|
 |
 |
|
Guns-rights issue inflames House Appropriations meeting
A heated gun-rights debate hijacked a House Appropriations Committee markup of a 2012 spending Justice Department bill Wednesday as the GOP defeated a Democratic attempt to limit gun purchases by suspected terrorists, and succeeded in inserting language to allow imports of more powerful types of shotguns.
The GOP said Democrats were violating the Constitution with an amendment sponsored by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) which would have given the attorney general the ability to deny a gun purchase or transfer to a known or suspected terrorist.
Lowey said the language was originally authored by Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) and would affect those on the terrorist watch and no-fly lists.
Commerce and Justice subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-Va.) said he would work with Lowey to refine the amendment, but she rejected that offer. The amendment was defeated 18 to 27.
Wolf said the amendment affected too many Americans since more than 500,000 people are on the terrorist watch list, according to the Justice Department. He noted that he regularly helps ordinary constituents to get off the no-fly list after being put there by mistake.
“This amendment gives the attorney general a carte blanche to determine if someone is suspected of terrorism,” Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) said. “We need to defeat this amendment and not further inhibit the Second Amendment rights of Americans.”
Lowey said she was aghast that lawmakers would oppose giving Justice a few days to evaluate each gun buyer.
The heated debate followed the successful adoption of a rider sponsored by Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), which would have defunded any attempts to impose an existing ban on shotguns with non-sporting features.
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) rose to say this applies to weapons with grenade launchers and bayonets, and that the ban should remain in place.
Republicans argued that it was a violation of the Second Amendment for the government to be determining which features are considered sporting.
Moran said that the amendment would contribute to drug-related violence in Mexico since it would ensure someone can buy 1,000 "long guns" in less than 5 days without the government knowing about it.
Democrats said the main target of the amendment is related to a new rule for border states targeted at Mexican gun violence, and noted that multiple handgun sales are already required to be reported to the federal government.
The Commerce, Justice Science bill, reported out of full commmittee Wednesday, provides $50.2 billion in funding, a cut of $3.1 billion from current levels and $7.4 billion below President Obama’s budget request. The bill’s funding is below 2008 spending levels, slashing Justice Department grants to states and cities by $1.1 billion below last year’s level and $1.3 billion below the Obama request.
The National Aeronautic and Space Administration’s budget is cut by $1.6 billion, or $1.9 billion below the request. The end of the space shuttle accounts for $1 billion in savings, and appropriators have decided to kill the James Webb Space Telescope. Attempts to restore NASA funding by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) were rebuffed.
The National Science Foundation also sees a cut of $907 million compared to Obama’s request, which he has insisted will help “Win the Future” through innovation.
Cuts to local law enforcement are particularly controversial. Wolf said that if more funding becomes available, he would work to increase funding for local law enforcement and for a program that enables the federal government to assist in keeping criminal aliens out of the U.S.
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.) offered an amendment to give $35 million to the COPS program that funds the hiring of additional police officers, and which was defunded in the bill, but the amendment was defeated.
Wolf said that he was supportive of COPS but objected to the offset Fattah came up with — to take money from an asset forfeiture fund also used by law enforcement.
Story was updated at 2:05 pm
Most Viewed RSS Feed »
