Historically Women's Public Colleges and Universities Historic Building Preservation and Restoration Act

Mr. President, I take a backseat to no one in my support of Second Amendment rights. But this right, which Americans have fought and died for, does not extent to terrorists, criminals and illegal aliens. That is why I am pleased to announce today a landmark agreement on gun show legislation that I have reached with Senators Jack Reed, Mike DeWine, and Joe Lieberman.

The bill accomplishes two critical goals: It protects gun shows as a viable business and ongoing enterprise, and it slams the door on criminals, terrorists and illegal aliens who have successfully exploited a loophole in our gun

safety laws to acquire firearms at gun shows for nefarious purposes.

I know the gun safety issue is controversial in Congress and that there is a great deal of passion on both sides. This legislation replaces passion with pragmatism. It stakes out a sensible middle ground to solve the real problem of criminals and terrorists getting guns at gun shows without burdening gun show operators with punishing paperwork or treating enthusiasts who attend these shows as pariahs.

For gun rights advocates like myself, this bill does not retreat one inch in the battle to protect our Second Amendment rights. It treats gun show operators and patrons with respect and requires simply that background checks be performed on all firearms sales at gun shows. For those who are rightly concerned about gun violence, this bill simply and straightforwardly accomplishes the goal of closing a loophole that has fueled illegal gun trafficking in America.

I am a gun owner and I have attended many gun shows in my state of Arizona. More than most people, I know that the majority of gun show patrons and sellers are honest, law abiding citizens. But I also know that there is a sinister element that attends these shows and exploits this loophole.

Defenders of gun shows, like myself, cannot ignore the staggering statistic that gun shows are the second leading source of firearms recovered in illegal gun trafficking investigations conducted by ATF. Just this week, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that ATF agents seized 572 firearms from five unlicensed sellers who were exploiting the gun show loophole in ways that threaten the safety of American citizens. The same article quoted an ATF agent saying ``crime guns do originate at gun shows. That's been documented.''

The fact that gun shows are a leading source of crime guns is reason enough to close the gun show loophole, but we also know of at least three cases where alleged terrorists used the gun show loophole to purchase firearms and that makes closing this loophole imperative.

On September 10, 2001, a Federal court in Detroit convicted Ali Boumelhem, a known member of the terrorist group Hezbollah on seven counts of weapons charges for smuggling shotguns, ammunition, flash suppressors, and assault weapons parts to Lebanon.

FBI agents followed Boumelhem to at least three Michigan gun shows in October 2000. According to the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, the shipment in which he was finally arrested was part of a pattern-- Boumelhem ``traveled frequently to gun shows to buy arms and then hid them in cargo crates bound for Lebanon.'' According to the Associated Press, ``Federal agents say they watched Boumelhem, a resident of Detroit and Beirut, travel to gun shows to buy gun parts and ammunition for shipment overseas.''

On October 30, 2001, Muhammad Asrar, a Pakistani national with suspected al-Qaeda ties, pleaded guilty in Federal court in Texas to firearms-related charges. He was convicted of illegally possessing 50 rounds of 9mm ammunition. He was also convicted on an immigration charge--illegally overstaying his student visa since 1988.

Asrar was arrested after an anonymous informant told authorities that Asrar had asked him whether he would smuggle a foreign national across the border from Mexico. Asrar also allegedly asked the informant if he would take pictures of tall buildings for him during his travels. Police seized several photos of tall buildings from Asrar's store.

Asrar admitted to authorities that he had bought and sold a variety of guns at Texas gun shows over the previous 7 years, including a copy of a Sten submachine gun, a Ruger Mini-14 rifle, two handguns, and a hunting rifle.

Despite the final adjudication of the ammunition and immigration charges, which can carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, Asrar remains under investigation by a Federal grand jury. According to the New York Times, Asrar is being investigated for possible links to al- Qaeda.

