A4 * __TheSaltLakeTribune UTAH/NATIONFriday, May 28, 1999 House Debates Whether GOPCalls for Recess After Impasse on SpendingBill Gun Laws Curb Violence Deep divisions among Republicans and aggressive maneuvering by Demoshighlight action on House floor THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ed thatif the Ten Commandments WASHINGTON — Twoparents whose children were slain by classmates gave lawmakers diverse views Thursday on whether the slayers, guns or lawmakers themselvesare to blame for their tragedies. had been posted at high schools tee’s subcommittee that he blames the April 20 death of his daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, 17, on ‘rie Harris and Dylan Klebold. “Thereare people behind those instruments of death,” Scott told the panel. “Eric and Dylan bear primary responsibility for my daughter's death, not the guns themselves. But Byrl Phillips-Taylor of Richmond, Va., claimsthat it was an AK47, in the hands of a “‘class mate with a grudge,” that killed her son in 1989 The easy availability of guns sot my baby killed,” Phillips-Taylor told the panel, urging lawmak- +s to pass thebill implementing mandatory background checks for gun-show transactions, and other newfirearms restrictions, voted on bythe Senatelast week “The Senate has demonstrated that it cares about keeping guns away from children,” she said. And that may be the turning point that every mother like me has been waiting for.” House GOPleaders this week that bring us here today.” Replied Deputy Atty. Gen. Eric Holder Jr.: “If the young people and adult criminals whe committed these crimes had a tougher time getting their hands on guns, these horrible crimes might have beenprevented.” Vice President Al Gore, who broke a 50-50 Senate tie last week in favor of the new gun-showre- strictions, returned to the Capitol on Thursday to accuse House Re- publicans of trying to please the National Rifle Association (NRA). “At this very moment, thereare someof the other side meetingbe. hindcloseddoorsplotting to have moredelays in order to preserve loopholes" in firearms law, he said. NRA Executive Vice President was a “red-tape nightmare.” “Basically it would extend the reaches of the federal govern ment into the homes of this country,” LaPierre said He said the NRAsupports man- datory gun-show background checks and other concepts in the Senate bill, but not the wayit is written. For example, hesaid, the Senate would consider “your uncle’s skeet-shooting range” as a gun show subject to government regulations. Scott, testifying at the request somegun-control advocates were seeking to put the blame for the careful consideration of the legislation next month would ensure shootings at the NRA’s doorstep. “I don’t believe that theyare responsible for my daughter's that new controls would not in- fringe on the Second Amendment right to bear arms, Republicans at Thursday's hearingcriticized the Clinton administration for failing to prosecute violators of existing firearms laws while pushing for more gun restrictions, Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., suggest- death,” said Scott, who said he about their eagerness to pass more laws despite the cultural causes behind school shootings. ‘Political posturing and restric. tive legislation are not the answers,” he said. To Ban Legal Gun-OwnerRecords BY JOHN HEILPRIN Rep Chris Cannonplanstoin- were excluded from background checks because the check took several weeks. We now have an automated troduce legislation in Congress that would bar federal authorities data base that allows background checks to be donein a couple of government record” of law-abiding citizens who own guns. at shows,” Cannonsaid. from keeping any “permanent The Utah Republican says the measureis a response to worries among his conservative district's minutes so we can screen out fel- ons attempting to purchase guns “With a fully operational database of felons and otherclasses prohibited from buying guns, we canelimi constituents. He supports manda. nate any federal record about gun owners, that federal officials will be in a subcommittee hearing on gun guns. non, whois not a member of the subcommittee, asked how long tory background checks onall gun buyers, he says, but the fear is position to confiscate everyone's Cannonsaid the Brady Law that cracked down on firearms is meant to keep dangerous people from owning guns. not for the government to keep a record of legal gun owners ‘The Second Amendment right to owna gunis lied inherently to theright to not have the govern ment know who ownsa gun,” Can on said in a statement Republicans and Democrats agree that criminals should not be able to purchase guns,” At the sametime, the hesaid federal government should not keep per manent records of law-abiding un owners after they have been leared,” hesaid His spokesman, Rusty Payne aid) “Wehaven't been lobbied by the gun lobby] onthis at all This is what gun owners are ying in his district Withtheuseof new technology, the checks shouldbe done without iny information being download 1 by a computer onto its hard irive, Cannon said Henoted that when the Brady aw was passed, gun show sales At a House Judiciary crime control proposals Thursday, Can the checks take to process. He was told the average check tween three and 10 minnt takes be. Todd Taylor, state Democratic Party executive director, said Cannon's proposal might help de fine the congressional debate “There's been no legislation to date that’s required any sort of