[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 177 (Tuesday, December 8, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H9045-H9047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HSA TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Young of Iowa). The Chair recognizes the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to say thank you to the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) and the gentlewoman from New 
Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman), my good friend, for the fine work they 
did on this bipartisan, noncontroversial bill that is common sense and 
does the right thing. But, unfortunately, it has been hijacked, Mr. 
Speaker.
  It has been hijacked for this ruse. They set it aside. They said: 
Well, we have got this discharge petition. We want to get this bill on 
the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, they don't have the names to get the bill on the floor. 
Furthermore, I contend they don't even want to vote for it. They don't 
want to vote on it. They just want to talk about this. These are the 
folks who tell everybody that they are here to protect your rights.
  Mr. Speaker, they talk about they want the people on the no-fly list 
to have their right to firearms taken away from them, understanding--
hopefully, they understand--they have no idea what it takes to get on 
the no-fly list. These people on the no-fly list have no idea half the 
time that they are on it.
  Furthermore, the no-fly list is maintained by bureaucrats, the same 
administration that persecutes its citizens and has them audited by the 
IRS

[[Page H9046]]

for their beliefs and what they say at a prayer breakfast.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).
  Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry), my friend, and the gentlewoman from Texas 
(Ms. Jackson Lee), my friend, for having a bill that would actually 
clean up some problems within Homeland Security.
  But, as I listen to the debate, including the last gentlewoman who 
moved for adjournment, I wonder if people who speak on this floor, Mr. 
Speaker, sometimes listen to themselves. As the gentlewoman pointed 
out--we could have the words read back, but she actually said that the 
Times Square bomber, the guy that was trying to blow up people with a 
bomb in Times Square, could have gone in and bought a gun. Obviously, 
he wasn't using a gun.
  We also know that, as our friends across the aisle have proposed more 
stringent background checks and more extensive gun control laws, that 
not one of the proposals of this administration would have stopped the 
killings in Colorado, in Oregon at the community college, or at San 
Bernardino. This body ought to be about doing things that make a 
difference, not doing things for show.
  As far as the no-fly list, when we have a process that is conducted 
behind closed doors, a process that was not formulated and voted on by 
the elected Members of Congress, that puts people on a no-fly list, my 
friends who support that idea are telling people around the country, 
including the 200,000 people buying guns in the last month, that we 
want an arbitrary process by a President, who a Muslim Brotherhood 
publication in Egypt says is advised by six of their top Muslim 
brothers, to formulate a list--it is not my words. That is the Egyptian 
publication back in December of 2012. They want that President 
formulating behind closed doors a list of Americans who can never buy a 
gun. This is the same administration that has gone after conservative 
organizations with the IRS.
  Let me also point out that, before you try to clean out the homes of 
honest, law-abiding Americans, including a general who is a constituent 
who keeps ending up on the no-fly list, why don't you get rid of the 72 
Department of Homeland Security employees who were on the no-fly list 
before you try to take guns away from law-abiding Americans.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. GOHMERT. May I have 30 more seconds?
  Mr. PERRY. No. I need to keep moving. I reserve the balance of my 
time.

                              {time}  1500

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Let me just say this: I am not sure if the gentleman from Texas, a 
dear friend, was asking us to get rid of the no-fly list or the watch 
list.
  Our point today, Mr. Speaker, is very narrow. We are just asking that 
terrorists not be able to walk into a gun shop and buy a gun. This is a 
loophole that is most glaring. Eighty percent of the American people 
believe that this is impossible; it must not be true. We are trying to 
prevent suspected terrorists from walking into a gun store and buying a 
deadly weapon.
  The investigation, tragically, in California is not yet finished, so 
we don't have the final answer as to what would have prevented that. 
But it is astonishing that the loophole has allowed more than 2,000 
suspects on the FBI terrorist watch list to buy guns in the U.S. over 
the past 11 years.
  When I started this debate, I was happy that we had come to the floor 
to deal with Homeland Security bills. The American people want the 
homeland safe and secure. They don't want demagoguery. They want safety 
and security.
  Legislation blocking terrorists from getting guns makes America no 
more safer and secure than apple pie. This is a time when more than 90 
percent of all suspected terrorists who tried to buy guns in America 
walked away and bought them. They got the weapon they wanted. This is 
not criminals, gangs, or others. We are dealing with those individuals 
who are terrorists. They have the right to get a gun.
  Can we do something this week, Mr. Speaker? Can we add to the safety 
and security of the American people? As we pass this bill, H.R. 3859, 
which I applaud its correcting technicalities, can we join together and 
can we pass closing the gun loophole that allows terrorists to go and 
buy a gun to terrorize innocent Americans? I think we can do better.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).
  Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for 
yielding.
  We have talked a lot in the last couple of weeks about the visa 
waiver program, visas in general, and Syrian refugees. Let me remind 
this body and the American people that 49 percent of all illegals in 
this country didn't cross our southern border; they came here with a 
permission slip in their hand, known as a visa. And they chose to 
overstay that visa. Now they are categorized as visa overstays. These 
overstays are people that we trusted by giving them a permission slip 
to come into our great country.
  There are six words that ought to be brought up as we talk about this 
issue: secure the border, enforce the laws. That is how you keep 
America safe.
  I want to tell you, national security is at stake here. Americans are 
concerned. I won't say Americans are afraid, but they are concerned. 
They expect us to do our job to secure this great Nation. They expect 
us to look into the visa waiver program. They expect us to look into 
the refugees and the vetting process. They expect us to keep them safe.
  We ought to talk about securing the border and enforcing the laws. We 
are not chasing footprints in the desert with regard to the visa 
overstays. We know who these people are. They have had an interview at 
a consulate or embassy. We probably have a thumbprint, a picture, a 
name. We probably have an address of where they are going.
  Let's keep our eye on the ball here. Americans expect us to keep them 
safe, and that is by reviewing the visa waiver program, that is 
considering the vetting process, and that is enforcing the law. Let's 
secure our Nation.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I started by saying that the American people are looking 
to us to secure the homeland.
  As we look at these series of bills that we have on the floor, H.R. 
3859 is a technical corrections bill. This is a bill that should be 
passed. Americans expect clarity from this body. Clarity from this body 
means that at the same time as we pass H.R. 3859, we should also be 
concerned about making sure that we close gun show loopholes so as to 
avoid having terrorists buy guns.
  I believe that that is the appropriate and direct way to handle this 
question of securing the Nation. Do the obvious to secure the Nation: 
stop terrorists from getting guns.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I, once again, urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3859, 
which is really the issue at hand.
  Regarding the other issue that is being discussed here, this is an 
issue of failure of foreign policy: an open border and a visa waiver 
program that allows terrorists to come into our Nation unfettered. 
Other than the issue at hand, that is the issue that we are really 
talking about.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 3859, the HSA 
Technical Corrections Act. Again, it is important, commonsense 
legislation. It amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 by updating 
obsolete language and striking outdated offices and reporting 
requirements.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Collins of New York). The question is on 
the motion offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) that 
the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3859, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.

[[Page H9047]]

  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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