Connor Claxton is an Irish national and an admitted member of the Irish Republican Army who is currently serving a prison term for attempting to smuggle guns bought in Florida to Ireland. At his trial he testified about how he came to the United States on IRA orders to buy weapons and ammunition for shipment back to Ireland and that he chose to come to Florida because ``we don't have gun shows in Ireland, and you see things here like you never imagined.''

According to his co-conspirator Siobhan Browne, Claxton ``spent more than $100,000 off the books on semi- and fully automatic weapons in sales from private dealers'' who are not required to perform background checks. Browne also said that Mickey Couples, a senior IRA leader, told her that ``the gunrunning mission had been going on for four years and that there were 50 IRA volunteers involved.''

In an era where America is right to be concerned about security, it is absolutely imperative that we close this dangerous loophole that allows criminals, terrorists, and illegal aliens to claim a right that they don't deserve.

The McCain-Reed-DeWine-Lieberman bill requires instant criminal background checks for all firearm sales at gun shows. For licensed dealers selling at gun shows, this bill creates no new burdens. For unlicensed sellers, they will simply need to have an instant background check performed before they transfer a firearm. The instant check could be performed by a licensed dealer, local law enforcement, or by a new entity created by this bill called a special licensee--an individual or gun show employee who may perform instant background checks at gun shows only.

The bill also defines a gun show in a fair and rational way. Any public event where 75 or more firearms are offered for sale is defined in the legislation as a gun show. Collectors who sell their own guns from their own homes are exempt. In addition, private hunt clubs that buy, sell, or trade firearms between members are also free from the requirements of this bill.

Paperwork requirements under the bill are the minimum necessary to ensure compliance with the law. I made sure that gun show operators would not be buried under an avalanche of paper.

Finally, the bill allows States to seek a waiver to make the instant check even quicker for unlicensed sellers at gun shows once that State has automated the records necessary to make the check as accurate as possible. I am aware that some sellers are concerned that the law allowing up to three business days to complete a background check is burdensome for weekend gun shows.

Currently, because of improvements made by Attorney General John Ashcroft, 91 percent of all background checks are completed within five minutes and 95 percent are completed within two hours. For all intents and purposes, we now have a viable instant check system. But I would like to get that 95 percent success rate up to 100 percent and this bill will help entice States to get their felony, domestic violence and mental health records in order so that no one has to wait days to be approved or denied a firearm under instant check.

This legislation should appeal to all but those who either hate guns and believe that no one should own them or those who believe that even terrorists, criminals and illegal aliens are protected under the Second Amendment. In 1999, every member of the Senate voted for some form of a bill to close the gun show loophole, but neither side was willing to compromise for the sake of America. Let's stop playing politics with guns and support a bill that closes a serious loophole while respecting the rights of those who enjoy gun shows. This is our chance.

Mr. President, I am proud to join Senators McCain, Reed, DeWine, Lautenberg, Schumer and Chafee in introducing this important legislation. This bill aims to build common ground on gun violence--a problem that has too often divided Members of Congress. As citizens of this great Democracy, we have rights and we have responsibilities. We have the right to own guns, but we have a responsibility not to sell them to criminals. That is the simple but important set of values on which the legislation we introduce today is founded.

For several decades, our Nation has had a clear policy against allowing

convicted felons to buy guns, because we know that mixing criminals and guns far too often yields violent results. Through the Brady law, we established what seems like an obvious corollary to that policy--a requirement that those selling guns determine whether someone trying to buy a firearm isn't supposed to get one before they sell it to them. The Brady law has been an enormous success. Since its enactment, background checks have stopped almost one million gun sales to those who by law aren't allowed to own guns--convicted felons, spouse abusers, fugitives from justice, among others. This has saved an untold number of our citizens from the violence, injury or death the sale of many of these guns would have brought.

