Assault Weapons Ban to Expire

ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN TO EXPIRE

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I again congratulate my friends and colleagues, Senator Feinstein and Senator Schumer, for the strong leadership they have shown on this issue and their continued perseverance and persistence in urging the House and Senate and the President to act. Unless the President and Congress act, the current Federal ban on assault weapons will expire in 5 days.

Semiautomatic weapons are killing machines with utterly no redeeming value in any sane community, and lifting this ban will put these weapons of death back in the hands of criminals and will give terrorists a new tool to attack America.

We know terrorists are now exploiting the weaknesses and loopholes in our gun laws. A terrorist training manual discovered by American soldiers in Afghanistan in 2001 advised al-Qaida members to buy assault weapons in the United States and use them against us.

The failure to renew the ban this year will drastically undermine the safety of our streets, our neighborhoods, and our schools, and strengthen terrorists and other criminals. It would be a tragic and senseless blow to the security of our homeland.

Terrorists already here in sleeper cells or coming in from abroad will be able to buy assault weapons without background checks at gun shows and wreak terror throughout the Nation.

How can we possibly allow this essential protection against crime and terrorism to expire? How can we deliberately put the security of our communities in such new and needless jeopardy?

The need for Presidential leadership has never been greater. We know we have the votes for renewing the assault weapons ban in the Senate because we passed such an amendment in March by a bipartisan vote of 52 to 47. The Republican leadership in the Senate, however, refuses to bring the ban back for another vote, and the House Republican leadership refuses to act at all.

In the 2000 campaign, President Bush specifically pledged to renew the ban, but now as the ban is about to expire, the silence from the White House is deafening. It is long past time for President Bush to live up to his commitment.

President Bush has shown that when he wants something from this Republican Congress, he gets it. When he wanted tax breaks for the wealthy, he got it. When he wanted another round of tax breaks, he got them, too. We need that same commitment from President Bush when it comes to protecting our families and securing our communities from deadly assault weapons.

President Bush, the time to act is now. Congress awaits your call.