Posted on 09/20/2016 5:42:16 PM PDT by jazusamo
WASHINGTON -- The Senate minority whip told reporters on Capitol Hill today that the Minnesota mall stabbings and the New York/New Jersey bombings were "sad reminders that this Congress has done nothing -- nothing to prevent dangerous people from acquiring guns and explosives to carry out future attacks on Americans."
Outside of a closed policy luncheon, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Republicans "have seen multiple opportunities come and go to bring forward and pass bipartisan legislation to prevent terrorists from buying firearms and explosives, closing the so-called terror gap loophole."
"All of which have been defeated by the Republican majority. Congress still spends so much time and energy debating whether a bill would've stopped the last attack that we lose sight on how we stop the next attack," Durbin said. "This bill, as well as bipartisan background checks, will stop dangerous people from getting their hands on the weapons of war."
The Washington Post reported that federal officials said the bombs were constructed of unregulated, commonly available materials such as Tannerite, black powder, Christmas-light fuses, and cell phone detonators.
Bills from Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to allow the attorney general to block or delay the sale of firearms to people on the no-fly list have not received enough support to advance.
Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) blasted GOPs in a Monday floor speech, saying "the only reason FBI terror suspects are allowed to buy guns and explosives is Republican opposition."
Today, Senate Dem leaders were also ripping their Republican colleagues for the upcoming campaign recess. Oct. 7 is the last day the Senate is scheduled to be in session before Election Day.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Republicans were "like school kids, begging for an early recess."
"Republicans would rather be out asking for people's votes than doing the people's business. This year, the Senate is scheduled to work the fewest days in six decades, but even that workload is apparently too heavy for our Republican friends," Schumer told reporters. "We've been scheduled to be in session for two more weeks, but Republicans want to pull the plug and head home as soon as possible. That is not -- not what the American people sent us here to do."
"This Republican-led Senate is -- has already worked fewer days than any time since 1956, and with their mad rush to get home again, they'll even break that record. We don't know how far to go back. Maybe we'll go back to the Depression years. Maybe we'll go back to World War I," Reid said.
Outside the GOP luncheon, Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) said the weekend's events "were a reminder, a grim reminder, that we continue to fight the war against terrorism, the war against ISIS."
"And incredibly, in the wake of all that, the administration, the president's spokesperson Josh Earnest, came out in the last couple of days and said that we are in a narrative fight against ISIS; not a real fight, a narrative fight," Thune said. "And Tim Kaine went on television on Sunday and said that the situation with ISIS has dramatically improved. And I think that it's pretty clear that the administration is more concerned about their legacy than they are really about keeping Americans safe."
"The fact of the matter is the world is less safe since the president took office. And Americans' security, as we found out over the weekend, continues to be threatened on a weekly basis. So we're less safe, and I think most Americans would argue less prosperous."
Agreed...That statement is the height of stupidity. The politicians, for many of them, are not only clueless but are grasping at straws to further their agenda.
One of my jpgs at another forum...gun control and it is hilters people shooting people in the head and falling into a mass grave.
M’Pleasure and thank you for your service.
Simply not true. Their agenda is "whatever, just give me my cut."
The problem is that they have no clue how to advance our agenda.
Amen
My car’s battery died. We need more gun control.
Knife and bomb attacks are sad reminders of the need to indict, try, convict, sentence and hang Demonicrat and RINO senators for giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
LOL! That makes as much sense as Turban Durbin. :)
“sad reminders that this Congress has done nothing — nothing to prevent dangerous people from acquiring guns and explosives to carry out future attacks on Americans.”
Problem solved back in 1968!
“Today we begin to disarm the criminal and the careless and the insane. All of our people who are deeply concerned in this country about law and order should hail this day.”- Lyndon Johnson comments upon signing the 1968 Gun Control Act into Law.
That is just crazy talk.
Omoron wants to outlaw pressure cookers.
The guy is a genius. Sarc.
Well actually a gun was used to kill the knife perp. So maybe Durbin is upset the perp was killed.
Deranged. Depraved. Insane.
you can not defeat Islamic terrorism by attacking American freedom. You have to tattack their will to fight, not our bill of rights.
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