March 26, 2013

Congresswoman Lee Co-Leads Letter Urging Obama Administration to Exclude Tiahrt Amendments in FY14 Budget

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2013
Contact: Carrie Adams (202) 225-2661

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) was joined by Reps. Michael Honda (D-CA), Jim Moran (D-VA), Mike Quigley (D-Il), Adam Schiff (D-CA), along with 38 other members, in sending a letter the Office of Management and Budget urging the Administration to exclude the appropriations riders commonly referred to as the “Tiahrt Amendments” from President Obama’s FY 2014 budget.

“The Tiahrt Amendments block access to vital information that lawmakers, police-officers, and federal agencies need to begin to tackle the epidemic of gun violence in our communities,” said Congresswoman Lee. “We must treat gun violence for what it is: a public health epidemic, and no one would ever stop the Centers for Disease Control from tracking data on heart disease.”

The Congresswoman continued, “We must repeal these harmful amendments that hinder law enforcement’s efforts to keep illegal guns off our streets and out of our communities.”

The Tiahrt Amendments, which have been included in Justice Department appropriations legislation since 2004, limit law enforcement’s efforts to prevent gun violence prohibiting access to data on illegal guns and hinder background checks. 

In February 2013, Congresswoman Lee introduced the Tiahrt Restrictions Repeal Act which sought repeal current provision that require National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) records to be destroyed within 24 hours, prohibit ATF from requiring licensed dealers from conducting annual inventory checks to detect lost and stolen guns, and restrict state and local authorities from using trace data to fully investigate corrupt gun dealers and traffickers.

Full text of the letter can be found here.

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Follow Barbara Lee on Facebook and Twitter at @RepBarbaraLee. To learn more, visit lee.house.gov.