Providing for Consideration of H.R. Assault Weapons Ban of 2022

Floor Speech

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, the rule before us today makes in order H.R. 1808, an unconstitutional bill to ban hundreds of the most popular firearms in the United States, including the sporting rifle, the AR-15.

Law-abiding Americans in places like southwestern Pennsylvania and across the country use firearms every single day for things like sport shooting, hunting, and self-defense. So despite what the House Democrats claim, this bill would do little to prevent the mass shootings or the crime they are saying that it would, and this bill would not prevent criminals from obtaining firearms.

I know the chairman just referenced a 1994 study. That was a congressionally mandated study to look at the 1994 assault weapons ban. That study found that ban was ineffective in reducing violent crime. ``The banned guns were never used in more than a modest fraction of all gun murders.''

A follow-up study to that 1994 ban came out in 2004, and that study found that ``the ban's effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement.''

Even UCLA law professor Adam Winkler, the resident anti-gun, so- called subject matter expert, a left-leaning professor, stated: ``There's no way to make assault rifle bans effective.''

To that point, we saw that during the tragic shootings in San Bernardino, Newtown, and Buffalo, those all occurred in States that already had assault weapons bans on the books.

So the question is this: Why are my far-left Democratic colleagues bringing this bill to the floor today?

Well, in the words of Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, `` . . . banning these `common use' firearms is the `point of the bill.' ''

In other words, let's call this what it is. It is a gun grab, pure and simple.

This bill is not about public safety. Rather, this is the most severe restriction on the Second Amendment since the passage of the assault weapons ban of 1994. It would turn an American lending a firearm to a friend to go hunting into a criminal.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

This false equivalence between an AR-15 and a so-called weapon of war just shows the ignorance of my friends on the other side of the aisle.

An AR-15 is not an M16. An M16 has numerous functions: safety, three- round bursts, semi-automatic, and fully automatic. An AR-15 has no such setting as a three-round burst and the fully automatic. So this false comparison between a so-called weapon of war and what we would describe as sporting rifle, again, shows the lack of understanding about these platforms.

Additionally, the AR-15 is by far the most popular sporting rifle in the United States. There are over 20 million that are in the possession of Americans right now.

But while we are talking about statistics, a 2020 FBI study shows that there are more murders committed with knives, clubs, and fists than with firearms.

Also, when you are looking at firearm deaths, just in the year 2020, both the CDC and the FBI reported that over half of these firearm- related deaths were suicides. So let's just be clear when we are talking about statistics.

If you are breaking down those studies, you can look at 2020, where 59 percent of murders were committed by handguns. Only 3 percent were committed with what is being described as assault rifles, what I would describe as sporting rifles.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I just want it noted that the gentleman from Massachusetts said that no one on his side is describing these weapons as ``weapons of war,'' and then the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett), the first thing he said was that AR-15s are ``weapons are war.''

So, we need to understand that when the left and when radical Democrats are describing AR-15s as ``weapons of war,'' and as the gentleman from Texas just said, ``machine guns,'' they are doing two things simultaneously. Number one, they are showing their absolute ignorance for how these platforms operate; and two, they are deliberately trying to mislead the American people on what these platforms do.

No one on my side of the aisle is trying to say that machine guns should be legal. An AR-15 is a sporting rifle; it is a semiautomatic. It is not the kind of platform that is used by the military. It is not an M16, it is not an M4; but, again, the other side tries to use this to muddy the waters and confuse the American people and to put all firearms in the same category.

Let's talk about some more statistics. In 2021, a Georgetown study found that 1.67 million instances were found where firearms were used in self-defense. In 2019 alone, there were 386 self-defense killings that were determined to be justified. So, these are just some of the ways in which someone can legally use a sporting rifle.

Let's talk about the chaos at the southern border. Since Joe Biden took office, over 3.1 million illegal immigrants have been apprehended at the southern border, and that includes 56 illegal immigrants who were on the terror watch list.

President Biden and House Democrats have this open-door policy that has created a humanitarian crisis and a security crisis, as well, and they want to make things worse by lifting title 42.

Republicans know border security is national security. That is why if we defeat the previous question, I will personally offer an amendment to the rule to immediately consider H.R. 471, the PAUSE Act of 2021, to enforce title 42.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy), my good friend, to explain the amendment.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my colleague from Texas, but when the question is asked why servicemembers can't bring their M16s and their M4s home, it is because those are fully automatic weapons. They are not AR-15s.

The gentlewoman actually answers her own question. The M16 and the M4 platform are automatic. The AR-15 is not automatic. They are two different platforms.

The gentlewoman and the gentleman from Texas said words to the effect of, ``What are we doing? Why are Republicans not doing enough?'' or words to that effect.

