McCarthy-Dingell Bill Clears Judiciary Committee

Josey1

AGS: McCarthy-Dingell Bill Clears Judiciary Committee
7/23/2002
att Bennett
Americans for Gun Safety
Washington, DC
Phone: 202-775-0300
www.americansforgunsafety.com

AGS Says Bill Good for Gun Owners, Bad for Criminals

Americans for Gun Safety (AGS) today hailed the passage of HR 4757, the Our Lady of Peace Act, through the House Judiciary Committee which was approved by an overwhelming majority of 30 votes to 2. The legislation marks the first major gun safety action to be taken by this Congress and AGS is urging prompt passage of the Bill by the House and Senate.

The bill is aimed at fixing a huge hole in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) system - a hole that was first highlighted by the Americans for Gun Safety Foundation in a report last January that revealed how over ten thousand criminals got guns and how countless legitimate firearms purchases were delayed due to a faulty background check system.

AGS President Jonathan Cowan said the passage of the Bill, "proves that America can pass bipartisan, centrist and effective gun safety legislation that protects gun rights and promotes gun responsibility. Reps. Carolyn McCarthy and John Dingell have shown extraordinary leadership in fighting for quick movement on this legislation and are to be praised for forging a unique partnership to see this Bill through. Chairman Sensenbrenner and Rep. Conyers also deserve tremendous credit for fairly and evenly shepherding this important gun safety legislation through committee."

"As the linchpin behind the nation's gun laws, the background check system needs to be fast, accurate and reliable, and the McCarthy-Dingell bill is finally going to make that a reality. It is bipartisan legislation with widespread support that should appeal to anyone who believes in better enforcement of our existing gun laws. The Brady Law is only as effective as the records that are in the system and those records are in deplorable shape. This legislation will make the instant check system truly instant and truly accurate, stopping prohibited buyers quickly and approving legitimate firearms transfers in a timely manner."

The Americans for Gun Safety Foundation (AGSF) report, Broken Records: How America's Faulty Background Check System Allows Criminals to Get Guns broke new ground in the gun debate by uncovering the deplorable condition of America's background check system. The typical state has automated only 58% of its criminal conviction records. Twenty states do not automate domestic violence or temporary restraining order records. And stopping those who would be denied under the mental health category is nearly impossible, because not a single state supplies those records to NICS. Poor records are why:

10,000 prohibited buyers were able to obtain a gun because the background check could not be completed within the three business days allowed by law.
33 states cannot stop anyone with a mental health disqualification from purchasing a gun because they keep no mental health records. And less than one in 10,000 gun purchases are denied based on the mental health disqualification.
Less than one in 8,000 purchases are denied based on immigrant status.
Less than one in 1,000 gun purchases are denied based on the temporary restraining order disqualification.
Less than one in 1,000 gun purchases are denied based on the drug abuse disqualification.
The AGSF Broken Records report can be found at www.agsfoundation.com.
http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/alerts/reader/0,2061,552838,00.html


Date of Release: July 23, 2002



"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

Edited by - Josey1 on 07/25/2002 06:11:17

Josey1

Brady Campaign, MMM Launch www.dingellandguns.com to Highlight
John Dingell's Dismal Record on Gun Violence Prevention
To: State Desk
Contact: Amy Stilwell of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence, 202-898-0792

WASHINGTON, July 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Two days after naming
Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) to its 2002 "Dangerous Dozen" list of
candidates with dismal records on gun violence prevention, the
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence united with the Million Mom
March launched a new Web site that highlights Dingell's historic
and prominent opposition to sensible gun laws. The site may be
viewed at http://www.dingellandguns.com.

Among the compelling material included on the Web site is a
recent letter from Dingell, written in response to a supporter of
gun violence prevention measures. In this letter, he distorts his
voting record on gun control in an effort to appear moderate on the
issue.

"John Dingell is trying to run away from his long and
unfortunate history of opposing common-sense gun laws," said
Michael D. Barnes, President of the Brady Campaign. "This Web site
will ensure that the public knows the truth. John Dingell has
repeatedly opposed virtually every effort to strengthen our
nation's gun laws. He voted against final passage of the Brady
Bill. He vehemently opposed the inclusion of the Assault Weapons
Ban in the 1994 Crime Bill, and he actually voted to repeal the
Assault Weapons Ban in 1996."

"Given the public's strong support for measures like the Brady
Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban -- and the competitive primary
election John Dingell faces in Michigan two weeks from today, there
is little question as to why he is now trying to mislead his
constituents," added Barnes.

To read the press release about John Dingell's place on the
"Dangerous Dozen" list, please go here.

http://www.usnewswire.com
-0-
/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
07/24 12:48

Copyright 2002, U.S. Newswire http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/prime/0724-122.html


"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

Josey1

PA: Former MMM chapter co-president: "What happened to our dues?"
What happened to Million Mom chapter?
Merged with CeaseFire PA, members are looking to close 'gun-show loophole' and want impact on elections

Wednesday, July 24, 2002

By Linda Wilson Fuoco, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
A Mt. Lebanon meeting called by the executive director of CeaseFire PA was billed as an update on efforts to prevent gun violence in Pennsylvania communities.

