[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16283]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     WORKING TO IMPROVE NICS SYSTEM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk again about the 
National Instant Criminal Background Check. We know that the States are 
the weak link as far as getting background checks into our NICS system. 
We have seen so many times that thousands of people are slipping 
through the system because the States do not have the money to bring up 
their computer systems to be able to give the information to the NICS 
system here in Washington.
  We know that the NICS system works. We know that over 700,000 people 
have been denied guns, those that should not be able to buy them but, 
again, a system is only as good as the database that it has.
  The NICS system did pass here in the House on a voice vote going back 
to 1999. Unfortunately, the Senate ran out of time, so I have 
reintroduced it, and I am hoping that we might be able to get it 
through here again on a suspension bill.
  Some facts: Twenty-five States have automated less than 60 percent of 
their felony convictions. We know that people that are felons or who 
have been mentally institutionalized should not be able to buy a gun. 
Unfortunately, a tragedy that was in my own State of New York on the 
island in Nassau County where I live, a person was able to buy a gun 
legally because the States did not give the NICS system the information 
that he should have never been able to buy a gun.

                              {time}  1930

  Unfortunately a shooting happened in a local church, Our Lady of 
Lourdes, and two people were killed, a priest and a parishioner at a 
morning mass. We know that mental health problems and restraining 
orders did not come up on the NICS system and that is a shame. When you 
think about what can be done to certainly deter those people that 
should not be able to buy a gun, and especially today in today's world 
that we are looking at. I know the debate here in the House all the 
time is the suspicion that we are trying to take away the right of 
someone to own a gun. I happen to believe in the second amendment. I 
happen to believe that people if they want to own guns should be able 
to. But again, we must look at those that should not be able to buy 
guns.
  When we talk about the health care system in this Nation, we know it 
costs this health care system, our health care system, our taxpayers' 
health care system over $1 billion a year because of gun violence in 
this Nation. And unless we open up the dialog a little bit differently 
and start to trust each other that we can do a better job, we should be 
doing a better job, and that is only going to happen if we help the 
States.
  We know that when a judgment comes down against a person in the 
courts or there is a restraining order, the majority of States do not 
report that to the NICS system. When someone does a crime in Texas and 
they come to New York and buy a gun it is not brought up through the 
system. So we have to do a better job. We can save lives. We can save 
money on the health care system.
  And by the way, I happen to think it is very important that we also 
look at how we look at our terrorisms that we are trying to deal with 
in the next few days. You know, when we talk about the PATRIOT Act 
coming up, I think that the debate will be about some civil liberties 
being taken away.
  But yet when we look at gun ownership we should be making sure that 
those that are not supposed to have a gun, and this goes back to the 
1968 Gun Control Act, the bill follows it, the NRA has supported this 
bill. We have good bipartisan support certainly in the other body and I 
am hoping that before the session ends that we can bring this bill up.
  H.R. 1415, the NICS Improvement Act, will give grants to the States 
so they are able to be able to bring their systems up to par so here in 
Washington we will have the information that we need. You know, again, 
I hope that in time that we will be able to change the debate on gun 
violence in this country. We can save lives. We can save certainly on 
health care costs for this Nation if we can have a good honest debate 
on the health care system with the gun system.

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