Louise Slaughter: “just after Christmas last year, my area of upstate New York was rocked by a wave of bombings in which five people were…”

“just after Christmas last year, my area of upstate New York was rocked by a wave of bombings in which five people were killed. Since that time, I have been concerned that Federal law does not take explosives crimes as seriously as it should. While the plague of gun violence has motivated us to reform our firearms code, we have not made explosives laws nearly as tough. In a few moments we will consider my amendment to the crime bill, which will rectify this imbalance. For example, I was shocked to discover that, under current law, unlawful possession of explosives is not a Federal felony. For years, we've said that certain people should not be allowed to carry guns, such as convicted felons. Yet these same people can drive around with 100 pounds of gunpowder in their trunk and that's not even a crime. Similarly, theft of explosives is not a Federal crime, while stealing a gun is one. Bombers commit murder by remote control. They don't have to be in the same room as their victims, or even in the same city. They never have to see the death and destruction they cause. And their ruthless method of murder often kills random bystanders--such as John O'Donnell of Cheektowaga, NY, who was killed by a bomb intended for his coworker. Mr. Chairman, in recent years, we have seen mail bomb attacks on a judge and a civil rights activist in the South, a string of bombings at abortion clinics, and the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.”