things,
like protecting our Great Lakes, and disagreed on others,
like the ban on assault weapons. But no matter what positions
we have on assault weapons, I hope you will agree that the
language of the NRA's recent fundraising letter over the
signature of Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre is
highly inflammatory and totally inappropriate.
In one passage, Mr. LaPierre writes, ``In Clinton's
administration, if you have a badge, you have the
government's go-ahead to harass, intimidate, even murder law-
abiding citizens.'' Can you honestly justify your
organization's characterization of law enforcement officials
with such language, describing them as on mission sanctioned
by the government to ``murder law-abiding citizens''?
This is but one example of the inflammatory, hateful
rhetoric in this letter. I will defend Mr. LaPierre's right
to free speech, but the public also has a right to expect the
NRA to retract hateful and inflammatory statements issued in
its name. I urge the NRA to retract the LaPierre letter.
Thank you for giving this request your consideration.
Sincerely,
Carl Levin,
U.S. Senate.
____
National Rifle Association.
Dear Fellow American: I've worn out a lot of shoe leather
walking the halls of Congress. I've met key leaders, I've
talked with old allies, I've met with the new Congressmen and
many staff members.
What I'm hearing and seeing concerns me.
Many of our new Congressmen are ignoring America's 80
million gun owners. Some have forgotten what we did to elect
them. Others say our demands to restore our Constitutional
freedoms are politically out of line.
Don't get me wrong, not all of them are like this. Senator
Phil Gramm, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and Congressmen Bill
McCollum, Bill Brewster and Harold Volkmer are all coming to
our aid. But too many others are not.
And without a major show of force by America's 80 million
gun owners, America will resume its long march down the road
to gun bans, destruction of the Constitution and loss of
every sacred freedom.
I want you to know I'm not looking for a fight.
But when you consider the facts of our current situation,
you too, will see we have no other choice.
FACT #1: The Congress' leading anti-gunners, Senators
Dianne Feinstein, Ted Kennedy and Congressmen Charles Schumer
and Major Owens all survived their last elections.
They've pledged to fight to the bitter end for Brady II and
its ammo taxes, licensing and registration schemes, gun
rationing, bureaucrats with the power to determine if you
``need'' a gun and yes, the repeal of the Second Amendment.
It doesn't matter to them that the Brady Law is a failure.
It doesn't matter to them that the Brady Law has become one
more tool that government agents are using to deny the
Constitutional rights of law abiding citizens.
It doesn't matter to them that the semi-auto ban gives
jack-booted government thugs more power to take away our
Constitutional rights, break in our doors, seize our guns,
destroy our property, and even injure or kill us.
Schumer, Feinstein, Kennedy, Owens and the rest of the
anti-gunners want more and more gun control.
It can be something small and subtle like a regulation
expanding the disqualification criteria for the Brady Law.
They're fighting for anything that makes it harder for you to
own a gun.
The gun banners simply don't like you. They don't trust
you. They don't want you to own a gun. And they'll stop at
nothing until they've forced you to turn over your guns to
the government.
Fact No. 2: If the anti-gunners fail to achieve their goals
in Congress, they have a fall-back position in Bill Clinton,
the most anti-gun President in American history.
In two short years, Bill Clinton launched two successful
attacks on the Constitution. He signed two gun control bills
into law. He has sworn to veto any repeal of the semi-auto
ban and any restoration of our Constitutional rights.
His Interior and Agriculture Departments have set their
sights on closing hunting lands.
And his Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to
take jurisdiction over existing uses of lead. This, of
course, includes gun ranges and spent shot.
What's more, gun owners aren't the only ones Clinton's EPA
has set its sights on. They're after fishermen, too. They
want to BAN the use of small lead fishing sinkers and, of
gravest concern, they want to stop the home casting of these
sinkers.
If fishing sinkers are on the Clinton bureaucrat's list,
you know what's next: lead shot, lead bullets, bullet casting
and reloading.
Clinton's State Department is also adding to the attacks on
gun owners and our Constitutional freedoms. In December, he
signed the Summit of the America's agreements which pledges
that the U.S. Government will push for additional gun
control.
Over in the Justice Department, Clinton's Attorney General
Janet Reno has signaled her intent to ``squash'' the states'
rights movement an deny states their Constitutional power.
And worst of all,
Fact No. 3: President Clinton's army of anti-gun government
agents continues to intimidate and harass law-abiding
citizens.
In Clinton's administration, if you have a badge, you have
the government's go-ahead to harass, intimidate, even murder
law-abiding citizens.
Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge . . . Waco and the Branch
Davidians . . . Not too long ago, it was unthinkable for
Federal agents wearing Nazi bucket helmets and black storm
trooper uniforms to attack law-abiding citizens.
