Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, enough is enough, which is why I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 8 and to offer a motion to recommit the bill.

This bill is nothing more than a coordinated effort by the authoritarian left to strip away the constitutional rights guaranteed to Americans by the Second Amendment.

Instead of criminalizing the innocent actions of law-abiding gun owners, American citizens, we should be focused on stopping real crime in our local communities and enforcing the laws that are already on the books.

One way we can do that is by ensuring that ICE is notified when unlawful aliens attempt to purchase a firearm illegally. The FBI reported just last month that NICS had over 10 million people listed as an illegal alien. In fact, this ranks as the number one prohibited category in the FBI's NICS Indices.

Since 1998, over 28,000 illegal aliens have been denied a firearm after failing a NICS check. With over 2,700 in 2019 alone, this means over 28,000 criminals have been allowed to stay in the United States when ICE should have been alerted about their criminal act but were not.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 8 fails to do anything to prevent crime, which is why I am offering this motion to recommit, so our Nation's laws are enforced. And if you will recall, this MTR passed in 2019 with a strong bipartisan majority.

Mr. Speaker, if we adopt the motion to recommit, we will instruct the Committee on the Judiciary to consider my amendment to H.R. 8 to ensure that the FBI alerts ICE anytime an illegal alien is denied a firearm because of NICS.

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