Senate

The Senate voted 58-42, rejecting a gun control amendment addressing straw gun purchases.

Sens. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced the bipartisan amendment.

The Senate rejected a GOP substitute bill on gun control reforms Wednesday.

Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) amendment failed on a 52-48 vote. It would have replaced S. 649, the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act, which would expand background checks on gun purchases, crack down on gun trafficking and beef up security in schools. 

It failed by a vote of 54 to 46, with five Democrats voting against it. Only four Republicans supported it.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said Wednesday that gun violence is a “symptom” of the larger societal problem of a “moral decline.”

Coburn suggested that the Senate spend its time trying to restore the morality of America, rather than debate gun-control legislation since the “Second Amendment right isn’t going to go away.”

“Our Founders had a Bill of Rights and we had a Constitution and it was really designed for moral and good people,” Coburn said Wednesday. “So we really ought to be leading on the real issues. … We are in some moral decline and that’s because of a lack of leadership in a lot of areas in our country.”

In her maiden speech, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) honored the victims and survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings.

“I rise to remember the lives of those we have lost,” Warren said Wednesday. “We will miss them.” 

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said that if senators don’t support a background check amendment from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) they must not want to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

“I believe people should be able to own guns, but the criminals shouldn’t be able to own guns,” Murphy said Wednesday. “If you oppose the Manchin-Toomey amendment, you cannot say with a straight face that you oppose criminals getting guns.”

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) accused the National Riffle Association (NRA) of lying to its members about his amendment increasing background checks for gun purchases.

“I agree wholeheartedly with the goal of the NRA. … I carry my [membership] card with me and I’ve had this for quite some time, it’s a lifetime membership,” Manchin said Wednesday. “I was surprised when the latest alert from the NRA was full of misinformation.

“They are telling members that our legislation would criminalize the private transfer of firearms by honest, law abiding citizens. … That is a lie, that is simply a lie and anyone that can read knows that is not factual.”

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Tuesday proposed legislation that would require hospitals to maintain a minimum nurse-to-patient ratio at all times, and allow the government to audit and penalize hospitals that fail to comply with this rule.

Boxer said her bill, S. 739, is meant to help address the nation's shortage of nurses, and would also ensure patients get the care they need while in the hospital.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday that he would vote for an amendment to the Senate gun bill that would reinstate the assault weapons ban.

“I believe you should have the right to own a gun,” Reid said on the Senate floor. “But you do not need an assault weapon to defend yourself and your property. Assault weapons have one purpose and one purpose alone, to kill a lot of people very quickly.”

The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m., and in the afternoon it will start a series of amendment votes at 4 p.m. on the gun legislation, S. 649, the Safe Communities and Safe Schools Act.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced on Tuesday night that an agreement was reached to vote on nine amendments. The first vote will be on language from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), which would scale back the background check requirements in the current bill.