Not today, not with Clinton.
Our calls to investigate these outrageous assaults on our
Constitutional freedoms are routinely silenced by the anti-
gun media. But that's no surprise.
Fact No. 4: They've launched a new wave of brainwashing
propaganda. . .
CBS, ABC, NBC, USA Today, Time, Newsweek and The New York
Times have launched another round of phony polls and slanted
stories to help the anti-gunners achieve their goals.
Their latest phony poll shows 70% of America support the
``semi-auto'' assault weapon ban.
[[Page S6296]] That's simply not true. When it's explained
that ``semi-autos'' are used in less than a fraction of one
percent of crimes; that the ban only affects the law-abiding;
and, that the ban is only one more way to deny Constitutional
rights to the law-abiding, support for the ban drops to 30%.
But the media still uses this 70% statistic to trumpet the
call for gun control.
What scares me the most about this 70% number is that the
media has brainwashed 70% of Americans into believing that
the government--and not each individual--is responsible for
their personal protection.
Even worse, this 70% number means that there are enough
people who can be brainwashed by the media to vote for a
repeal of the Second Amendment if it were put to a vote.
The media, Clinton, the anti-gunners in Congress ... This
combination is a powder key that could blow at any moment and
it's set squarely underneath the Constitution.
And what this means is:
FACT #5: Congress must be forced to restore the
Constitution, repeal the gun bans, investigate abuse by
government agents and focus the public debate on criminal
control, not gun control ...
... Or what we're seeing now will only be a momentary patch
of sunshine on the road to doom for the Second Amendment and
our Constitution.
There is hope, though. Despite the current situation, I'm
encouraged by you and your fellow NRA members.
Everywhere I go, to every gun show, every NRA-ILA
grassroots operation, every Friends of NRA Dinner, even in
cabs and airports around the country, I run into NRA members
who understand the stakes and stand ready to fight.
The question I hear from almost every one of these NRA
members is the same: ``What can I do next?''
If you're one of those members, I want to thank you for
your courage, your conviction and your spirit. You keep me
going. You keep me on the road. You give me strength to lead
the battle.
And if you want to join me in taking the next step, I need
you to do these two things today.
First, I need you to sign the enclosed Petitions to the
United States Congress.
These petitions are addressed to the leaders of the U.S.
Congress, Senator Robert Dole and Speaker Newt Gingrich, and
your U.S. Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Alfonse M.
D'Amato and Congresswoman Sue Kelly.
Please be sure to sign all five petitions, then fold them
and place them in the enclosed, postage-paid envelope
addressed to me at NRA Headquarters.
These petitions spell out, in black and white, our agenda
of repeal, reform, investigate and limit government power.
In the first amendment of the Bill of Rights, we are
guaranteed the right to ``petition our Government for a
redress of grievances.''
And that's exactly what we're going to do: redress our
grievances in the biggest and most powerful display of
political clout and commitment to the Constitution.
I want to personally deliver your five petitions, and the
petitions of all 3.5 million of your fellow NRA members--17.5
million petitions in all--to Congress.
And I want to show the leadership in Congress, and your
Senators and Congressmen from New York, that the number one
priority in their Contract with America must be defending and
restoring our Constitutional freedoms.
17.5 million Petitions to Congress is the largest ``redress
of grievances'' since the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
were written.
So I KNOW Congress will get the message. And I know they'll
act on our agenda of Repeal, Reform and Investigate if only
you and I speak out.
Your Petitions to Congress also sends another message--a
message not spelled out on the Petitions themselves.
Each Congressman, on the average, will receive 8,000
Petitions from NRA members demanding action. 8,000 messages
from angry voters sounds an alarm in every Congressman's
head.
You see, most Congressional elections were won or lost by
5,000 votes or less. So, they'll realize that failing to
defend the Second Amendment and failing to retake the
Constitutional freedoms lost to the anti-gunners, could
result in big losses at the next election!
That's why it's critical you take a few minutes to sign
your Petitions to Congress and return them to me as soon as
possible.
These petitions are our D-Day.
Armed with these petitions and our First Amendment rights,
we are going to storm Congress, knock out anti-gunner
strongholds and recapture every bit of ground we lost since
Bill Clinton took office.
And if we're successful, these petitions will be the
turning point in the history of the Constitution . . . A day
when our sacred right to keep and bear arms will be secure
for the next generation of law-abiding Americans.
Second, when you return your signed Petitions to Congress,
I need you to make a special contribution to the NRA of $15,
$20, $25, $35, $50 or the most generous amount you can
afford.
Most Americans don't realize that our freedoms are slowly
slipping away.
They don't understand that politicians and bureaucrats are
chipping away at the American way of life.