registry for guns. And before we go there, there ought to be some serious debateonit So, to the ex tent that this moves the debate along, that's a goodthing Cannon's proposal mostly likely will be offered as an amendment to the House version of the Sen ate-passed bill in June The amendment could comeeither on the Housefloor or in committee Whenthereis a questionas to whethera gunbuyer is a law-abid ing citizen,” Cannonsaid after the hearing, “there must bea process whereinnocent people caneasily clear their names, If a person passes a check, his paperwork should be handedback andno re. cords should exist anywhere — even unindexed ona hard drive Senate OKs TechnologySecurity Measures THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — The Senate y approved measures Thurs. to expand oversight of tech y exports andto tighten se rity at weaponslaboratories in aftermath of a House report le g Chinese espionage But efforts toward broader ires fell victim to partisan angling in both congressional nbers and were postponed il after a 10-day congressional nate Democrats used delay tactics to stall a GOP-spon ed measure that would reorga: the Energy Department after proposal drew a veto threat n the Clinton administration. proposal would create a new lag ecretary fm defense y wouldPheport di — typically a toughbill to pass — Hastert was deliver at least 50 Democratic votes to launch ations bill after conservatives protested what debate onthe defense bill, in return for dropping the Kosovoprovision. whipsawed by conservative Republicans insisting on a strong stand against further fund ing and Democrats demanding votes on a action on a $60.8 billion agriculture-appropri- they complained tobe excessive spending The fumbling on the floor highlighted the immensedifficulties facing the Republicans only five months after Rep. Dennis Has' “The lesson we learned is don't trust White House votecounts,” said Hastert spokesman John Feehery rectly to the president and Con gress Majority Leader Trent Lott. R Miss. put off action on that me sure Thursday as the Se worked toward completion of a $288.8 billion Defense ment spending bw Depart Once the controversial amend: ment was jettisoned. the Senate passed the defense bil 92to 3, It would spend $83 billion more than President Clinton requested in the fiscal year that begins Oct 1, including authorizing a 4.8 per cent across-the-board military pay raise Jan. 1 Meanwhile. efforts by the Houseto take up its own package drew polit fire from both sides, prompting House Speaker Dennis Hastert to abryptly post poneaction until next Jonth they got rid of the Kosovoprovision they cut a holein their pocket. It was just a total misun. derstanding and miscalculation on this bill In the caseof the defense-authorization bill broad array of amendments. A provision added in the Armed Services Committee to cut off funding for the Kosovo But congressional Democrats and the White war this fall reflected the growing unhappi- Ill, sueceeded Newt Gingrich as Housesaid there was nosuch deal andthat the promising to create a more harmonious and efficient environment. Deep divisions within his party and aggressive maneuvering by the Republicansalienatedlarge numbers of Dem ocrats by raising the Kosovo provision, and jected a resolution last month supporting the amendments that could be considered onthe floor. drop the provision in return for substantial Democratic support Democrats tripped up thoseefforts this week, and the GOP appearedto lack a strategy to then by severelylimiting the numberoftheir ness with the bombing in a chamber that re. NATO air war. When the White Housethreateneda veto, GOP leaderssaid, they agreed to Simmons’ CU Ceelati) 1 and twin pieces starting at $79 SALE of committee Republicans, sup: was not a member of the group and does not own a gun. Scott also scolded lawmakers ‘They screwed the Democrats, assuming they had the Republicans in their pocket,” said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.“Then when the upper hand on gun control, campaign finance and other sensitive issues. GOP leaders sought to blame Thursday’s debacle on the White House and House Democratic leaders, saying they broke a promiseto ported LaPierre’s complaint that Cannon Introduces Legislation THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE ried that the Democratic minority has gained finds-itself unable to beat back the extreme right wing within their own party, they blame the Democratic caucus,” said House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo. The leadership canceled planned votes on the $288.8 billion fiscal 2000 defense-authorization bill after conservatives complained that a provision had been dropped — at the behest of the White House — that would havecut off funding for the Kosovo war beyond Sept. 30. The previous day, the leadership postponed Wayne LaPierre told the House subcommitteethat the Senatebill said they support the concept of the gun restrictions passed by the Senate, but they rejected demands from Democrats to quickly rubber-stamp the measures. Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, whohas co-authored gun-control bills in the past, said work on three majorbills scheduled for action, including the legislative-branch spending bill. At the same time, the Republican majority was divided over spending policy and wor- tively with only a slim majority. “Every time the Republican leadership regain theinitiative. 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