Henry Cuellar: “I want to thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, as one of the lead sponsors for the Fix NICS Act of 2017, I…”

“I want to thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, as one of the lead sponsors for the Fix NICS Act of 2017, I rise in support of this legislation which has been combined with the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which is, again, another section that I support, also. On the Fix NICS Act, I certainly want to thank Senator Cornyn, Representatives Culberson, Esty, Costello, and Aguilar for their leadership on this particular issue that we have been working on. A few weeks ago, 26 members of the Sutherland Springs community, which is in my district, were killed by someone who should have never had access to firearms. The investigation into the shooter revealed that the shooter had a criminal history. The Defense Department and the Air Force missed six times--six times--where the criminal justice process should have reported the history to the NICS database. As of 2016, the Air Force, which should have entered the Sutherland Springs shooter's criminal information, entered a total of one active record in the NICS record. If the Air Force would have met the minimum obligations, then the gunman never would have been able to legally purchase a firearm. This is why we introduced the Fix NICS Act of 2017. This legislation ensures that Federal and State authorities comply with existing laws to accurately report relevant criminal history-- accurately report these records to the NICS.…”