Well, let me remind my colleagues across the aisle that it was Republicans, not Democrats, it was Republicans in 2017 that had the Fix NICS Act. It is Republicans that are trying to get legislation passed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, not out of the hands of law-abiding citizens. It was the last administration under President Trump that banned bump stocks when the Obama administration let that ban expire.

Those are just a few things that Republicans are doing in this arena.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart), my good friend.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Hice), my good friend.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. Greene), my good friend.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Whether it is Pennsylvania or Massachusetts, they are still two great Commonwealths, right?

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time, and I yield myself the balance of my time for closing.

Madam Speaker, I am incredibly disappointed but, unfortunately, not at all surprised that, once again, we are considering legislation that will do nothing more than penalize law-abiding citizens while doing absolutely nothing about the root cause of gun violence.

We know from history, and we know from numerous studies that I have talked about today, that assault weapons bans do not work.

So, why is this bill coming before us today? It is just the latest in the House Democrats' never-ending attack on America's Second Amendment rights.

Madam Speaker, I, therefore, urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and vote ``no'' on the rule.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

This is a 5-minute vote.

The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 217, nays 211, not voting 3, as follows: [Roll No. 408] YEAS--217 Adams Aguilar Allred Auchincloss Axne Barragan Bass Beatty Bera Beyer Bishop (GA) Blumenauer Blunt Rochester Bonamici Bourdeaux Bowman Boyle, Brendan F. Brown (MD) Brown (OH) Brownley Bush Bustos Butterfield Carbajal Cardenas Carson Carter (LA) Cartwright Case Casten Castor (FL) Castro (TX) Cherfilus-McCormick Chu Cicilline Clark (MA) Clarke (NY) Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Connolly Cooper Correa Costa Courtney Craig Crist Crow Cuellar Davids (KS) Davis, Danny K. Dean DeFazio DeGette DeLauro DelBene Demings DeSaulnier Deutch Dingell Doggett Doyle, Michael F. Escobar Eshoo Espaillat Evans Fletcher Foster Frankel, Lois Gallego Garamendi Garcia (IL) Garcia (TX) Gomez Gottheimer Green, Al (TX) Grijalva Harder (CA) Hayes Higgins (NY) Himes Horsford Houlahan Hoyer Huffman Jackson Lee Jacobs (CA) Jayapal Jeffries Johnson (GA) Johnson (TX) Jones Kahele Kaptur Keating Kelly (IL) Khanna Kildee Kilmer Kim (NJ) Kind Kirkpatrick Krishnamoorthi Kuster Lamb Langevin Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Lawrence Lawson (FL) Lee (CA) Lee (NV) Leger Fernandez Levin (CA) Levin (MI) Lieu Lofgren Lowenthal Luria Lynch Malinowski Maloney, Carolyn B. Maloney, Sean Manning Matsui McBath McCollum McEachin McGovern McNerney Meeks Meng Mfume Moore (WI) Morelle Moulton Mrvan Murphy (FL) Nadler Napolitano Neal Neguse Newman Norcross O'Halleran Ocasio-Cortez Omar Pallone Panetta Pappas Pascrell Payne Pelosi Perlmutter Peters Phillips Pingree Pocan Porter Pressley Price (NC) Quigley Raskin Rice (NY) Ross Roybal-Allard Ruiz Ruppersberger Rush Ryan Sanchez Sarbanes Scanlon Schakowsky Schiff Schneider Schrier Scott (VA) Scott, David Sewell Sherman Sherrill Sires Slotkin Smith (WA) Soto Spanberger Speier Stansbury Stanton Stevens Strickland Suozzi Swalwell Takano Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Titus Tlaib Tonko Torres (CA) Torres (NY) Trahan Trone Underwood Vargas Veasey Velazquez Wasserman Schultz Waters Watson Coleman Welch Wexton Wild Williams (GA) Wilson (FL) Yarmuth NAYS--211 Aderholt Allen Amodei Armstrong Arrington Babin Bacon Baird Balderson Banks Barr Bentz Bergman Bice (OK) Biggs Bilirakis Bishop (NC) Boebert Bost Brady Brooks Buchanan Buck Bucshon Budd Burchett Burgess Calvert Cammack Carey Carl Carter (GA) Carter (TX) Cawthorn Chabot Cheney Cline Cloud Clyde Cole Comer Conway Crawford Crenshaw Curtis Davidson Davis, Rodney DesJarlais Diaz-Balart Donalds Duncan Dunn Ellzey Emmer Estes Fallon Feenstra Ferguson Fischbach Fitzgerald Fitzpatrick Fleischmann Flood Flores Foxx Franklin, C. Scott Fulcher Gaetz Gallagher Garbarino Garcia (CA) Gibbs Gimenez Gohmert Golden Gonzales, Tony Gonzalez (OH) Gonzalez, Vicente Good (VA) Gooden (TX) Gosar Granger Graves (LA) Graves (MO) Green (TN) Greene (GA) Grothman Guest Guthrie Harris Hartzler Hern Herrell Herrera Beutler Hice (GA) Higgins (LA) Hill Hinson Hollingsworth Hudson Huizenga Issa Jackson Jacobs (NY) Johnson (LA) Johnson (OH) Johnson (SD) Jordan Joyce (OH) Joyce (PA) Katko Keller Kelly (MS) Kelly (PA) Kim (CA) Kinzinger Kustoff LaHood LaMalfa Lamborn Latta LaTurner Lesko Letlow Long Loudermilk Lucas Luetkemeyer Mace Malliotakis Mann Massie Mast McCarthy McCaul McClain McClintock McHenry McKinley Meijer Meuser Miller (IL) Miller (WV) Miller-Meeks Moolenaar Mooney Moore (AL) Moore (UT) Mullin Murphy (NC) Nehls Newhouse Norman Obernolte Owens Palazzo Palmer Pence Perry Pfluger Posey Reschenthaler Rice (SC) Rodgers (WA) Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rose Rosendale Rouzer Roy Rutherford Salazar Scalise Schrader Schweikert Scott, Austin Sessions Simpson Smith (MO) Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smucker Spartz Stauber Steel Stefanik Steil Steube Stewart Taylor Tenney Thompson (PA) Tiffany Timmons Turner Upton Valadao Van Drew Van Duyne Wagner Walberg Walorski Waltz Weber (TX) Webster (FL) Wenstrup Westerman Williams (TX) Wilson (SC) Wittman Womack NOT VOTING--3 Griffith Harshbarger Zeldin

