Political Quotes

“Mr. President, this amendment is unusual when we are debating issues such as terrorist watch lists and the appropriate restrictions that are needed--desperately needed--to ensure that people who are suspected or known terrorists are not able to purchase firearms. How is it unusual? It is bipartisan. Surely, on an issue of this importance, we should be able to come and work for commonsense solutions. This bipartisan amendment is cosponsored by Senators Heitkamp, Ayotte, Heinrich, Flake, Kaine, Graham, King, Kirk, Nelson, Manchin, and Baldwin. I sincerely thank each of the cosponsors for their many contributions to our amendment and for their support in crafting what is a commonsense proposal. Our amendment has three basic provisions. First, it would block the purchase of firearms by individuals who are on the no-fly list or on the selectee list. Essentially, the premise of our amendment is that if you have been designated as too dangerous to fly on an airplane or you have been designated as someone who needs extensive, secondary screening--extra screening before you are allowed to board a plane--you should not be able to buy a gun. Second, our amendment would provide an immediate alert to the FBI and to local law enforcement if an individual who has been on the government's terrorist watch list at any time during the past 5 years purchases a firearm. The Orlando shooting provides, perhaps, the clearest example of why this provision is so important.…”