They're destroying business, destroying our economy,
destroying property rights, destroying our moral foundation,
destroying our schools, destroying our culture . . .
Destroying our Constitution.
And the attack, either through legislation or regulation,
on the Second Amendment is only the first in a long campaign
to destroy the freedoms at the core of American life.
You can see it in the gun bans, certainly. But you can also
see it in closed ranges, closed hunting lands, confiscated
collectors' firearms, banned magazines and ammunition taxes.
You can see it when jack-booted government thugs, wearing
black, armed to the teeth, break down a door, open fire with
an automatic weapon, and kill or maim law-abiding citizens.
America's gun owners will only be the first to lose their
freedoms.
If we lose the right to keep and bear arms, then the right
to free speech, free practice of religion, and every other
freedom in the Bill of Rights are sure to follow.
I am one American who is not going to sit on the sidelines
and watch this happen.
And if you want to help me stop this destruction of the
Constitution, then I hope you can make that special
contribution of $15, $20, $25, $35 or $50 to the NRA today.
With your special contribution, I'll have the financial
ammo I need to keep Congress focused on the mission we've
assigned them.
First, with your help, I will expand out petition campaign
to involve as many of America's 80 million gun owners as
possible.
If we can double the number of Petitions flooding Congress,
we'll double the speed Congress deals with our demands to
repeal, reform and investigate. And with double the show of
clout, we'll wipe out anti-gunner opposition.
Second, with your special contribution, I can increase the
NRA's public exposure on talk shows, at rallies and shows, in
radio and T.V. advertising and through broadcasts like the
NRA's Town Meeting that first sounded our alarm in 16 million
households, last summer.
Part of our problem is that far too few Americans
understand what's at stake in these battles.
My ultimate goal is to educate the American people that
this issue is not just about guns, not just about hunting,
not just about personal protection; this issue is about
freedom--your freedom.
I want to use the power of T.V. and radio to show the
American people that, if the NRA fails to restore our Second
Amendment freedoms, the attacks will begin on freedom of
religion, freedom of speech, freedom from unreasonable search
and seizure. . .
And that unless we take action today, the long slide down
the slippery slope will only continue until there's no
freedom left in America at all.
I know you see it. The elbow room you have to hunt, shoot
and live life the way you see fit is slowly disappearing.
And the truth is, NRA members have been hardened by
legislative battles. And only NRA members have the courage,
the conviction to draw the line in the sand.
That's why I'm hoping you can take a few moments to sign
and date the enclosed petitions and return them to me with
your special contribution of $15, $20, $25, $35, $50 or more
in the enclosed postage-paid envelope today. Or, you can
charge by phone by calling 800-547-4NRA today.
You know, besides going shooting, I love to go to football
games. And every time I go, I always hear my fellow fans talk
about the impact of ``the 12th man.''
The 11 players calling the plays and doing the hitting get
a lot of their motivation from the 12th man in the stands.
I'm talking about the crowd who cheers wildly when our team
is on offense, and drowns out the signals of the opposing
team when they're on the defense.
I need you to be that 12th man.
I need you to sign your petitions to Congress and return
them to me today. That simple act will give our allies the
political courage to do what's right, to push ahead with our
agenda of Repeal, Reform, and Investigate.
Likewise, your signed petitions to Congress will confuse
and demoralize the anti-gun team and their agenda of bans,
taxes, intimidation, harassment and destruction of the
Constitution.
I know I've said what I'm about to say before. But this is
a message that resonates with NRA members across the land.
It's something I hope you, too, will say whenever you have
the occasion to defend our Constitutional freedoms.
This, the battle we're fighting today, is a battle to
retake the most precious, most sacred ground on earth. This
is a battle for freedom.
Please tell me you're ready to take the next step by
returning your signed petitions to Congress and special gift
to me in the enclosed postage-paid envelope today.
Thank you, I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours in Freedom,
Wayne LaPierre,
Executive Vice President.
P.S. As a special thank you for making a special
contribution of $25 or more, I'd like to send you a copy of
my national best-selling book, Guns, Crime, and Freedom.
Guns, Crime, and Freedom is 263 pages of truth
[[Page S6297]] about guns, gun control, gun owners, the
anti-gun media and what's happening to our freedoms.
I hope you'll read it and use it in your own personal
campaign in New York to defend the Constitution. Use Guns,
Crime, and Freedom to help you keep the pressure on Congress,
write letters to the editor and teach other Americans about
the battle we're fighting today. Thanks again for your
support and friendship.
____
National Rifle
Association of America,
Fairfax, VA, May 3, 1995.
