Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016
Floor Speech
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Ms. AYOTTE. Mr. President, I rise today to say to my colleagues who are here that I hope that we can stop the politics and really focus on a result that will make a difference for the American people.
All of our hearts were broken across this country as we woke up the Sunday before last to the news of the horrific terrorist attack on the nightclub in Orlando that took the lives of 49 innocent people, and 53 more were injured. I can't imagine how their families feel and the pain their loved ones must be experiencing. Our prayers are with them and those who were wounded and with our brave first responders who had to go there to address this horrible terrorist attack.
This was an attack that shook our Nation. It was an attack on our LGBT community in a place where people come together to enjoy themselves to celebrate who they are. It was an act of terrorism; it was an act of hatred. This was the worst terrorist attack on our soil since September 11.
It is a somber reminder--unfortunately, the terrorist who committed this attack, someone who pledged allegiance to the leader of ISIS, someone who, unfortunately, committed an act of terrorism and an act of hatred--that ISIS continues to plan and inspire attacks against us here at home and that we do have to take this fight to ISIS much more aggressively and make sure that they don't continue to have the capacity to inspire terrorist attacks against us on our homeland or against our allies around the world, as we have seen in other places such as Paris and Brussels.
We have to defeat radical Islamic terrorists, and we have to destroy ISIS so they can no longer spread hatred, violence, and death.
Unfortunately, the terrorist who committed this horrible attack in Orlando was investigated by our FBI. During that investigation, he was placed on what is called the selectee list. That list is part of a larger list sometimes referred to as the terrorist watch list. When an individual goes to purchase a firearm and they are on the terrorist watch list, the FBI is notified that purchase is taking place. They have up to 72 hours to take some action or to further their investigation. This individual, this horrible terrorist was taken off the list because the FBI had closed its investigation.
So I hope we do not lose sight on this floor of the fact that we better do everything we can to understand any gaps that exist in our intelligence system regarding that investigation, understand why it was closed, and make sure investigations like this don't get closed in the future. We must have a situation where the FBI has the resources and tools it needs to follow up properly when they have someone in their sights the way they had with this terrorist. The reality is, had he been on the list, as he had been previously before the investigation was closed, the FBI would have been notified of his firearm purchase.
On the floor today, we have proposals to address whether terrorists should be allowed to purchase guns. Make no mistake, Mr. President, gun control won't stop terrorism. However, I think we can all agree that we do not want terrorists to purchase firearms.
With both these competing proposals on the floor, we do have some common ground: that terrorists should not be permitted to purchase firearms. Unfortunately, where we find ourselves is playing our typical political football. I believe we should stop playing political football with something so important.
As a member of the Committee on Armed Services, I am going to recommit myself--and I hope everyone in this body will--to doing everything I can to defeat ISIS. I also believe we should recommit ourselves to finding out if there are gaps in our intelligence system that need to be addressed and understanding why this investigation was closed. We must also make sure the FBI has the tools it needs to prevent these attacks.
I also believe we should work together to ensure that terrorists are not allowed to buy firearms. But we know what is going to happen. We will not find a solution by sticking to two measures that failed before, mostly on party lines. So I have been working with Senator Collins, Senator Flake, and Senator Graham, and talking to people on both sides of the aisle about coming together with a compromise that can pass this body and make sure terrorists are not allowed to buy guns.
If you are too dangerous to board a commercial plane, it stands to reason you should not be able to buy a gun. It is as simple as that. And I think people on both sides of the aisle agree on that in principle. So why can't we act in good faith and figure out the best way to achieve that goal? This is a gravely serious issue that requires a serious response. There is a solution here, and I am committed to finding it, but to find that solution, we have to come together.
Instead of having competing proposals that have already mostly failed in this Chamber when we took those votes back in December, let's put aside the gamesmanship and come together to get a proposal that will be effective and get a result for the American people.
The Senate will be considering two proposals, as I referenced. Both have failed, mostly on party lines. By all accounts, these proposals are likely to fail again and we will then be right back where we started--no safer, no smarter, no more successful in protecting our citizens. There will be more political blame, but we will be no closer to a solution, to a result on something that matters, that means we will move forward in ensuring that terrorists do not have access to firearms.
I am here to talk about a better way. During the past week, in working with Senators Collins, Flake, Graham, and others and reaching out to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we want to propose legislation that may actually pass the Senate. To get to that solution, we have to move this debate forward. That is why I will be voting today to advance both options before us in order to provide an opportunity for us to come together with a bipartisan compromise that will get a result for the American people.
There is an opportunity in this debate to go forward and to get a result. Unfortunately, both bills on the floor aren't the answer. We know that. They both failed before. So I will be continuing to push to get a result.
