Jerry Nadler: “this bill deals with aspects of the fight against terrorism that many of us have been working on for a long time.…”

“this bill deals with aspects of the fight against terrorism that many of us have been working on for a long time. Unfortunately, in a rush to do something, anything, in the heat of the moment, in their unbending partisanship and their slavish devotion to extremist special interest groups like the NRA, the Republican leadership has brought us a bill that will not do the job. Should we vote for it? It makes a start. Should we have had the opportunity to make it tougher and more comprehensive? Absolutely. But the Republican leadership has sacrificed thoroughness to partisanship. I have introduced two bills that would help our law enforcement authorities deal effectively with the terrorist threat. If we were having an open debate, I would have offered these two bills as amendments. Unfortunately, the majority will not let that happen. The bill before us gives us yet another study of bomb detection equipment and explosion-containing cargo containers, and asks the FAA to make recommendations. Have we not had enough studies? Have we not wasted enough time studying the problem? We know what the technology is. It is commercially available. It is in use in Europe. Let us quit fiddling while innocent Americans get blown out of the sky.”