Hon. Carl Levin,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Levin: While I concede that some of the
language in the NRA fundraising letter you refer to might
have been rhetorically impassioned--as is most political
direct mail--that in no way disparages the NRA, nor
diminishes the seriousness of the alleged federal law
enforcement abuses to which the letter refers. And it is
certainly in no way related to the terrorist bombing in
Oklahoma City.
You asked if we can ``honestly justify'' rhetoric decrying
such abuses of federal power. That's what we want to find
out. In January 1994, the American Civil Liberties Union, the
National Rifle Association and others wrote to President
Clinton, petitioning him to appoint a commission to
investigate 25 documented cases of alleged federal law
enforcement abuse. Our request was ignored. So again in
January 1995, the ACLU, NRA and others petitioned the
President. All we ask is a full, fair and open examination
the facts--a request that, so far, has been denied.
This isn't just some petty gripe against the enforcement of
anti-gun laws by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
On the contrary, the inquiry we requested was to focus on all
53 federal law enforcement agencies, and on charges ranging
from the denial of basic civil rights, to the confiscation
and destruction of property, to the improper use of deadly
force against unarmed civilians.
I agree, senator, that the partisan posturing and political
exploitation of the Oklahoma City tragedy is reprehensible
and should stop. But before you condemn NRA's criticism of
federal law enforcement abuses as ``totally inappropriate,''
I urge you to help us find out if it really is.
Let's get all the facts out on the table regarding these
cases. If the accusations against federal law enforcement are
baseless, let's expose them as such and vindicate the
officers accused. If, on the other hand, particular officers
are operating outside the rule of law, let's find them,
remove them and prosecute them for the good of the whole.
Whatever the case, let's put the grievances to rest once and
for all.
Doing so, I believe, could help reverse the public's
documented and growing distrust of federal power. Blaming the
rhetoric--whether in a fundraising letter or anywhere else in
political discourse--serves only to silence dissent and
aggravate that distrust.
Sincerely yours,
Thomas L. Washington,
President,
National Rifle Association of America.
Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, I will defend LaPierre's, Mr.
Washington's, and the NRA's right to free speech, but I continue to
hope that the membership of the NRA and the American public will demand
that this patently false statement that the President has authorized
the murder of law-abiding citizens be retracted. There is a crucial
difference between what someone has a right to say and what it is right
to say. This statement in the NRA letter is wrong. It deserves to be
condemned, and it should be withdrawn.
Madam President, I believe I have an allotted amount of morning
business time, and if so I would yield 3 minutes to my friend from
Rhode Island.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island is recognized
for 3 minutes.
Mr. CHAFEE. I thank the Chair. I thank the distinguished senior
Senator from Michigan for giving me a few minutes.
Madam President, I believe the tactics used by Mr. LaPierre in his
recent fundraising letter for the National Rifle Association are just
plain wrong. This letter does not contribute to any informed debate.
Instead, it is inaccurate and irrational. It borders on the hysterical.
And this kind of hysteria only encourages paranoia, which we certainly
do not need at this time in our Nation.
Madam President, I know that the Senator from Michigan has touched on
some of the quotes from the letter, but I would just like to mention a
few that stand out. Here is one paragraph from the letter:
It doesn't matter to them that the semi-auto ban gives
jack-booted government thugs more power to take away our
Constitutional rights, break in our doors, seize our guns,
destroy our property, and even injure or kill us.
This is another paragraph:
In Clinton's administration, if you have a badge, you have
the government's go-ahead to harass, intimidate, even murder
law-abiding citizens. Not too long ago, it was unthinkable
for Federal agents wearing nazi bucket helmets and black
storm trooper uniforms to attack law-abiding citizens.
And another:
They've launched a new wave of brainwashing propaganda
aimed at further destroying our Constitutional freedoms.
And on it goes, Madam President.
Now, Madam President, the apocalypse described in this fundraising
letter is not familiar to me. The Government described in these pages
is not familiar to me. This is not a description of reality. It is a
description of terror designed for one purpose: to provoke a visceral
reaction against the U.S. Government--and at the end of the day, to
raise money.
There are many powerful and ugly words used in this letter. They are
insulting to American law enforcement and to American citizens. Why
does Mr. LaPierre use them? I suppose in order to tap into the rage
that some feel against the U.S. Government, to feed that rage, and to
use that rage to gain donations.
In various interviews, Mr. LaPierre has acknowledged the NRA letter
went too far. I believe it behooves him and the leadership of the NRA
to apologize to the men and women in Federal law enforcement and to the
American people for this letter's rhetoric, and to refrain from this
kind of inflammatory prose in the future.
I thank the distinguished Senator from Michigan for giving me a few
minutes.
Mr. LEVIN. I thank the Senator from Rhode Island for his comments on
this letter.
Madam President, on another matter, we have a bill pending before us
which I would like to briefly address as part of my time.
____________________