[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 69 (Monday, May 23, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H3749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          FOREIGN FELONS BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court 
ruled the law preventing convicted felons from purchasing guns does not 
apply to individuals convicted of felonies in foreign countries.
  In the case of Small v. United States, the ruling stated the law 
needs to explicitly state that foreign felons are also prohibited from 
buying firearms. This ruling has opened the doors for dangerous 
criminals to purchase guns in this country with no questions asked. But 
the loophole can easily be fixed.
  That is why I have introduced H.R. 1931, the Foreign Felons Gun 
Prohibition Act. My legislation will ensure our gun laws take crimes 
committed in other countries into consideration before allowing a 
firearm purchase to go forward.
  We cannot allow convicted drug dealers, murderers, rapists and even 
terrorists to purchase guns just because their crimes were committed in 
another country.
  Mr. Speaker, a convicted drug dealer from South America can purchase 
all of the guns and ammunition that he wants and can buy in this 
country legally. This loophole puts the lives of our police officers, 
ATF officers and innocent bystanders in danger. And as demonstrated in 
the recent GAO report, it is already too easy for individuals with 
terrorist ties to buy guns in this country. This loophole will allow 
someone actually convicted of assisting terrorists overseas to purchase 
weapons like an AK-47 or a 50 caliber sniper weapon that can shoot down 
a plane.
  I completely understand some felony convictions handed down by 
foreign courts have legitimacy questions. Convictions can be trumped up 
for political reasons by corrupt regimes. And nations involved in civil 
wars or other political disputes may have more than one illegitimate 
court administering justice. This legislation takes that into 
consideration.
  My bill allows individuals to challenge the legitimacy of foreign 
felony convictions in our courts. If the foreign felony is found to be 
out of bounds legally, the individual would be allowed to purchase that 
gun.
  This would do nothing to take away the right of someone to be able to 
own a gun. I want this bill to ensure that anyone charged with an 
illegitimate or a politically motivated foreign felony is not 
discriminated against. This may be inconvenient for some, but we must 
make sure that gun sales are limited to law-abiding citizens.
  Mr. Speaker, we are at war. We cannot allow our enemies in the war on 
terror to arm themselves within our borders just because of a loophole. 
This is a homeland security problem with a common-sense solution.
  Congress must work to close all of the loopholes in our pre-9/11 gun 
laws. It is too easy for person with ties to terrorism and criminal 
organizations to access guns in this Nation. Passing H.R. 1931 will 
help us win the war on terror and keep our streets safe from gangs and 
criminal.
  We should be working together to make this country as safe as 
possible, certainly for our police officers, our ATF agents and the 
innocent bystanders. We can do this, but we must learn to work 
together. We must change the rhetoric of the gun issue. We are working 
for gun safety, not taking away the right of someone to own a gun.

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