But it got sidetracked some by two of 19 attendees who asked questions about and raised issues with Bryan Miller concerning what happened to their group.

"How did it happen that the Million Mom March in Allegheny County ceased to exist?" said Michelle Dreyfuss of Mt. Lebanon, who had been co-president of that chapter. "Without our votes, without our consent, the chapter ceased to exist. People paid memberships. What happened to our dues?"

She referred to 90 people, mostly moms and most of them from Mt. Lebanon, who had ridden in two buses from the South Hills to Washington, D.C., to join 750,000 participants on Mother's Day 2000.

That march grew from the Million Mom March, formed in 1999 by mothers from all over the United States to protest and fight the carnage caused by guns, including the horror of classmates killing classmates at Columbine High School in Colorado.

About two months ago, local MMM members received e-mails stating that CeaseFire PA, a Philadelphia-based group, was taking over the chapter, said Nathaniel Glosser of Highland Park, who attended Thursday's meeting at Southminster Presbyterian Church.

Before that meeting, he sent out e-mail messages to former MMM members, saying in the message field, "Our MMM Chapter Has been Hijacked."

Glosser referred to the Oct. 1, 2001, merger of MMM with another high-profile group to form the Brady Campaign United with the Million Moms March.

"Your money is with the Brady campaign," Miller said in answer to Dreyfuss' question about dues.

"Million Mom March is a great name and I do not want to see it disappear," said Glosser, who is also president of the Rosenberg Institute for Peace & Justice, which works in partnership with Pennsylvanians Against Handgun Violence.

"The million moms did not show up [for Thursday's meeting] because there is no Million Moms March," he told a reporter.

"We were the Million Mom March of Pennsylvania," Miller said, adding, "After the march, the level of enthusiasm declined."

Jeanine Smolerek of Mt. Lebanon, interim president of the local chapter of CeaseFire PA told Glosser that gun violence "is a big problem and there is room at the table for everyone. There is no reason there cannot be both [groups]."

Miller identified himself as a former businessman who "traveled the world for 20 years selling American products" before going to work full-time with CeaseFire PA.

"People -- and the media -- believe that people in Pennsylvania are pro-gun," he said. But he disagreed, saying. "More people in Pennsylvania are very interested in reducing gun violence."

Nevertheless, Ed Rendell's overwhelming victory in the Democratic gubernatorial primary was a defeat for the gun lobby, which supported Bob Casey, Miller said.

He said his entire family became involved in antigun-violence campaigns after his brother, FBI agent Mike Miller, was killed in November 1994 in a Washington, D.C., police station. Two other law enforcement officers, including his partner, Mt. Lebanon native Martha Dixon Martinez, and the gunman were also killed.

The goals of CeaseFire PA include closing the so-called "gun show loophole," which allows unlicensed dealers -- sometimes called private collectors -- to sell firearms at gun shows without a background check.

"We are looking for two or three districts where we can affect the outcome of an election," Miller said. "We are looking for districts where there is a mismatch" of voters and their elected representative.

In other words, CeaseFire is looking for a district where a majority of voters who favor some form of gun control are represented by a politician who is opposed to gun control.

Former County Councilman Mike Crossey, who attended Thursday's meeting as a candidate in the 42nd Legislative District, said in a position statement that his gun-safety platform includes mandatory child-safety locks with all gun sales, a ban on the sale of semiautomatic weapons to persons under 21 and required registration of sales for people who buy more than one gun a month.

"My gun-safety proposals do not restrict or hamper hunters, sportsmen or collectors in any manner," his statement says. http://www.post-gazette.com/neigh_south/20020724s19ceasefire0724p4.asp


"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

Josey1

Gun-hating Sen. Chuck Schumer opposed reforms that would have protected investors
Congress vows to enact reforms
But are lawmakers responsible for allowing corporate mess?


By Lisa Myers
NBC NEWS
July 23 - A major factor in many corporate scandals is the dual role of big accounting firms. They were collecting fees for advising companies on strategies and then auditing the numbers for the same companies. What was the role of Congress - and campaign contributions - in all this?
FOR MONTHS NOW, Congress has reverberated with tough talk about cracking down on shady accounting and corporate greed.
"This committee will cut no one any slack as we go forward," said Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La.
"If you really want to clean up the system, you have to do something with teeth," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
Yet, many of those now demanding reforms have in recent years fought vigorously against reforms that experts say might have a made a difference.
"I see an enormous amount of hypocrisy," says Arthur Levitt, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Levitt says that in his eight years as chairman of the nation's top securities regulator, Congress was part of the problem.



