[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 22, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E364]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 VETERANS 2ND AMENDMENT PROTECTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. DAVID P. ROE

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 16, 2017

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record two 
letters from the National Disabilities Rights Network and the National 
Rifle Association in support of H.R. 1181:

                                        National Rifle Association


                                                   of America,

                                    Washington, DC, March 7, 2017.
       Dear Chairman Roe: I am pleased to write on behalf of the 
     National Rifle Association in support of H.R. 1181, the 
     ``Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act.''
       This bill would address an ongoing problem over the past 12 
     years in which veterans and veterans' family members for whom 
     fiduciaries have been appointed by the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs are deemed to have been ``adjudicated as . . . mental 
     defective[s]'' and prohibited from possessing or receiving 
     firearms. Such an appointment is not necessarily based on any 
     finding that the veteran is a danger to himself or herself or 
     to others.
       Fortunately, the NICS Improvement Amendment Act of 2007 
     provided these individuals with the opportunity to seek 
     relief from that legal disability. However, your bill goes 
     one step further in protecting the rights of veterans and 
     family members, by ensuring that no VA proceeding going 
     forward will prevent a person from exercising his or her 
     Second Amendment rights unless a judicial authority has found 
     that the person's mental incapacity or disorder actually 
     makes him or her dangerous.
       We wish you success in moving forward with this important 
     protection for the rights of those who have served our 
     country. Please don't hesitate to call me.
           Sincerely,
                                                  Jason M. Quimet,
     Director of Federal Affairs.
                                  ____

                                               National Disability


                                               Rights Network,

                                   Washington, DC, March 17, 2017.
     Re National Disability Rights Network letter of support for 
         H.R. 1181, the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act

     Hon. Phil Roe,
     Chairman, House Veterans' Committee,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Roe: The National Disability Rights Network 
     (NDRN) writes in support of H.R. 1181, the ``Veterans 2nd 
     Amendment Protection Act''. We appreciate your strong 
     advocacy on this important topic.
       The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) is the non-
     profit membership organization for the federally mandated 
     Protection and Advocacy (P&A) and Client Assistance Program 
     (CAP) systems for individuals with disabilities. The P&As and 
     CAPs were established by the United States Congress to 
     protect the rights of people with disabilities and their 
     families through legal support, advocacy, referral, and 
     education. P&As and CAPs are in all 50 states, the District 
     of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Territories (American 
     Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin 
     Islands), and there is a P&A and CAP affiliated with the 
     Native American Consortium which includes the Hopi, Navaho 
     and San Juan Southern Paiute Nations in the Four Corners 
     region of the Southwest. Collectively, the P&A and CAP 
     Network is the largest provider of legally based advocacy 
     services to people with disabilities in the United States.
       H.R. 1181 prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs, 
     from considering a veteran to be adjudicated as ``mentally 
     defective'' for purposes of the right to receive or transport 
     firearms without the order or finding of a judicial authority 
     that such person is a danger to himself or herself or others. 
     We oppose the reporting of names without full adjudication 
     for a number of reasons, including:
       The damaging message of a policy that focuses on reporting 
     individuals who, for example, receive assistance in managing 
     their benefits to the NICS gun database. The current public 
     dialogue is replete with inaccurate stereotyping of people 
     with mental disabilities as violent and dangerous, and there 
     is a real concern that the VA policy will reinforce those 
     unfounded assumptions.
       The absence of any data suggesting that there is any 
     connection between a beneficiary who is assisted by a 
     fiduciary and a propensity toward gun violence.
       The absence of any meaningful due process protections by 
     not requiring an adjudication by a court of competent 
     jurisdiction. Although the NICS Improvements Act of 2007 
     allows agencies to transmit the names of individuals who have 
     been ``adjudicated'' to lack the capacity to manage their own 
     affairs, VA's process does not, without a decision of a 
     judicial authority, constitute an adjudication. Veterans 
     should not lose the Constitutional rights they have fought to 
     protect and defend without proper due process.
       We urge Congress to act, through passing H.R. 1181, to 
     prevent the damage the current VA practice to report names of 
     veterans with disabilities to the NICS background check 
     system without proper adjudication is causing on veterans 
     with disabilities.
       Please contact Amanda Lowe, Senior Public Policy Analyst 
     with any questions.
           Sincerley,
                                                      Curt Decker,
     Executive Director.

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