[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10171]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, a little over a week and a half ago, my 
colleagues and I came to the House floor. We came to the floor to 
protest the inaction of this Republican Congress, the tyranny of the 
majority, to act on gun violence prevention measures--their deliberate 
inaction in the face of 33,000 deaths caused by gun violence every 
year. We came to demand substantive action to address our country's 
epidemic of gun violence.
  Yet, today we will be presented with legislation promoted by the NRA 
that fails to address this serious problem. H.R. 4237 does not close or 
otherwise address the terror gap that allows known or suspected 
terrorists in the United States to legally buy guns.
  Instead, this bill handicaps law enforcement, creating an impossibly 
burdensome process and allowing terrorists to take advantage of the 
Charleston loophole. In fact, H.R. 4237 doesn't just leave the loophole 
open, which led to the loss of nine lives at the Emanuel AME Church, it 
reinforces it and the terror gap.
  Under this legislation, to prevent the transfer of a firearm, the 
government will be required to file an emergency petition, schedule a 
hearing, provide the suspect with notice and counsel, and win the 
hearing all within 72 hours of the attempted purchase. And even if the 
government is able to win the hearing, it can only prevent the transfer 
if the court finds that the suspected terrorist committed, attempted 
to, or will commit an act of terrorism. Put another way, the government 
can only prevent a gun sale to a suspected terrorist if they can arrest 
the person for terrorist activity within 3 days of an attempted 
purchase.
  Ultimately, this legislation does not provide any meaningful 
safeguards to prevent terrorists from purchasing guns. Sadly, it is 
nothing more than a political tactic to avoid responsibility, a 
contrived effort to look busy and feign concern while thousands of 
Americans lose their lives to gun violence. The American people are 
smarter than this.
  We have a moral responsibility to do something meaningful. The 
American people demand that we do more, that we do something, that we 
do anything to help prevent another mass tragedy in this country. Make 
no mistake, this legislation falls short of a good-faith effort to save 
lives.
  The GAO found that individuals on the terrorist watch list were able 
to pass a background check and legally purchase a firearm 2,043 times 
between February of 2004 and December of 2014. The FBI was only able to 
prevent 10 percent of these purchases.
  As we all, unfortunately, learned on June 12, when we fail to prevent 
dangerous individuals from getting their hands on guns, we put the 
lives of Americans at risk. But there is legislation that the House can 
consider that will reduce gun violence.
  First, H.R. 1076, the no fly, no buy bill, would effectively close 
the terror gap by providing the Department of Justice with the 
discretion to block gun sales to terrorist suspects. It will preserve 
due process for individuals who were mistakenly listed to appeal their 
denial.
  Second, H.R. 1217 would implement universal background checks for all 
commercial gun sales. It is a measure supported by the overwhelming 
majority of the American people. And empirical research shows that 
universal background checks for all handgun sales have lowered levels 
of gun violence in those States where that occurs. Nationally, 34 
percent of gun sales and 40 percent of all gun transfers occur without 
a background check.

                              {time}  1215

  This legislation would represent an important step toward closing 
this loophole and reducing gun violence.
  I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to bring these 
two bills to the floor, to respond to the demands of the American 
people, to do something about the pandemic of gun violence, to do 
something meaningful that will actually reduce gun violence in this 
country and protect the American people, as we are sworn to do.
  I know I speak for all of my colleagues in the Democratic Caucus. We 
will continue to fight in every way that we can until we can persuade 
our Republican colleagues to bring these bills to the floor, to do 
something about the carnage of mass gun violence in this country.

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