[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 31 (Wednesday, March 12, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H946]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        INTRODUCTION OF THE JAMES GUELFF BODY ARMOR ACT OF 1997

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 7, 1997, the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Stupak] is recognized 
for 13 minutes.
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, before the gentlewoman from New York retires 
from the floor I would just like to add that as a member of the 
congressional arts caucus I certainly do support her position here 
tonight, and I enjoyed listening to her special order, and I would just 
like to add that I think that the arts signify the heart and soul of a 
nation and its people, and the U.S. Congress should continue its 
funding of the arts and humanities, and I join with you in that effort.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to announce that last week I reintroduced 
legislation which would prohibit the mail-order sale of bulletproof 
vests and body armor to all individuals except law enforcement or 
public safety officers. My legislation, H.R. 959, would require that 
the sale, transfer, or acquisition of body armor to anyone other than 
law enforcement or public safety officers be conducted in person. In 
essence, what my bill does, it prevents the mail order of body armor. 
You can still purchase it, but you would no longer be able to purchase 
it through the mail.
  My bill is entitled the James Guelff Body Armor Act of 1997 and is 
named for a San Francisco police officer named Guelff who was killed in 
1994 by a gunman wearing a bulletproof vest and Kevlar helmet. More 
than 100 police officers of the San Francisco police department were 
called to a residential area where the gunmen fired in excess of 200 
rounds of ammunition. Several officers actually ran out of ammunition 
in their attempt to stop the heavily armed gunmen and heavily protected 
gunmen. Mr. Guelff, who was killed, was raised in my northern Michigan 
district in Marquette, MI.

                              {time}  1845

  As a former law enforcement officer, I know all too well the 
challenges confronting those who serve to protect public safety and 
fight crime. We all saw the vivid and terrifying film from the botched 
California bank robbery last week, demonstrating that body armor gives 
criminals an unfair advantage during gunfights with police. Eleven Los 
Angeles police officers and six civilians were injured in that 
gunfight. Thousands of rounds were fired by two criminals, both of whom 
were wearing full protective body armor.
  Witnesses from the crime scene reported that the bullets fired from 
the police officers' guns bounced off the bank robbers and mushroomed 
as they fell to the ground. Had my legislation become law in the 104th 
Congress, it would have made it more difficult for those criminals to 
obtain body armor that protected them during the gunfight with police.
  We just do not have to look to California for examples of the way 
criminals use body armor. Last year in Michigan a 14-year-old driving a 
stolen car in the early morning hours was dressed in body armor from 
head to toe. You do not need body armor to steal a car, and police 
believe that the youth was going to kill an individual. It was a 
contract murder.
  I have heard from law enforcement officers all across America about 
the increasing occurrences of drug dealers and other suspects who 
possess and use body armor in their confrontations with the police. 
Criminal elements are being transformed into unstoppable terminators 
with virtually no fear of the police or other people who are trying to 
apprehend them. These heavily protected criminals are capable of 
unleashing total devastation on civilians and police officers alike, 
and the increasing availability of body armor in the wrong hands 
portends a future of greater danger to America, greater danger to the 
American people, and a growing threat to our institutions.
  For the past 3 years now I have advocated the passage of this 
legislation. Despite some verbal assurances, the chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Crime, the gentleman from Florida, has not allowed a 
hearing on my bill. I hope he will now reconsider.
  So tonight I urge my colleagues and the folks listening at home to 
support and urge their Members of Congress to cosponsor my new bill, 
H.R. 959. It is a good step toward making our streets safer for America 
and the law enforcement community. Let us quickly pass my new bill, 
H.R. 959, and prevent these kinds of gunfights from happening in the 
future.
  I would like to give special tribute tonight to police officer Kurt 
Skarjune for his continual efforts in helping me in our effort of 
trying to ban the sale of mail-order body armor. I hope the U.S. 
Congress will join with me and Officer Kurt Skarjune in this 3-year 
fight, and hopefully we can have the mail-order body armor banned so no 
one can obtain it through the mail.


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gilchrest). The Chair would remind the 
gentleman that his remarks should be confined to the Chair and not to 
the listening audience.

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