Mike Thompson: “I want to thank my friend, Mr. Wolf, for all of your years of outstanding service to this fine institution. I rise in…”

“I want to thank my friend, Mr. Wolf, for all of your years of outstanding service to this fine institution. I rise in support of the bipartisan Thompson-King-Esty-Heck- Fitzpatrick amendment to strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Everyone agrees that we don't want criminals, domestic abusers, or dangerously mentally ill folks getting guns; and the first step in stopping this is through our background checks system, but the background checks system is only as good as the data you put in it. Right now, all of the information isn't getting in. When the information doesn't get into the system, we can't enforce the law, and dangerous people who otherwise wouldn't pass a background check can slip through the cracks and buy guns. A recent USA Today report found that, in just five States, records for 2.5 million fugitives weren't entered into the NICS system. Six States have fewer than 30 total records in the NICS system, and 12 States have submitted fewer than 100 mental health records to the NICS system. When States fail to submit these records, there is nothing to stop a dangerously mentally ill person from passing a background check and buying a gun. This is exactly what happened in the tragedy at Virginia Tech. My bipartisan amendment will address this dangerous shortfall. It provides an additional $19.5 million to help States improve their submissions into the criminal background checks system.…”