What we are doing this afternoon in this political exercise is pushing for legislation that both sides know is going to fail. Both options before us--that of Senator Feinstein and Senator Cornyn--are well-intentioned, but each has flaws that I am concerned about. Senator Feinstein's approach is very broad, and it would include the entire terrorism database. It could include instances where there has only been a derogatory allegation made about an American which has not been validated. There are real due process questions about that, using the broader list. It is much broader than the phrase ``no fly, no buy.'' I think we all understand that--no fly, no buy. But this is much broader, and it is misleading to call the Feinstein proposal that proposal. If you cannot get on a plane, you shouldn't be able to buy a firearm, but this measure doesn't require the government show anything other than a reasonable belief that you have been engaged in conduct relating to terrorism, and it doesn't necessarily mean it has been validated.
In December, I supported Senator Cornyn's legislation because it was similar to Senator Feinstein's legislation but it had additional, stronger due process protections. However, Senator Cornyn's legislation requires the FBI to act in 72 hours, to go to a court in 72 hours to present probable cause. Having been a former murder prosecutor, I am concerned that is not enough time under these circumstances to take proper action and to be able to mount all of that before a court to meet a probable cause standard. So I think there are some concerns that I have in terms of the timing with Senator Cornyn's legislation and also the fact that if you had probable cause, you probably would have already charged someone with a crime.
There is a better way. These two pieces of legislation that I will be moving forward in this debate are a start, but they are not the end. They are not an end until we get a commonsense result that ensures that terrorists can't buy guns and that we protect the due process rights of American citizens. So our proposal is one that would ensure that if you are on the no-fly list--which, by the way, roughly 800 Americans are on the no-fly list--that would ensure you could not go and purchase a firearm. But if you believe you are being wrongfully denied your right, you can challenge that in court. If the government is wrong, then they are going to have to pay your costs and attorney fees.
Our legislation would also ensure that individuals like the horrible terrorist who committed these attacks in Orlando and who are on a smaller sublist called the selectee list, which is a list that is smaller than the overall terrorist watch list--there must be reasonable suspicion that an individual meets additional heightened criteria, where they have additional derogatory information above and beyond the criteria required for the broader database that someone is engaged in terrorism. The Orlando terrorist who committed these horrific attacks was on this list. That group of individuals would not be permitted to purchase a firearm, but they, too, would have the opportunity to go to court and to challenge that decision and, if the government is wrong, to make sure their costs are paid for.
Our proposal would also ensure that if you have been on this list for the last 5 years, the FBI would be notified if you went to purchase a firearm. Why is that important? Because unfortunately the terrorist who committed these horrible attacks was taken off the list. We better find out why that happened. But we will make sure, in this legislation, that if you were on the list and you go to purchase a firearm, that at least the FBI is notified so they can follow up. If they want to conduct additional investigation and surveillance--like I hope they would have done in this instance had they learned about this individual--they have the opportunity to do that.
We believe this is a fair, workable solution. It is a solution that makes sense. It is a solution when we think about the overall terror database, which has about 1 million people on it. The no-fly list has about 800 Americans on it. If you combine the selectee list and the no- fly list, we are talking about fewer than 2,500 Americans. If you are on that list and you are being focused on in an open investigation by the FBI, with the belief you are engaged in terrorism or engaged with terrorists, then you should not be able to buy a firearm.
We have a responsibility to protect peoples' constitutional rights. We need to make sure there is due process for anything we do here. That is our basic responsibility. That is why our legislation makes sure terrorists can't buy guns, and it also makes sure the due process rights of Americans are protected. If the government is wrong, their costs and attorney's fees will be paid for because the government should have that burden.
I suspect these two proposals may fail tonight--not because of anything I will do, because I am going to be asking to get to this debate. I want a result. I think we should stop playing political football with this. If these two proposals fail tonight--which, unfortunately, I think is likely to happen since it is almost Groundhog Day again, since they are similar to two proposals we voted on in December, and we know what the result of that was: They both failed--I hope we can come together.
I have talked about a good-faith, workable solution tonight that makes sense. I hope that on both sides of the aisle we can work together to get a result for the American people. We need to make sure we get something done and ensure terrorists cannot purchase firearms. But let's also make sure we continue to go after ISIS and defeat ISIS so they cannot inspire further attacks like this on our country. Let's also make sure that if there are gaps in our intelligence system-- because the FBI didn't follow up or should have followed up or they need more resources to follow these cases to their end--that we work together to address that as well because this was a horrific act of terrorism, and we need to treat it accordingly.
It is my hope that we can work together on bipartisan solutions that will help keep the American people safe.
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