[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 65 (Wednesday, May 9, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H2456-H2457]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ATF LONG GUN PROVISION IN CJS BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Moran) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my strong objection to 
an unwise and dangerous policy provision that is included in the 
Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill on the floor today. It 
would undermine the ability of Federal law enforcement to investigate 
and curb gun trafficking along the Southwest border.
  In August of last year, the ATF began a program to require licensed 
gun dealers in the four most dangerous border States to report when an 
individual buys multiple assault rifles within 5 business days--just as 
all dealers have reported multiple handgun sales for over 20 years. The 
current rule is narrowly tailored to generate useful intelligence on 
illegal gun trafficking by Mexican drug cartels. According to ATF data, 
70 percent of firearms recovered and traced in drug cartel crimes in 
Mexico originated from the United States. We know that semiautomatic 
assault rifles sold by U.S. dealers near the border fuel Mexican cartel 
violence--violence that has killed more than 47,000 people in Mexico, 
including thousands of police and military personnel.
  This rule is working. In just the past 9 months, ATF opened more than 
120 criminal investigations based on multiple assault rifle sales 
reports. And this action is constitutional. The rule is indisputably 
constitutional. The authority to operate such a program has been upheld 
by Federal courts. So there's no question about the legal authority. 
But this bill that we will vote on today, at the behest of the NRA and 
other gun groups, would block funding for this vital law enforcement 
program.
  Unfortunately, this is only the latest in a long list of 
irresponsible actions this Congress has taken on gun policy, such as 
the fact that due to Congressional action, loaded firearms are now 
permitted in National Parks. The D.C. voting rights bill that enjoyed 
joint bipartisan support was scuttled by requiring restrictions on the 
D.C. City Council regarding the type of gun safety laws that they could 
enact if they wanted their right to vote.
  Restrictions blocking State and local law enforcement access to 
important crime gun trace data were made permanent. Just last year, the 
House passed legislation to override the concealed carry requirements 
of individual States, establishing a lowest common denominator Federal 
standard.
  Despite all of these actions to weaken gun laws, judging by the 
outlandish statements from the NRA, you would think that the Second 
Amendment was under constant bombardment. Wayne LaPierre, vice 
president of the NRA, said last year that the claim that the Obama 
administration has done virtually nothing to restrict the rights of gun 
owners is ``a big fat stinking lie.'' He went further to claim that the 
President's lack of action is ``all part of a massive Obama conspiracy 
to deceive voters and hide his true intentions to destroy the Second 
Amendment in our country.'' Again, another LaPierre quote.
  Actions are supposed to speak louder than words, but apparently for 
some people, crazy conspiracy fantasies speak loudest of all.
  Instead of weakening gun laws further, we should be passing 
commonsense measures that are supported by the vast majority of 
Americans. In fact, according to a poll conducted by Republican 
pollster Frank Luntz, 82 percent of NRA members and 86 percent of non-
NRA gun owners support prohibiting suspected terrorists from purchasing 
guns; 69 percent of NRA members and 85 percent of non-NRA gun owners 
support background checks for all gun sales at gun shows.

                              {time}  1050

  And yet the NRA opposes these commonsense restrictions and gets this 
Congress to do so as well.
  There are bills introduced in Congress right now to address these two 
issues, the Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act 
and the Fix Gun Checks Act. Neither one has received so much as a 
subcommittee hearing in this Republican Congress.

[[Page H2457]]

  Instead, we are debating a bill that includes a provision that would 
remove a modest, yet valuable, tool for Federal law enforcement to stop 
the illegal smuggling of firearms and the killing of thousands of 
innocent people. Where are our priorities?
  I do want to thank Chairman Wolf and Ranking Member Fattah for 
including $12 million in the CJS bill to implement the NICS Amendments 
Improvement Act. It's a $7 million increase over last year; that's 
progress. In fact, it's a program that assists States in the 
establishment and upgrade of information such as mental health records 
entered into databases that are used to determine eligibility for 
firearm purchases. If we had had that, perhaps our colleague, Gabby 
Giffords, would not have been shot. Increased funding is a step in the 
right direction, but the inclusion of the ATF provision is not. It will 
only serve to undermine Federal law enforcement's ability to stop 
illegal gun trafficking. Congress needs to stop weakening gun policy to 
serve the narrow interests of the gun lobby and start enacting laws to 
protect the safety of the American public.

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