[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 179 (Thursday, December 10, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1759-E1760]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2130, RED RIVER PRIVATE PROPERTY 
 PROTECTION ACT, AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF MOTIONS TO SUSPEND 
                               THE RULES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 9, 2015

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule for 
H.R. 2130, the ``Red River Private Property Protection Act.''
  The President has announced that this bill will be vetoed in the 
event it reaches his desk.
  With just one legislative day before the current continuing 
resolution expires on December 11, we should be focusing all of our 
time and attention on matters that address the real problems and major 
concerns of the American people.
  And right now the American people are very concerned about the harm 
and threat posed by ``lone wolf'' and ``franchise terrorists'' that we 
saw in Paris last month and just last week in San Bernardino, 
California.
  These tragedies follow on the heels of mass shootings in Tucson, 
Aurora, Sandy Hook, Charleston, Chattanooga, Roseburg, Colorado 
Springs, and now, most recently, in San Bernardino, California.
  These senseless mass shootings remind us of the imperative of ending 
gun violence in our country.
  It is past time that we come together united by our common humanity 
and with this simple message: the violence must stop.
  And there are actions that can be taken to reduce gun violence 
beginning with the enactment of the bipartisan ``Denying Firearms and 
Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Public Act of 2015'' (H.R. 1076).
  This bipartisan legislation, which I am proud to co-sponsor, would 
close the dangerous loophole that allows terrorist suspects to legally 
buy deadly weapons.
  H.R. 1076 would bar the sale or distribution of firearms to any 
individual whom the Attorney General has determined to be engaged in 
terrorist activities.
  Mr. Speaker, if a person is considered by the federal government too 
dangerous to board an airplane or to enter the United States, he or she 
surely is too dangerous to be permitted to purchase or obtain a 
firearm.
  It is unconscionable that we have not acted to close the loophole in 
federal law that permits a terrorist lawfully to obtain and carry 
firearms.
  Mr. Speaker, according to a report by the Government Accountability 
Office, since 2004 more than 2,000 suspects on the FBI's Terrorist 
Watchlist have successfully purchased weapons in the United States.
  It is simply intolerable that more than 90 percent of all suspected 
terrorists who attempted to purchase guns in the last 11 years walked 
away with the weapon they wanted, with just 190 rejected despite their 
ominous histories.
  To close this loophole, I call upon Speaker Ryan to bring H.R. 1076 
to the floor immediately.
  H.R. 1076 grants the Attorney General the authority to deny a 
firearms license to individuals for whom there is a reasonable belief 
that

[[Page E1760]]

the individual may use a firearm or explosive in connection with 
terrorist activity.
  This legislation was originally crafted in 2007 and endorsed by 
President Bush's Justice Department, has bipartisan support in the 
House, and is supported by prominent Republicans and counter-terrorism 
& law enforcement experts.
  H.R. 1076 greatly reduces the likelihood that a terrorists can obtain 
some of the most lethal weapons in America.
  Right now a terrorist can buy a firearm in the parking lot of a gun 
show, over the internet, or through a newspaper ad without needing a 
background check.
  Mr. Speaker, you cannot be against criminals, terrorists and the 
dangerously mentally ill getting guns and be against H.R. 1076.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1076 will save lives and strengthen the rights of 
law-abiding gun owners.
  It deserves a vote in the House.

                          ____________________