So the resolution was agreed to.

The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.

A motion to reconsider was laid on the table. Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress Babin (Pfluger) Barr (Wagner) Bass (Neguse) Blumenauer (Kuster) Blunt Rochester (Kelly (IL)) Boebert (Cawthorn) Bourdeaux (Correa) Bowman (Ocasio-Cortez) Boyle, Brendan F. (Trone) Bush (Ocasio-Cortez) Bustos (Kuster) Cardenas (Soto) Carter (TX) (Weber (TX)) Casten (Neguse) Cherfilus-McCormick (Neguse) Comer (Keller) Craig (Kuster) Crawford (Long) Crist (Wasserman Schultz) Cuellar (Correa) Curtis (Moore (UT)) DeGette (Perlmutter) DeSaulnier (Perlmutter) DesJarlais (Fleischmann) Deutch (Wasserman Schultz) Donalds (Timmons) Evans (Neguse) Garamendi (Pallone) Garbarino (Moore (UT)) Gibbs (Bucshon) Gimenez (Salazar) Gonzales, Tony (Bice (OK)) Gonzalez (OH) (Meijer) Good (Greene (GA)) Gosar (Gaetz) Granger (Weber (TX)) Green (TN) (Fleischmann) Guthrie (Wagner) Hartzler (Moore (UT)) Herrera Beutler (Moore (UT)) Jayapal (Pallone) Jeffries (Velazquez) Johnson (LA) (Graves (LA)) Johnson (SD) (Fleischmann) Johnson (TX) (Pallone) Jones (Trone) Joyce (PA) (Keller) Kahele (Correa) Katko (Meijer) Kinzinger (Meijer) Kirkpatrick (Pallone) LaHood (Latta) Lawson (FL) (Wasserman Schultz) Leger Fernandez (Garcia (TX)) Letlow (Moore (UT)) Levin (MI) (Correa) Malliotakis (Armstrong) Maloney, Carolyn B. (Wasserman Schultz) McBath (Bishop (GA)) McEachin (Trone) McHenry (Wagner) McNerney (Pallone) Miller (WV) (Mooney) Miller-Meeks (Keller) Moore (WI) (Neguse) Moulton (Perlmutter) Neal (Kildee) Nehls (Weber (TX)) Newman (Trone) Omar (Dingell) Owens (Moore (UT)) Payne (Pallone) Porter (Wexton) Rice (NY) (Wasserman Schultz) Rice (SC) (Meijer) Ruppersberger (Trone) Ryan (Kuster) Scott, David (Perlmutter) Sewell (Cicilline) Sires (Pallone) Smith (WA) (Wasserman Schultz) Spartz (Banks) Speier (Garcia (TX)) Stefanik (Keller) Steube (Franklin, C. Scott) Stevens (Kuster) Stewart (Moore (UT)) Strickland (Neguse) Suozzi (Perlmutter) Swalwell (Correa) Taylor (Armstrong) Thompson (CA) (Correa) Tiffany (Fitzgerald) Tlaib (Dingell) Torres (NY) (Correa) Trahan (Trone) Van Drew (Fleischmann) Vargas (Correa) Veasey (Kelly (IL)) Walorski (Banks) Welch (Pallone) Wenstrup (Latta) Williams (GA) (Neguse) Wilson (SC) (Dunn)

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