Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. PETERS. I would like to thank my colleague from Connecticut for yielding the floor for a question.

While I intend to ask my colleague from Connecticut shortly about the interaction between closing the terror gap for gun purchasers and expanding background checks, I would first like to take a moment to mourn the loss of the 49 people who were killed and recognize the dozens more who were wounded in the worst mass shooting our Nation has ever seen.

While my heart goes out to all the families and friends of the victims, today I would like to honor two Michigan men who lost their lives that night. Tevin Crosby and Christopher Andrew Leinonen, who went by the name of Drew.

Tevin was only 25. He was born in North Carolina, and he came to call Michigan home after finishing school and starting his own marketing business in Saginaw. Total Entrepreneurs Concepts is the name of the company. Founded just last year, his business already employs about 20 people and handles marketing for Fortune 500 companies. Tevin had recently visited family in North Carolina to watch several nieces and nephews graduate before traveling to Florida to see friends and colleagues.

Drew was 32, and grew up in metro Detroit before moving to Orlando with his mother. He became a civically minded activist early in life, starting a gay-straight alliance in high school before studying psychology and becoming a licensed mental health counselor. He recently won the Anne Frank Humanitarian Award for his work in the gay community.

Drew was at Pulse with his partner, Juan Guerrero, who also lost his life that night. Now, instead of potentially helping them plan a wedding one day, their loving families are planning a joint funeral. They want their sons to be side-by-side as their friends and family pay their respects and bid them farewell.

Orlando's events serve as a stark reminder that the fight for equality in this Nation for LGBT Americans must not end with marriage equality. We still live in a nation where Americans can face discrimination and even be killed simply because of whom they love. We cannot tolerate violence that targets any individual based on their gender, sexuality, race, or religion.

This horrific incident raises a number of questions. Was it a hate crime, an act of terrorism, an outgrowth of ease in which individuals in this country can purchase deadly weapons with high-capacity magazines or the heinous actions of a self-radicalized young man inspired by and swearing allegiance to ISIS? The answer to all these questions is yes.

I urge my colleagues and Americans across the country to resist painting this tragedy in simple, reductive terms. This attack was a hate crime. This attack was an act of terrorism. Yes, this attack speaks to the disturbing ease with which dangerous firearms can be acquired in our Nation. The problems that led to this tragedy are complex, but complexity is not an argument for inaction.

We need to start somewhere. Thoughts and prayers can be meaningful and are certainly powerful, but we need to do more than just offer our thoughts and prayers. Now is the time for action. As Senators, we have no higher duty than keeping the American people safe. This includes taking the fight to ISIS overseas with our allies and vigilant law enforcement here at home. My colleague from Connecticut has been discussing two simple critical changes we can make to help prevent gun violence in our Nation, including the acts of terror like we have seen in Orlando. We need to keep guns away from those who shouldn't have them. This includes individuals who have been convicted of domestic violence offenses, people with court orders related to stalking, and convicted felons. These groups are already barred under Federal law from purchasing or otherwise possessing firearms, and this is enforced through background checks.

It is also painfully clear that we need to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists. This is why we need to close the terror gap and prevent individuals on terrorist watch lists from purchasing firearms. Unfortunately, however, closing the terror gap and enforcing gun safety laws cannot be effective without universal background checks. It doesn't matter if we ban selling guns to people on the terror watch list if large percentages of purchasers avoid background checks by buying a gun at a gun show or over the Internet.

A story from our neighboring State, Wisconsin, haunts me as an example of violence that could have been stopped. Recently, a Wisconsin man subject to a restraining order from his estranged wife--a man who was barred under current law from purchasing a gun--was able to take advantage of the private seller loophole and purchase a weapon without a background check. He then confronted his wife at the spa where she worked. He killed her and two others, injured four more people, before turning the gun on himself.

Just like our current law bans gun sales to those convicted of domestic violence or with restraining orders in place against them, closing the terror gap will only be fully effective if we have universal background checks.

My question to the Senator from Connecticut is, Will closing the terror gap alone prevent the sale of weapons to potential terrorists in the United States or will we need universal background checks to ensure that these individuals are not able to exploit the loopholes in the current law?

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Mr. PETERS. I don't, but I think that sums it up. I hope this body will come together to take up this important legislation, this amendment. If these two measures are separated into two potential votes, as we hear may happen, I hope we all understand that we can't vote for one and not the other and think we are really dealing with this issue. If we only block someone on a terrorist list but do not require universal background checks, it is basically a vote that may sound good but is simply not going to be effective in dealing with this horrible situation and dealing with the incident I mentioned from Wisconsin. These stories happen every day. It may not capture the national media like the horrible, tragic event we saw in Orlando, but the devastation to the families is every bit as real every single day. It is the obligation of this body to step up. I appreciate that answer. I appreciate my colleague from Connecticut for standing up on this issue, and I look forward to working closely with you to address this.

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