Senate Proceeding on Oct 29th, 2009 :: 5:07:55 to 5:22:25
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5:07:42 to 5:08:02( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: quorum call: mr. burr: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum cog. the ?q objection. mr. burr: are we in morning business? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mr. burr: i would ask unanimous consent to be able to spek in morning business for the presiding officer: without objection. mr.urr: i thank the president. mr. president, i come to the

5:07:55 to 5:22:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Richard Burr

5:08:03 to 5:08:23( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: floor today to talk about an issue that i have been working on pho for two years, namely ending the arbitrary process in which our own away the second amendment rights of let me describe what i mean about this issue. as most of my colleagues know, the federal gun control act

5:08:24 to 5:08:44( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: prohibits the sale of firearms to certain individuals, including convicted felons, fujitives, drug users, illegal aliens, and individuals 0 have been -- and i quote -- "adjicated as a mental defective."

5:08:45 to 5:09:05( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: furthermore, the gun control act prohibits possession of firearms by any of these classified individuals. needless to say, it is a serious matter. criminal prosecution is an option against those who violate the law. the brady handgun violence prevention act requires --

5:09:06 to 5:09:26( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: requires -- the government to maintain a database of these individuals and we call this national instant criminal background check system -- ni

5:09:27 to 5:09:49( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: niccs. gun owners reference to the niccs screen customers. it goes without saying that it is a serious matter to have one's name on this. iccs. every american should expect a rigorous and fair process before their right to bear arms is taken criminal prosecution is

5:09:50 to 5:10:13( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: involved. unfortunately, when it comes to certain veterans, their spouses, their dependent children, their dependent parents, the process is neither since the veterans administration has

5:10:14 to 5:10:34( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: sent the names of 116,000 of beneficiaries to the f.b.i. for inclusion under the niccs list. again, the niccs list means those 116,000 individuals can never purchase a none of these names were sent the f.b.i. because they

5:10:35 to 5:10:58( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: determined to be criminals or danger to themselves or fact a danger to others. because they couldn't manage their own financial affairs mr. president, we shouldn't take away a constitutional right because someone can't balance

5:10:59 to 5:11:21( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: the v.a.'s review process for signing a if fiduciary is meant to determine one's financial responsibility in managing v.a.-provided cash assistance such as disability compensation, pension benefits. for example, assigned a fiduciary if they

5:11:22 to 5:11:43( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: have a credit card. the v.a. focuses on whether or not benefits paid by the v.a. will be spent in a manner for which they were intended to be spent. well, if you held that threshold to every veteran, you would probably assign all of them, because we don't know in fact where those payments go or what they're intended for. nothing involved in the v.a.'s

5:11:44 to 5:12:06( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: appointment of a if i dishaire even gets to the question, is an individual a danger to them the person should or should not own a firearm. yet, mr. president, that's exactly what happens when the v.a. appoints a fiduciary to one of our nation's veterans.

5:12:07 to 5:12:27( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: let me put a human face on issue, if i can. i'm going to read excerpts from a letter i received from jennifer greas i have her approval to read it. jennifer is the wife of cory. cory served in iraq. he was a paramedic. he was severely injured in an

5:12:28 to 5:12:49( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: explosion in 2004 which caused severe burns, damage to his lungs, severe, traumatic brain injury, after shrapnel entered his skull. he spent the last five years recovering from his injuries. he is walking, talking, enjoying life at home with his two children.

5:12:50 to 5:13:10( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: now it gets really sad. because of his head injury, cory still requires help with certain things. the v.a. said he needed help managing his disability compensation paiment fiduciary, his that's where i'd like to read from her letter. and queen i quote from her

5:13:11 to 5:13:32( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: letter. "on may 19, annual if i dishaire meeting. at the end of the meeting our field manager said he needed to read statement to us. he read the brady bill statement and then he stated that can't

5:13:33 to 5:13:53( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: around, et cetera, any firearms. he then went on to say that anyone in our household can't own a gun while living in the household. i adaptive hunting trips and he said he couldn't. cory stated that he had a gun. it was handed down from his grandfather and that cory was

5:13:54 to 5:14:14( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: going to hand it down to his son and the field examiner told him that he couldn't have it. he stated to own a gun or be around a gun, that he would be threatened with imprisonment. the way talked to cory about this issue

5:14:15 to 5:14:35( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: was not appropriate. the field examiner said that i could challenge it and handed me a blank sheet of paper with v.a. heading. i asked the field examiner for the statement he read to me, but he said that he had to ask his boss if he could actually provide a copy of that statement.