But the Brady law contained an unfortunate loophole that has since been exploited to allow convicted felons and other people who shouldn't own guns to evade the background check requirement by buying their guns at gun shows. The problem is that Brady applies only to Federal Firearms Licensees, so-called FFLs--people who are in the business of selling guns. Brady explicitly exempts from the background check requirement anyone ``who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms.'' As a result, any person selling guns as a hobby or only occasionally, whether at a gun show, flea market or elsewhere, need not obtain a Federal license and therefore has no obligation to conduct a background check. This means that any person wanting to avoid a background check can go to a gun show, find out which vendors are not FFLs, and buy a gun. This situation is dangerous not only because it allows convicted felons and other prohibited persons to buy guns, but also because--in contrast to FFLs--non-FFLs have no obligation to keep records of the transaction, thereby depriving law enforcement of the ability to trace the gun if it later turns up at a crime scene.

Our bill will change that. We will make sure that no one will be able to buy a gun at a gun show without it first being determined whether that person is a convicted felon, a spouse abuser or a member of one of the other categories of people we all agree should not be allowed to buy guns.

Our bill does this, though, by taking into account some of the concerns that were expressed about previous efforts to close this loophole.

First, our bill has a simple definition of a gun show--an event where 75 or more guns are offered or exhibited for sale--and we make clear that that definition doesn't include sales from a private collection by nonlicensed sellers out of their homes.

Second, to respond to the argument that previous proposals made it too difficult for nonlicensed sellers to fulfill the background check requirement, our bill makes sure that nonlicensed sellers will have easy access to someone who can initiate background checks for them, by creating a new class of licensee whose sole purpose will be to initiate background checks at gun shows.

Third, we have tried to respond to those who say that a three-day check is too long for gun shows, because those events only last a couple of days. It is worth noting that the length allowed for the check doesn't affect the overwhelming majority of gun purchasers, because over 90 percent of checks are completed almost instantly. But to allay the concerns that have been expressed, we have come up with a compromise that authorizes a State to move to a 24-hour check for nonlicensed dealers at gun shows when the State can prove that a 24- hour check is feasible. A State can prove that by showing that 95 percent of the records that would disqualify people in that State from buying guns are computerized and searchable by the NICS system. And, because of the particular need to keep guns out of the hands of spouse abusers, the bill specifically provides that a State must have computerized 95 percent of its domestic violence misdemeanor and restraining order records dating back 30 years before it is eligible to go to a 24-hour check at gun shows.

One significant difference between the bill Senator McCain and I introduced last Congress and the one we introduce today is that my colleague from Rhode Island, Senator Reed, has worked with us to craft a single gun show loophole closing bill. I am truly pleased that we can now all go forward together in a unified effort to bring greater responsibility to our gun laws.

Now I know that there are many, including President Bush, who argue that what we need to solve the gun violence problem are not new laws but the enforcement of existing ones. I agree with part of that statement, and firmly support efforts to crack down on those who violate our gun laws. But I believe we must go farther than that, because we will never be able to enforce existing laws unless we close the loopholes in them that criminals exploit. And we all know that there is a big loophole in the provision saying that felons and spouse abusers aren't supposed to buy guns, and that is that criminals know that if they go to a gun show, they will be able to avoid the background check that was set up to keep them from getting guns.

Gun crime remains a critical public safety problem. For too long, differences over finding a solution to that problem have unnecessarily divided the Congress, and the American people have been left to suffer the violent consequences. But the reality is that most of us agree on most of the critical questions. We agree that the laws on the books should be enforced, that the rights of law-abiding gun owners should be protected, and that convicted felons and spouse abusers shouldn't be able to get guns. The bill we are introducing today would write those principles into law. I hope all of my colleagues support it.

Mr. President, I rise to join my colleague Senator McCain in introducing the Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2003. We offer this legislation to strengthen our Nation's gun laws by closing a loophole that has allowed criminals to buy firearms at gun shows for far too long. I look forward to working with Senator McCain and our fellow cosponsors to offer this legislation to the first appropriate vehicle that comes before the Senate. In particular, it is our intention to offer this bill as an amendment to the gun industry immunity bill, S. 659. If the Senate is going to consider granting immunity from civil liability to the firearms industry--an industry that Congress already exempted from the consumer product safety laws that apply to virtually every other product sold in this country--it is critical that we protect

the American people by improving law enforcement oversight of commerce in firearms.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reported to Congress in 2000 that gun shows are a major gun trafficking channel responsible for more than 26,000 illegal firearms sales during the 18-month period ATF studied. The FBI and ATF tell us again and again that convicted felons, domestic abusers, and other prohibited purchasers are taking advantage of the gun show loophole. At least three suspected terrorists that we know of have also exploited this loophole to acquire firearms, including one suspected al Qaeda member.

