[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19601-19602]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 DENY GUN SALES TO SUSPECTED TERRORISTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Lowey) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, Federal law prohibits nine categories of 
dangerous individuals from purchasing a firearm. This includes 
convicted felons, domestic abusers, and the seriously mentally ill. 
Yet, while we prevent those on the terrorist watch list from boarding 
planes, they are welcome in gun stores.
  The Government Accountability Office found that between 2004 and 
2014, individuals on terrorist watch lists tried to purchase guns or 
explosives 2,233 times. Of those attempts, 2,043, an astounding 91 
percent, were approved.
  Terrorists are knowingly exploiting this gap. In fact, in 2011, Adam 
Gadahn, an American-born member of al Qaeda, issued a video urging 
violent followers to exploit weaknesses in U.S. gun laws.
  Adam Gadahn was not alone. In 2009, Daniel Patrick Boyd was arrested 
and charged with conspiring to murder U.S. military personnel at the 
Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. Boyd, who was under 
investigation by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, had amassed an 
arsenal of assault rifles and had even traveled to the Middle East to 
meet with militants to plan future attacks.
  It is impossible to hear these facts and not think of the recent 
horrific attacks in Paris. France has extremely strict gun laws, so it 
is likely that the terrorists in question turned to black market 
sources for the weapons they used. But here in the United States, 
suspects on the terrorist watch list can legally purchase firearms. It 
simply doesn't make any sense at all.
  That is why I am a proud cosponsor of H.R. 1076, the Denying Firearms 
and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act. This bill, along with an 
amendment that I have introduced in the Appropriations Committee, would 
give the U.S. Attorney General the authority to block suspects on the 
terrorist watch list from purchasing firearms.
  Given the repeated mass shootings in the United States and the 
ongoing threat of terrorism, it is hard to believe that four times, 
Republicans on the Appropriations Committee have

[[Page 19602]]

said no to closing this dangerous loophole.
  In 2011, I introduced my amendment. It was rejected. In 2013, I tried 
again. It was rejected. Again, in 2014, rejected. Even this year, in 
2015, with the tremendous threats we face as a Nation, my amendment was 
rejected for the fourth time.
  Even NRA members agree we should pass this commonsense measure. A 
2012 poll found that 76 percent of gun owners, including 71 percent of 
NRA members, support prohibiting people on terrorist watch lists from 
purchasing guns. Yet, the NRA's stranglehold on the majority in 
Congress has prevented my amendment from passing and the bipartisan 
stand-alone bill from even being considered.
  The time has long since come for us to cross the aisle and work 
together to make our country safer. Let's close this glaring loophole 
immediately and arm our law enforcement with the ability to deny gun 
sales to suspected terrorists.

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