[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10180]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1430
                            ASSAULT WEAPONS

  (Mr. GALLEGO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Speaker, in the Iraq war, my unit fought door-to-
door in some of the areas now controlled by ISIL, and we did it armed 
with an assault rifle called the M16A4.
  Why did the Marine Corps send us into battle with this weapon?
  At the risk of making anyone feel uncomfortable, the simple answer is 
this: Because the M16 is a machine designed to kill and maim people. It 
is not for target shooting, or hunting deer. The M16 was refined for 
the sole purpose of taking enemy lives in combat.
  That is why it defies explanation that Republicans believe assault 
rifles like the M16 or the SIG SAUER MCX used in Orlando should be 
carried in our communities. Weapons that Marines use to kill enemy 
combatants in Iraq don't belong on the streets of Phoenix.
  Mr. Speaker, it is even harder to understand why Republicans 
apparently think known terrorists should be allowed to purchase these 
firearms. They plan to bring a sham bill to the floor later this week 
that law enforcement leaders tell us will do nothing to prevent 
individuals on the terrorist watch list from obtaining these deadly 
weapons. That is unacceptable.
  Mr. Speaker, here is the bottom line. If you are too dangerous to fly 
on a plane, then you are too dangerous to buy the kind of weapon I 
carried in Iraq.

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