Under Federal law, Federal Firearms Licensees are required to maintain careful records of their sales, and under the Brady Act, to check a purchaser's background with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System before transferring any firearm. However, a person does not need a Federal firearms license--and the Brady Act does not apply--if the person is not ``engaged in the business'' of selling firearms pursuant to Federal law. These unlicensed sellers make up one quarter or more of the sellers of firearms at thousands of gun shows in America each year. Consequently, felons and other prohibited persons who want to avoid Brady Act checks and records of their purchases buy firearms at gun shows.

Four years ago, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people at Columbine High School with weapons purchased from an unlicensed seller at a gun show. The woman who purchased those guns on behalf of Harris and Klebold testified to the Colorado legislature that she never would have purchased the weapons had she been required to undergo a background check.

We have united behind this bipartisan legislation--which brings together provisions from several previous gun show bills--to make gun show transactions safer for all Americans. The bill would require Brady Law background checks on all firearms transactions at any event where 75 or more guns are offered for sale. Three years after enactment, States could apply to the Attorney General for certification for a 24- hour background check for unlicensed sellers at gun shows. In order to be eligible for 24-hour certification, a State would be required to have 95 percent of its disqualifying records automated and searchable under NICS, including 95 percent of all domestic violence misdemeanor and restraining order records dating back 30 years. Before certifying any State for 24-hour background checks, the Attorney General would be required to establish a toll-free telephone number to enable State and local courts to immediately notify the NICS system any time a domestic violence restraining order is filed, and courts within a certified State would be required to use the telephone number immediately upon the filing of such an order. The bill also directs the Attorney General to work with States to encourage the development of computer systems that would allow courts to provide electronic records to NICS immediately. The Bureau of Justice Statistics would conduct an annual review of all certified States to ensure they continue to meet the conditions for 24-hour background check certification.

Some will say that this legislation is an attempt to end gun shows, but the experience of States that have closed the gun show loophole proves otherwise. California, for example, requires not only background checks at gun shows but a 10-day waiting period for all gun sales, yet gun shows continue to thrive there. No, we are not trying to end gun shows. What we are trying to end is the free pass we're giving to terrorists and convicted felons that allows them to simply walk into a gun show, find a private dealer, buy whatever weapons they want and walk out without a Brady background check.

In overwhelming numbers, the American people believe that background checks should be required for all gun show sales. The people of Colorado confirmed this after the Columbine tragedy when they approved a ballot initiative to close the gun show loophole. I urge my colleagues to support the Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2003 so that we can finally close this loophole in every State and make sure that convicted felons, domestic abusers, and other prohibited persons do not use gun shows to purchase firearms without a Brady background check.

Mr. President, I rise today as an original co-sponsor of the Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2003. I would like to thank Senators McCain, Lieberman and Reed for also sponsoring this common sense piece of legislation that aims to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and out of the hand of kids. It is a good bill--an important bill.

Gun ownership rights are clearly established in the United States Constitution. And, I am a firm supporter of the Second Amendment. I also strongly believe that we have an obligation to protect the safety of law-abiding citizens and the safety of our most precious resource, our children.

As a former county prosecutor, I learned that the best way to reduce the illegal and often fatal use of guns is to pass and enforce tough laws that severely punish criminals who use them. That is why I consistently have supported measures that keep firearms from getting into the wrong hands in the first place and that increase the punishment of those who use firearms in the commission of a crime. The Gun Show Loophole Closing Act helps achieve that goal.

