Political Quotes

“Thank you, Mr. President. First, I want to thank my colleague from Texas for his courtesy. I wish to address two issues here: first, the bill that my good friend from West Virginia and my friend from Pennsylvania have worked on long and hard, that Senator Kirk and I are sponsors of as well; and, second, concealed carry. I have always said that background checks are the sweet spot of this debate--the sweet spot because it will do the most good and has the best chance of passing. If this is the sweet spot, we should take advantage of it. Let us step to the plate and not make this a sour day for those in Newtown, for those whose families have been victims of gun violence, and for all Americans. The bottom line is simple: The Brady law was passed in 1994. The NICS system came into effect in 1999. And the very system of background checks that we are proposing has stopped 1.7 million transactions of guns being sold to felons. It is certain that tens of thousands of people are walking God's green Earth because of the background checks required in the Brady law. But those who have criminal intent and wish to get guns, even though they would not be allowed to under Brady, find ways around it, and they have. The two leading ways around it are the gun shows and sales on the Internet. This amendment is very simple.…”