Angie Craig: “we are about to vote on S. 1805, as amended. The House passed a clean S. 1805 with over a 2-to-1 margin. The President…”

“we are about to vote on S. 1805, as amended. The House passed a clean S. 1805 with over a 2-to-1 margin. The President has asked for a clean bill. But in the process of the last 5 days we have added a great deal to this bill that makes it much less than clean. We have added back the assault weapons ban. We have added trigger locks. We put a new tripwire in gun shows that will allow law-abiding citizens to be at risk. I don't think we can go there, nor do I believe we should go there. I, and certainly my colleagues, have worked in good will, as have all who have come to the floor to debate this issue. There has been a real difference of opinion. I am now told even if we passed it, it would never get to conference. If you can't work the process and get to conference, how can you complete the legislative process for which the House and the Senate have always historically been known? To simply have someone say no to allow the difference between the House and the Senate to be worked out is the very clear message I am hearing at this moment. That is a message that doesn't work. If that is the strategy here, that we move legislation by offering amendments by working in a bipartisan fashion only to say no at the end, how can we accept the process and simply say, well, let us vote it out, anyway? This is a very important bill. There is no question about that. It was a substantial move in tort reform.”