-- Select a topic --Auditor independenceAuditing oversight boardCEOs personally liablePenalties for fraudStatute of limitationsInsider stock tradingTrading during 401-k "blackout" periodsLoans to top executives
Select a corporate reform topic above to learn how the House and Senate bills compare.
Auditor independence
House
Bans accounting firms from providing two types of consulting services --financial systems design and internal auditing -- during the same time that they audit a firm's books. Senate
Bans accounting firms from providing nine types of consulting services while auditing a firm's books. Requires each accounting firm to rotate its lead partner in charge of a client's audit every five years.

Auditing oversight board
House
Sets up an independent board to review audits and monitor potential conflicts of interest between accounting firms and companies they audit. Senate
Sets up independent board which would have more power than the board under the House bill to discipline firms and require them to turn over documents.

CEOs personally liable
House
Company's chairman, CEO and chief financial officer must certify personally that financial statements "fairly and accurately represent" the condition of the company. Senate
Similar provision to the House.

Penalties for fraud
House
Executives who file false financial reports would face up to 20 years in prison and up to $5 million in fines Senate
Executives who file false reports would face up to 10 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines.

Statute of limitations
House
Retains current statute of limitations on fraud prosecutions: one year from the date of discovery of the fraud or three years form the actual date the fraud was committed. Senate
Extends the time that prosecutors have to bring corporate fraud cases to two years from discovery of the fraud or five years from the actual date of the fraud, whichever is shorter.


Insider stock trading
House
Corporate officers or directors who sell the company's stock must notify the SEC before the end of the next business day and make the sale public within two business days -- instead of the current rule of disclosing sales within 10 days after the end of the calendar month. Senate
Similar provision to the House.

Trading during 401-k "blackout" periods
House
Prohibits executives from selling company stock during pension fund and 401K fund "blackout" periods when ordinary employees are barred from selling stock. Senate
Similar provision to the House.

Loans to top executives
House
Requires SEC to adopt rules to insure disclosure of loans to executive officers and directors Senate
Bans corporations from making loans to executive officers and directors



Source: http://thomas.loc.gov, House Financial Services Committee, Office of Sen. Patrick Leahy, D. - Vt., CCH, Inc.
Printable version

"They were actively opposing just about every pro-investor rule or regulation that the commission considered," says Levitt. "Investors have very, very few friends on Capitol Hill."





Companies under the microscope




A key battle was over Levitt's proposal two years ago to make auditors more independent by banning them from doing other consulting for companies they audit. After accounting firms warned that the ban could cost them hundreds of millions of dollars, Congress sprung into action.
Tauzin warned Levitt that "ill-advised or unnecessary regulatory restrictions on the accounting profession could impose huge costs on our economy."
Schumer also fought hard and wrote that he was worried about the "impact described by the accounting profession."
In all, more than 50 members of Congress pressured the SEC to back off. What was their motivation?
Advertisement





"It was campaign contributions, it was the business community," says Levitt.
Schumer received $340,000 from the accounting industry over 11 years, the second most of any member of Congress. Tauzin received $287,000.
Both men declined to be interviewed, but have said campaign money had nothing to do with their positions. And Tauzin accuses Levitt of now "trying to pin the blame on someone else" for corporate scandals "hatched on his watch."
However, one senator who fought Levitt, Robert Torrecelli, D-N.J. had an unusual public admission earlier this year.
"We were wrong. You were right," says Torrecelli.
Still, Levitt says that new converts to reform in Congress bear at least some blame for the mess they now vow to clean up
http://www.msnbc.com/news/784606.asp#BODY


"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

gunpaq

"Does not hamper or restrict the rights of hunters, sportsmen, and collectors". We the people, hunters, sportsmen, and collectors. And yes, Ed Rendell does not want to take your deer guns or keep you out of the deer woods by passing "common sense" gun safety laws to protect the citizens of Pennsylvania. Bah, bah, bah, bah, bleet, bleet, bleet, and bah bleet some more.

Pack slow, fall stable, pull high, hit dead center.

salzo

GUNPAQ- We here in Pennsylvania are in trouble. Rendell is going to be the next governor of Pennsylvania.

"The powers delegated by the proposed constitution to the federal governmentare few and defined, and will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace negotiation, and foreign commerce"
-James Madison

gunpaq

Salzo: buy all those evil & ugly guns, now, while you still have a chance and get all your deserving family and friends to get thier carry permits before Mr. Ed goes to Harrisburg. Sad part of PA elections is most people vote their party regardless if Satan himself was their party's candidate or the candidate endorsed by their union. "My job, my Social Security, my health care, my paid prescriptions, and my etc., etc., etc., is more important than a gun in the chimney corner closet". "I was born a Democrat into a union family and remember what the Republicans did to your family during the depression, they are not for the working man, only for the rich". These quotes come from PA gun owners who are avid shooters and hunters. Bah, bah, bleet, bleet, yes let's all lick the hand that feeds us.

Pack slow, fall stable, pull high, hit dead center.

Edited by - gunpaq on 07/25/2002 11:38:00