Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRANE. Madam Chair, today, I rise in support of my amendment, which clarifies that any veteran who is reported to NICS by a VA fiduciary was done so incorrectly in violation of their constitutional rights.

It also forces the VA Secretary to instruct the Attorney General to remove these veterans from the NICS list.

Congress should not turn a blind eye to the 260,000 veterans who have been wrongfully submitted to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

Earlier this year, Congress passed appropriations which prohibited this. In fact, last year, this exact language passed with 221 Republicans and 9 Democrats supporting it when it was considered by the House.

Since then, a majority of House Democrats have come out against this policy and are working with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to blatantly misuse VA funds, in conflict with congressional intent and the will of the people, to continue disarming veterans; create an unauthorized process for dragging veterans before judges for red flag disarmament proceedings; and using unconstitutional State-level gun confiscation laws against veterans, even outside the fiduciary program.

These lawless suggestions by my Democrat colleagues are the nightmares of veterans that I represent and veterans across America.

President Biden will have no problem plowing ahead and stripping veterans of their Second Amendment rights, and if this administration can do this to veterans, they can do it to the rest of Americans.

Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

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