[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 478]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      OUR SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS

  (Mr. CULBERSON asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, the Obama administration has just issued 
a series of executive actions attempting to limit our Second Amendment 
right to keep and bear arms.
  As the new chairman of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, I have been entrusted with the 
responsibility handed down to us by our Founding Fathers of the power 
of the purse.
  The Department of Justice and the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, 
Firearms and Explosives have already been put on notice that, if they 
attempt to interfere with our Second Amendment rights, I have the 
authority, as chairman, to block their ability to move money within the 
agency, to block their ability, for example, when they submit a 
spending plan. That is a very powerful tool of persuasion, not always 
guaranteed.
  The Founding Fathers entrusted the power of the purse to the Congress 
as a way to give a check and balance to an out-of-control executive.
  I don't need a bill. I don't need an amendment. And I don't need any 
new authority. The Congress has it.
  I will execute that authority entrusted to me to protect our Second 
Amendment rights and to make sure that Americans always have the right 
to keep and bear arms in defense of our freedom.
  If the Obama administration wants access to our hard-earned tax 
dollars, they are going to have to assure me and the American people 
that they will not interfere with our constitutional rights.

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