On the recordJuly 7, 2016
Without question, the NDAA is a very important and serious bill. However, the bill before us today is one that the President has said he would veto. I have argued on this floor in an amendment that I supported a 1 percent cut to the authorization levels. By spending more on the military than we can afford as a country and plunging ourselves deeper into debt, we make ourselves less secure, not more secure. By making ourselves economically beholden to countries like China and Saudi Arabia, we are less secure rather than more secure. Frankly, this bill is more of the same, and if it passes and were to become law-- which it won't because the President would veto it--it would also make it less secure. But this rule and this day it is notable for what we are not doing rather than what we are doing. We are not under this rule considering two simple, plain, commonsense pieces of legislation that everybody knows will help protect American lives and prevent terrorist attacks in our Nation. One is simply to require a background check when a person obtains a gun. Another would prevent terrorists from assembling arsenals of weapons. In my home State of Colorado, we already have universal background checks, and they have led to law enforcement arresting 114 fugitives since the beginning of the year.…
