[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 98 (Monday, June 18, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1330-E1332]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                NICS IMPROVEMENT AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 13, 2007

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I think it is appropriate for the 
House to approve this bill in the form that it comes before us today.
  As I said at the time, I do not think additional federal legislation 
dealing with firearms can prevent tragedies such as the killings at 
Virginia Tech. However, the changes this bill would make would improve 
the current federal law and are worth making.
  The bill will create incentives for states to submit to the National 
Instant Background Check System (NICS) legal records about individuals 
who are ineligible to obtain firearms. This closes a loophole in the 
current background check system. In addition, and importantly, it will 
require states and federal agencies to allow individuals to appeal 
their status if they are currently considered ineligible to acquire 
firearms. And it will bar agencies from sharing mental health records 
that are irrelevant to the background check system.
  The bill has been significantly revised since its introduction. As it 
comes before the House, it would prevent use of federal 
``adjudications'' based on medical diagnoses without a finding of 
dangerousness or mental incapacity. To understand what this means, 
consider the fact that the NICS currently accepts Veterans' 
Administration decisions that a veteran or other

[[Page E1331]]

patient is an ``adjudicated mentally defective'' where there was no 
``adjudication'' at all--only a medical diagnosis agreed to as a 
condition of receiving disability benefits. Veterans have a financial 
incentive to agree to this determination, and may have done so without 
expecting to lose their legal rights to acquire firearms.
  The bill as revised would eliminate purely medical records from NICS 
and allow a person to be prohibited on medical grounds from acquiring a 
firearm only as a result of a specific finding that he or she is a 
danger to himself or herself or to other people, or lacks the capacity 
to manage his or her own affairs. In addition, the revised bill would 
require all federal agencies that impose mental health adjudications or 
commitments (such as the VA) to provide a process for ``relief from 
disabilities.'' That would be a de novo judicial review when an agency 
denies relief--that is, the court would look at the application on its 
merits, rather than deferring to the agency's earlier decision.
  Also, under the revised bill a person who is inappropriately 
committed or declared incompetent by a federal agency would have an 
opportunity to correct the error--either through the agency, or in 
court. And the bill would prevent reporting of mental adjudications or 
commitments by federal agencies when those adjudications or commitments 
have been removed.
  The substitute would also make clear that if a federal adjudication 
or commitment has expired or been removed, it would no longer bar a 
person from possessing or receiving firearms under the Gun Control Act. 
This actually restores the person's rights, as well as deleting the 
record from NICS. And States that receive federal funding would also be 
required to have a program to provide similar relief from erroneous 
mental adjudications and commitments. And the relief granted by such a 
state program would remove the federal prohibition on the person 
possessing or receiving a firearm under the Gun Control Act.
  I think these changes are appropriate and an improvement over current 
law.
    

[[Page E1332]]



                          ____________________