Under the existing Brady law, when a purchaser buys a gun from a licensed dealer, he or she must undergo a background check through the Federal Government's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (``NICS''), into which States feed records of certain criminals and others not qualified to own a gun. NICS has up to three days to inform the dealer as to whether the buyer is qualified to purchase a gun. If the dealer receives no response by the end of the three-day period, the dealer is allowed to the sell the gun to that buyer. Ninety-five percent of NICS checks, however, do not take three days. They come up with an instant or near instant response.

This bill we are introducing today simply applies the same common- sense checks to gun show sales. Right now, there is no statute requiring that all sellers at gun shows run NICS checks on potential gun buyers; however, according to Federal officials, gun shows are the second leading source of illegal guns recovered from gun trafficking investigations. By leaving this loophole open--by not requiring all gun show sellers to run NICS checks--we are presenting gun traffickers and other criminals with a prime opportunity to acquire firearms. This is terrifying and this is unacceptable. Only last week, Federal authorities arrested a Georgia man who sold large quantities of firearms at Georgia gun shows. These firearms have been recovered in subsequent crimes in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and here in Washington, DC.

Furthermore, following the attacks on September 11th, it came to light that Al Qaeda produced a handbook in which it advised terrorists to purchase firearms at gun shows in the United States. In fact, at least three suspected terrorists have exploited this loophole to acquire firearms. Therefore, it is imperative, now more than ever, to enact legislation to protect our citizens from this potential area of terrorist exploitation.

This bill is common sense. The laws for purchasing firearms at gun shows and stores should be the same. We have the same responsibility to make sure that gun owners are qualified--regardless of where they buy their guns. This bill closes the gun show loophole in a way that respects the Second Amendment and honest, law-abiding Americans' right to buy and sell guns and attend gun shows. That's good law. That's good policy. That's why we should pass this bill.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, May 20, 2004, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing on ``Oversight of the Extended Custodial Inventory Program.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Thursday, May 20, 2004, at 10:15 a.m. on spam.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet in open Executive Session during the session on May 20, 2004; to consider favorably reporting the nominations of John O. Colvin, to be Judge, U.S. Tax Court, renomination for a second term; Stuart A. Levey, to be Under Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement and Juan C. Zarate, to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet for a hearing entitled ``Prescription Drug Reimportation'' during the session of the Senate on Thursday, May 20, 2004, at 10:00 a.m. in SD-430.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Thursday, May 20, 2004, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing on S. 2382, the Native American Connectivity Act.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a markup on Thursday, May 20, 2004, at 10:30 a.m. in Dirksen Senate Building, room 226.

I. Nominations

Henry W. Saad to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit; Jonathan W. Dudas to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United states Patent and Trademark Office

II. Legislation

S. 1735, Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence Act of 2003 [Hatch, Feinstein, Grassley, Graham, Chambliss, Cornyn, Schumer, Biden];

S. 1933, Enhancing Federal Obscenity Reporting and Copyright Enforcement (ENFORCE) Act of 2003 [Hatch, Feinstein, Cornyn];

S. 1635, A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to ensure the integrity of the L-1 visa for intracompany transferees [Chambliss];

S. 1129, Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act of 2003 [Feinstein, DeWine, Feingold, Kennedy, Leahy, Specter, Edwards, Durbin, Kohl, Schumer];

S. 2013, Satellite Home Viewer Extension Act of 2004 [Hatch, Leahy, DeWine, Kohl];

S. Res. 362, a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate on the dedication of the National World War II Memorial on May 29, 2004, in recognition of the duty, sacrifices, and valor of the members of the Armed Forces of the United States who served in World War II. [Graham (FL), Biden, Chambliss, Durbin, Feingold, Grassley, Hatch, Cornyn, DeWine, Edwards, Graham, (SC)]

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on Thursday, May 20, 2004 on ``FBI Oversight: Terrorism and Other Topics'' in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 226 immediately following the full committee markup scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 226.

Witness List

Panel I: Robert S. Mueller III, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, Washington, DC.