5:14:36 to 5:14:59( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: after two weeks of me him, he fine amly got the attached papers in the mail. i think the v.a. is taking this way out of context and would gr support." well, in case would think that the government would never prosecute somebody

5:15:00 to 5:15:24( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: like cory for possession of a firearm, being around a firearm, i'd like to read to my colleagues excerpts from a directive that went out to all v.a. regional offices on september 29th, this year, on this very issue. the directive is meant to inform

5:15:25 to 5:15:47( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: ffiduciary field examiners if they were to witness the violation of the brady i'm going to quote from this v.a. memorandum to their field examiners. quote -- "field examiners encounter -- notify the

5:15:48 to 5:16:09( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: fiduciary activity manager. at no time should the employee place himself in danger. the fiduciary regional manager must immediately report the alleged violation to the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, and

5:16:10 to 5:16:30( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: firearms, that's straight out of department of veterans' affairs memorandum to their field now, mr. president, for two years i have gone through this and the i have tried to plead with my colleagues that ts is a broach of the second amendment of our

5:16:31 to 5:16:51( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: country's veterans. that no veteran who has had their name reported of the 116,000 have ever been judged by a court to have a mental defection. that in most cases this is because there's a -- there's a

5:16:52 to 5:17:13( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: fiduciary need to make sure that they stay up to date. but there's not a -- an incapacity on their part that has been judged to be a flaw in their judgment. quite frankly, mr. president, i find it offensive. i find the language of this directive offensive because the premise seems to be that our

5:17:14 to 5:17:35( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: veterans are dangerous. but, as i mentioned, there's nothing about the current process that even gets to the question of an individual as dangerous. the current process is double standard. only -- beneficiaries -- only v.a. beneficiaries fall under these guidelines. the social security

5:17:36 to 5:17:56( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: administ ficiaries to help beneficiaries every single yet it doesn't send their name to the we have a policy on the books that discriminates against individuals because they wore our nation's uniform.

5:17:57 to 5:18:17( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: because they fought on behalf of this country. i find it unacceptable and it must end. mr. preside s. 669, that would prohibit the v.a. from continuing this arbitr it would require a judge, a

5:18:18 to 5:18:39( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: magistrate, or another judicial author v.a. beneficiary is a danger to themselves or to others before their name could be sent to n.i.c.s. list. -- nics twice it veterans with due process before

5:18:40 to 5:19:01( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: their second amendment right was snapped away from them. but twice the languished on the senate floor. s. 669 was approved unanimously by the committee back in may, but it's gone nowhere. and the veterans wait any longer or should veterans wait any longer?

5:19:02 to 5:19:22( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: i'm not here to ask that we put guns in people. i'm here to ask you -- to plead with you that we treat veterans fairly and that their rights are protected like every other citizen. many of our veterans' organizations and other groups agree with me. the veterans second amendment

5:19:23 to 5:19:44( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: protection act has the support of the american legion, the military order of the purple heart, the national alliance of mental health, the gun owners of america. i plead with my colleagues, ask for s. 669 to be brought to the floor.

5:19:45 to 5:20:06( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: don't sit back and say that this is just an obscure thing that the v.a. sometimesngages in and sometimes doesn't. again, september 29, 2009, one month ago this directive goes

5:20:07 to 5:20:27( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: out, subject, reporting violations of brady handguns violence prevention act. this letter provides guidance t our field personnel who may encounter violations -- violations by the veteran who served his country, is not a

5:20:28 to 5:20:51( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: danger to himself, or to anybody else but has been deemed fiduciary help even if it's spouse and his second amendment right was yanked from his hands. and now the v.a. administration says to their field examiners, report it because we will prosecute these individuals.

5:20:52 to 5:21:12( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: well, i'm not exactly sure, mr. president, how to jennifer bri est. that letter that she sent to about corey who continu make progrs. how do you say that to a kid who

5:21:13 to 5:21:37( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: is raising a family and served his country? that gun that your father handed down to you, corey, you've got to get rid of it. you can't hand it down to your child. even if you hand it had down today, your son, living in your home, can't have that gun because the veterans administration says you can't. but if a fiduciary was assigned

5:21:38 to 5:21:58( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: to corey's father or to his mother, the social security administration doesn send that to the ncis list to deprive them of their second amendment right. this is the mt unfair thing i have seen this country do. it is time we end this practice. it is time we respect our veterans. it is time that we treat them fairly.

5:21:59 to 5:22:23( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: it is time we uphold the states. i yield the floor. mr. burr: i of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk

5:22:24 to 5:22:29( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: will call the roll.