[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 195 (Wednesday, December 19, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H16927-H16928]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          NICS IMPROVEMENT ACT

  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 of New York. Madam Speaker, a few minutes ago, H.R. 
2640 was passed in this House. This legislation was passed in the year 
2002. Late this afternoon, the Senate passed H.R. 2640, which is the 
NICS bill.
  Madam Speaker, this is something that I have been working on for over 
11 years to try to reduce gun violence in this Nation. I'm happy to say 
that, with working with the NRA, the Brady Center, Mr. Dingell, Mr. 
Coburn from Oklahoma and Mr. Schumer from New York, we have finally 
come together to pass legislation which, in my opinion, is going to 
save many lives.
  This particular piece of legislation, which many of my constituents 
and people around the country that watch this know that I've been 
talking about at least once a week for the last number of years, to me, 
this is the best Christmas present I could ever receive.
  Two weeks ago was the 14th anniversary of my husband's death, and 
five others. My husband and son were coming home from work, and 
unfortunately my husband was killed and my son was seriously injured. 
And it was down the road that my son was recovering that I promised him 
that I would do all I could to help a family not go through what myself 
and many other families go through, unfortunately, on a daily basis. 
And that day has come.
  We have seen the Virginia Tech shootings. We have seen the shootings 
in other parts of the country in the last few weeks. This bill can help 
save lives, but it also shows that when opposite sides work together, 
which we should all be doing here in this Congress for the American 
people, we can do some good.
  As I said earlier, I worked with the NRA and I worked with the Brady 
Center, and we came together with an understanding of putting our 
differences aside to work out a good piece of legislation. This is a 
proud moment for Congress. This is a proud moment for the American 
people to see how we can work together.
  I know that there are many on both sides of the issue that feel that 
some of us are just trying to take away their right to own guns. That 
has not ever been my intention. I have always just wanted to have gun 
safety issues put forth so we could save people's lives. This piece of 
legislation, the NICS Improvement Act, will do that.
  There was a little confusion going back that we were going to be 
hurting our veterans . That is not true. Working with Mr. Coburn, and 
certainly Mr. Dingell, we have shown that it is not going to take away 
the right of our veterans coming home to be able to own a gun. We have 
clarified the language so that there is no misunderstanding.
  I am looking forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of 
the aisle and both sides of the issue on how we can reduce gun violence 
in this country because the more we can reduce gun violence, hopefully 
we can also cut down the 30,000 people that die every year.
  I had mentioned last week that since I've been in Congress, 330,000 
people have died. That's not counting the amount of people that are 
injured every single year and what it does for the health care costs of 
this Nation. When we spend over $2 billion a year on health care costs 
for those that survive, there is something wrong.

                              {time}  1815

  I am hoping that down the road I can continue to work with the NRA 
and continue working with the Brady Center to come up with commonsense 
solutions on how we can save lives without getting into the rhetoric of 
us trying to take away their guns or guns don't kill. That is not the 
debate. The debate is how are we going to keep the guns away from 
people that shouldn't be able to own guns.
  Madam Speaker, I wish everybody a merry Christmas. This will save 
lives, and this is devoted to the victims that have been hurt over 
these many years.
  I'd like to thank my good friend Congressman Dingell for all of his 
hard work in making this moment a reality. I'd also like to thank my 
friend Senator Schumer for carrying this legislation through the 
Senate.
  Today is five years in the making.
  On March 12, 2002, a senseless shooting took the lives of a priest 
and a parishioner, Mrs. Tosner, at the Our Lady of Peace Church in 
Lynbrook, New York. The man who committed this double murder had a 
disqualifying mental health condition and a restraining order against 
him, but passed a background check because his personal history was not 
entered into the NICS database.
  This same scenario happens every day.
  The shooter in the Virginia Tech massacre was prohibited from 
purchasing a firearm. Unfortunately, flaws in the NICS system allowed 
his record to slip through the cracks.

[[Page H16928]]

  He was able to purchase two handguns, and used them to brutally 
murder thirty two individuals. We saw this trend continue last week 
with shootings in Nebraska and Colorado.
  Individuals who shouldn't have access to guns are getting them with 
ease are our killing innocent people.
  The NICS system is supposed to prevent this from happening, but a 
database is only as good as the information put in it and many states 
don't have the resources to keep the NICS database up to date.
  The National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, is 
deeply flawed.
  Millions of criminal records are not accessible by ICS and millions 
others are missing critical data, such as arrest dispositions, due to 
data backlogs.The primary cause of delay in NICS background checks is 
the lack of updates due to funding and technology issues in the states.
  Many states have not automated the records concerning mental illness, 
restraining orders, or misdemeanor convictions for domestic violence. 
Simply, put, the NICS system must be updated on both the state and 
federal level.
  According to a Third Way report, over ninety one percent of those 
adjudicated for mental illness cannot be stopped by a background check 
due to flaws in the system. But this issue allows other barred 
individuals to purchase firearms. Twenty five percent of felony 
convictions do not make it into the NICS system.
  That is why I introduced the NICS Improvement Act.
  My bill would require all states to provide the NICS system with the 
relevant records needed to conduct effective background checks. It is 
the state's responsibility to ensure this information is current and 
accurate. They must update the records to ensure violent criminals do 
not have access to firearms.
  However, I recognize, many state budgets are already overburdened.
  This legislation would provide grants to states to update their 
records into the NICS system. States would get the funds they need to 
make sure records relevant to NICS are up to date.
  While the NICS system does have major flaws, it is responsible for 
preventing thousands of barred individuals from purchasing firearms.
  Approximately nine-hundred and sixteen thousand individuals were 
prohibited from purchasing a firearm for failing a background check 
between November 30, 1998, when the NICS system began operating, and 
December 31, 2004.
  During this same period, nearly forty nine million Brady background 
checks were processed through NICS. By improving upon the NICS system, 
we can stop criminals from falling through the cracks. Today, we are 
one step closer to bringing the records of millions of barred 
individuals into the NICS system.
  No system will be perfect, but that does not mean we should not work 
to make improvements. This is good policy that will save lives and 
should be passed by the House. My legislation imposes no new 
restrictions on gun owners and does not infringe on the 2nd Amendment 
rights of law-abiding citizens. In fact, similar legislation passed the 
House in 2002.
  Today, Congress will stand up for the victims and pass common-sense 
legislation. This is the best Christmas present Congress could give 
those whose lives have been changed by gun violence.
  This legislation will help ensure that people who are legally 
ineligible to purchase a gun will not be able to purchase them.
  This bill poses no new burden on law-abiding gun owners or gun 
sellers. It simply enforces current law. This legislation has the 
widest range of support imaginable. The National Rifle Association and 
the Brady Campaign have endorsed this legislation.
  We have worked across both partisan and ideological aisles to make 
this bill law. The cooperation from members of both parties and from 
people on both sides of the gun issue should serve as a model for this 
Congress.
  We can work together to find common sense solutions to our problems. 
These problems shouldn't divide us, but bring us together to make our 
country a safer and better place.
  Personally, this is a very important moment for me. I have been 
fighting for common sense gun laws for 14 years since my own life was 
changed forever by gun violence.
  Tonight, I'm one step closer to the goal of making sure other 
families never have to experience what mine did 14 years ago.
  Madam Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to speak on this issue 
that is so important to me and other Americans whose lives have been 
affected by gun violence.

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