[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 195 (Wednesday, December 19, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15968-S15969]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK IMPROVEMENT ACT

  Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, later today, Senator Schumer will bring up 
the Criminal Background Check Improvement Act, which is an important 
piece of legislation. When this bill was originally hotlined, we asked 
that it be held so that we could discuss the improvements to the bill.
  This bill came out of the tragedy at Virginia Tech. It is important 
that the American people understand that what we are changing in this 
bill would not have prevented what happened at Virginia Tech. What 
happened to the individuals there was because the law we have on the 
books was not followed by the State of Virginia. They recognized that 
shortly thereafter and have made corrective action to it.
  What is also important to note is that under the previous legislation 
we have had, over $400 million a year was authorized to help the States 
implement the programs so that somebody who is truly a danger to 
themselves or others or has been admitted to a mental institution and 
considered mentally defective--that is a term of the bureaucracy--is 
not allowed to purchase a gun. We all agree to that in this country. So 
when you don't follow the law, the laws don't work. Consequently, the 
families are suffering great grief at this time because the law wasn't 
followed.
  Too often, the first reaction of Congress is to hurry up and pass a 
bill. There are and have been in this bill some good ideas. But there 
were some bad ideas. The idea of holding the bill to be able to work 
with those who are offering the bill to get improvements has come 
about. The principle is this: As we protect people from the dangers of 
weapons by withholding both criminals and those people who constitute a 
threat to themselves and others, we can't do that if we are going to 
step on the rights of those who have a right and who are not in that 
category.
  I wish to take a moment to thank Senator Schumer for his hard work 
and Elliot of his staff for his hard work and to recognize my staff, 
Jane Treat and Brooke Bacak and others on my staff who worked through 
the last couple of months to improve this bill. We have come out to 
make sure those people, veterans in this country who go out and defend, 
with their lives, bodies, and their futures, our rights, aren't 
inappropriately losing their rights under this legislation.
  It is interesting for the American people to know that at this time, 
if you are a veteran and you come home with a closed head injury and 
you resolve that, then, in fact, by the time you wake up and recover 
over a year or 2-year period, you will have lost all your rights to 
bear an arm to be able to go hunting, to be able to skeet shoot, to be 
able to hunt with your grandchildren, without any notification 
whatsoever that you have lost that right. That is the present law. That 
is what is happening.
  We have 140,000 veterans with no history of mental deficiency, no 
history of being dangerous to themselves or others, who have lost, 
without notice, their right to go hunting, to skeet shoot, to have that 
kind of outing in this wonderful country of ours in a legal, protected 
sense. What this bill does is it attempts to address that by giving 
them an opportunity for relief. It mandates that, first of all, they 
are notified if that happens to them so that they know they are losing 
their rights. What a tragedy it would be if a veteran who lost his 
rights but doesn't know it becomes incarcerated under a felony for 
hunting with his grandson because it is illegal for him to own, handle, 
or transmit a weapon? That is not what we intended to do in this 
Congress some 10 years ago. Yet that is the real effect of what is 
happening.
  Consequently, we are at a point now where we have agreed with the 
fact that we want to make sure--and we want to put the resources 
through this authorization--it covers those who could be a danger to 
themselves and others, and we are going to help the States implement 
this law, the law on the books, by authorizing significant sums to do 
this. It is not a new authorization; $400 million was authorized 
before, but the appropriators didn't appropriate it. They chose to make 
a higher priority. The most ever appropriated under this, I think, was 
$23 million a year.
  So, in fact, what we want to do now is say we mean it, which means 
when it comes to appropriations time, this authorization will have no 
effect unless, in fact, we appropriate the money to the States to carry 
out this notification system. It is something we can and must do. It 
shows that when we work together to solve the problems and protect the 
future and honor the Constitution, the rights under the Constitution, 
we can do that if people of good faith and of good intent work together 
to solve that.
  My compliments to Senator Schumer and his staff and Hendrik Van Der 
Vaart on my staff for the hours and hours we have put in to make sure 
this happened.
  A couple other key points. Sometimes the bureaucracy delays whether 
or not you are on this list. So we have said that, at the end of the 
year, if they can't decide, it is going to be adjudicated that you 
cannot have a gun and you will have to prove that you can. That is fair 
enough, provided we create the means with which you can recover the 
cost of that adjudication. So if, in fact, you get to Federal court and 
you win your case that there is not anything wrong with you, the 
Federal Government is going to pay your lawyer's fees and return your 
rights--the rights given to everybody else in this country--return your 
wrongly denied rights back to you.

  Therefore, we really, truly do give access to those who have been 
injured under this law and, at the same time, protect the rest of the 
American public from those who could be injured when we don't follow 
the law.
  I also pay tribute to Congresswoman McCarthy. I served with her in 
the House. She has been dedicated to this issue for years. She suffered 
a terrible tragedy herself at the hands of somebody who was obviously 
deranged. This will mark a milestone for one of the things she wanted 
to accomplish during her service in the Congress.
  It is my hope that others will not hold this bill. It is my hope that 
when it comes appropriations time, the moneys that are necessary to put 
the people who really are a danger to themselves and others on the 
national criminal background check, that they will get there, and that 
those who should not be there will not be there. So it is a balance, a 
balance for protection, but it is also a balance to preserve rights, 
especially for our veterans--the very people who continue to

[[Page S15969]]

protect our rights. They are going to be preserved.
  Myself and Senator Schumer sent a letter to the ATF asking them to 
reconsider some of the wording in their ruling because it puts people 
in there who should not be. We are hopeful that they recognize that, 
and that they, because of a bipartisan query, do a rulemaking process 
that really directs this where it should be. When that happens, we will 
have finished everything we need to do, except get the dollars 
appropriated to implement this act.
  Again, my hat is off to Senator Schumer and those who have worked 
tirelessly to get this done. It is with great appreciation for the 
manner in which it was handled, and it is my hope that we will pass 
this on and see the great accomplishments of protecting people from 
those who are a danger to themselves and others.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I see that the very able Senator from New 
York, Mr. Schumer, is on the floor. May I ask if he wishes me to yield 
to him.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask my colleague from West Virginia if 
he might yield to me 5 minutes.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I am glad to do so.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, first, I thank my distinguished colleague 
and our great leader from West Virginia, Senator Byrd, for yielding. 
Unfortunately, at the end of session, there are many needs that 
intercede.
  We have just heard that the hold on a bill will be lifted. I want to 
get it moving so it can get over to the House before they leave. Once 
again, the Senator from West Virginia is not only gracious and capable, 
but he has been kind to me from the day I came to the Senate, and it is 
something I will always treasure. I thank my friend.
  Mr. BYRD. I thank the Senator.

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