[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 4 (Thursday, January 7, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              THE PRESIDENT IS OVERSTEPPING HIS BOUNDARIES

  (Mr. ROE of Tennessee asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, Tuesday morning President Obama 
formally announced his plans to unilaterally expand gun control laws. 
Unsurprisingly, the President has again overstepped the boundaries and 
powers of his office.
  While we all want fewer senseless acts of violence, the President is 
choosing to punish lawful gun owners and restrict their Second 
Amendment rights instead of addressing the actual causes of mass 
murder, such as the need to improve our mental health system and the 
growing threat of terrorism.
  In addition to the constitutional questions about his actions and the 
mislaid blame toward lawful gun owners, these executive actions won't 
even accomplish what the President claims is his reason for acting. Not 
a single mass shooting committed over the last few years would have 
been prevented by the gun control measures currently being discussed, a 
statement The Washington Post's Fact Checker gave a rare Geppetto 
checkmark, which is being described as ``the truth, the whole truth, 
and nothing but the truth.''
  As a physician, I think if you want to try to prevent mass killings, 
you have to do more to intervene with individuals before they commit 
these heinous acts, which is why so many of us believe reforming our 
mental healthcare system is critically important.
  As a proud American and concealed-carry permit holder, I am opposed 
to this executive overreach but will work tirelessly to accomplish 
reforms that reduce the chance of mass shootings ever occurring.

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