Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I want to start by thanking my colleague, Senator Collins of Maine, for her work in crafting this legislation and the language of this bill and, more generally, for her leadership, formerly on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and certainly for the time that I have been on the Intelligence Committee. Her contributions have not gone unnoticed, and she has been a pleasure to work with in trying to find reasonable places where we can make a material difference in the kinds of mass shootings we have seen.

I should start by speaking a little bit to the recent tragedy in Florida. As the father of two young boys, I can't begin to imagine the nightmare that families are living through as they mourn the loss of their children in the wake of yet another horrific mass shooting.

Frankly, no parent should have to live in fear of their child not coming home from school. It is pretty unthinkable.

Just last week, one of my own sons went through an active shooter training at his school. Sadly, that is now the new norm in schools all across our country. In fact, 91 Americans are killed each day by gun violence, and we simply cannot accept the status quo as the new normal when there are real and concrete steps we can take to reduce gun violence while respecting constitutional rights.

Once again, Americans are looking to Congress to finally enact commonsense reforms to our gun laws, to protect our schools, to protect our children, to protect our communities. Like so many Americans, I have been deeply moved by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students and young people all across this country who have spoken out after losing classmates and friends to demand that we as lawmakers take action to prevent future tragedies.

It is no secret to my constituents or even my colleagues here that I am a passionate outdoorsman, hunter, and owner of firearms. I strongly believe that law-abiding Americans have a right to own guns for sport and self-defense. I am teaching my own sons how to safely and responsibly use those firearms. The vast majority of Americans, including gun owners like me, know that Congress must take action to close loopholes and reform our laws to keep those deadly weapons out of the hands of those who would turn them against our communities.

Today I am quite proud to join my colleagues from both sides of the aisle--Senators Collins, Heitkamp, Flake, and others--to introduce one of those measures that should have broad bipartisan support. This is a poster child for the kind of policy that ought to get across the finish line even in these deeply divided, partisan times.

Our bipartisan legislation, the Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act, would deny firearms sales to individuals who appear on the Department of Justice's no-fly or selectee lists. These are the narrowest of databases, the kinds of lists one would have to work pretty hard to land on, and for good reason. Our legislation includes due process procedures for individuals to appeal their placement on those lists.

It seems pretty straightforward to most of my constituents that if the government and law enforcement have determined that an individual is so dangerous as to land on the terrorist watch list and is too dangerous to fly on a commercial airplane, that person should not be able to walk into a gun shop and purchase a gun. But unless we pass this legislation, this glaring loophole will continue to allow individuals identified as terror suspects to buy firearms.

It is time for those Members of Congress who oppose commonsense reforms like this to finally step up and tell us what they are doing to protect the public. It is time for all of us to listen to the student leaders across this country who are rejecting the unacceptable status quo of our Nation's gun violence epidemic.

Those of us in the Senate who know firearms well have a special duty to lead these efforts and to get the details right on any legislation to reshape our Nation's gun laws. Inaction simply won't cut it anymore. We all need to listen to these students, parents, teachers, and to our own children who are calling on us to be part of the solution.

New Mexicans can count on me, despite the odds, to continue fighting for real solutions to keep our children safe, to reduce gun violence, and to keep our communities safe. That is what our communities and our constituents deserve.

Thank you.

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