April 27, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5745

30 years, Congress has dramatically expanded both the tax base and the tax

rate supporting the Medicare trust

fund. Initially, Medicare relief on a 0.6-

percent payroll tax on the first $6,600

earned. Today, the program relies on

nearly a 3-percent payroll tax on all income earned. Next year for the first

time in its history, the trust fund will

begin spending more money than it is

taking in. Without reform, a tax increase is around the corner. And at

best, this tax increase would only prolong the program a few years.

Third, beneficiaries pay for Medicare’s failures. Skyrocketing costs of

the program force the same rate of

growth on the direct expenditures by

our seniors and disabled. Their out-ofpocket costs are directly related to

overall program costs. Medicare does

provide a generous subsidy, making it

a better deal than anything else out

there. But not all services are covered,

the coinsurance and deductibles are

substantial, and premiums are calculated to cover a defined amount of

program costs. Only 1 out of 10 or 11

percent of seniors rely solely on Medicare for their health care insurance.

Most seniors still purchase private supplemental medical coverage or have access to additional employer-sponsored

coverage. Beneficiary costs will continue to climb as the overall program

spending spins out of control.

Medicare is an entitlement. I do not

suggest we take away that concept.

However, I do ask us to remember what

it entitles us to. Quite simply, the entitlement was intended to provide access

to the private system. Our predecessors

did not create a system which limited

beneficiaries to public hospitals or

Government-employed physicians.

Rather, it provided financial access to

private physicians and hospitals, the

same providers Americans used before

they turned 65.

If we viewed the Medicare subsidy

today as it was originally intended—allowing beneficiaries to use it to access

private coverage—seniors would then

be able to choose health care plans

that better meet their needs. Today

they do not have that choice. We

should provide that choice to our seniors.

Mr. President, I will continue this

discussion over the next several days

as we look forward to better ways to

save, to preserve our Medicare Program.

I yield the floor.

EXTENSION OF MORNING

fBUSINESS

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to

speak for 15 minutes, and that a period

for morning business be extended accordingly.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there

objection? Without objection, it is so

ordered.

LETTER FROM THE NATIONAL

RIFLE ASSOCIATION

fMr. DODD. Mr. President, earlier

today my colleague from Arkansas,

Senator PRYOR, spoke about a very dis- turbing letter circulated by the National Rifle Association [NRA]. I commend him for his remarks. I do not

want to get into a lengthy discussion

of this issue, but I urge all of my colleagues, regardless of where you stand

on the issue of gun control, to read this

letter, which was sent out by the NRA

under the signature of Mr. Wayne

LaPierre, the executive vice president.

I do not know of anyone here, no matter how strongly they feel about

the legitimate issue of what we do

about gun control, that would not be

offended by this letter and the language in it.

Again, I am not going to spend a great deal of time here this morning,

but there is language in the letter

which talks about:

. . . jack-booted government thugs [given] more power to take away our Constitutional

rights, break in our doors, seize our guns, destroy our property, and even injure or kill

us;

That is how the letter refers to our

Government and the hard-working

members of our Federal law-enforcement agencies. And the letter goes on,

in reference to the Clinton administration:

. . . if you have a badge, you have the Gov- ernment’s go ahead to harass, intimidate,

even murder law-abiding citizens;

And there is even more:

Waco and the Branch Davidians . . . Not

too long ago it was unthinkable for Federal

agents wearing Nazi bucket helmets and

black storm trooper uniforms to attack lawabiding citizens.

Law-abiding citizens? People who shot Federal agents, who burned their

own buildings, and killed their own

families and friends? I mean this is incredible.

And this is not a letter from some

fringe organization. It is a letter from

the NRA—a national organization that

usually has credibility. Quite simply,

the NRA ought to know better.

Please read this letter. It is five or

six pages. And if you are not as offended as I have been by reading it, I

will be surprised.

Someone needs to ask for a retraction of this letter. Put aside the tragic

events in Oklahoma for a moment, I do

not want to suggest that this letter is

linked to that terrible tragedy. I do not

want to cloud the issue. But someone

needs to apologize for this letter. It

goes way beyond the kind of rhetoric

that is appropriate on these issues.

Remember this letter went, apparently, to millions of homes. I have no

problem with people sending out fundraising letters and even using strong

language in those solicitations. But the

NRA’s letter goes way beyond the pale.

At first, I was so shocked, I thought it

might be a hoax. But apparently it was

not. I understand the NRA has confirmed that it sent the letter.

Again, I urge my colleagues to read

the letter and I ask unanimous consent

that this letter be printed in the

RECORD.

There being no objection, the letter

was ordered to be printed in the

RECORD, as follows:

NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION.

DEAR FELLOW AMERICANS: I’ve worn out a

lot of shoe leather walking the halls of Congress. I’ve met key leaders, I’ve talked with

old allies, I’ve met with the new Congressmen and many staff members.

What I’m hearing and seeing concerns me.

Many of our new Congressmen are ignoring

America’s 80 million gun owners. Some have

forgotten what we did to elect them. Others

say our demands to restore our Constitutional freedoms are ‘‘politically out of line.’’

Don’t get me wrong, not all of them are

like this. Senator Phil Gramm, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and Congressmen Bill

McCollum, Bill Brewster and Harold Volkmer are all coming to our aid. But too many

others are not.

And without a major show of force by

America’s 80 million gun owners, America

will resume its long march down the road to

gun bans, destruction of the Constitution

and loss of every sacred freedom.

I want you to know I’m not looking for a

fight.

But when you consider the facts of our current situation, you too, will see we have no

other choice.

Fact No. 1: The Congress’ leading anti-gunners, Senators Dianne Feinstein, Ted Kennedy and Congressmen Charles Schumer and

Major Owens all survived their last elections.

They’ve pledged to fight us to the bitter

end for Brady II and its ammo taxes, licensing and registration schemes, gun rationing,

bureaucrats with the power to determine if

you ‘‘need’’ a gun and yes, the repeal of the

Second Amendment.

It doesn’t matter to them that the Brady

Law is a failure.

It doesn’t matter to them that the Brady

Law has become one more tool that government agents are using to deny the Constitutional rights of law abiding citizens.

It doesn’t matter to them that the semiauto ban gives jack-booted government

thugs more power to take away our Constitutional rights, break in our doors, seize

our guns, destroy our property, and even injure or kill us.

Schumer, Feinstein, Kennedy, Owens and

the rest of the anti-gunners want more and

more gun control.

It can be something small and subtle like

a regulation expanding the disqualification

criteria for the Brady Law. They’re fighting

for anything that makes it harder for you to

own a gun.

The gun banners simply don’t like you.

They don’t trust you. They don’t want you

to own a gun. And they’ll stop at nothing

until they’ve forced you to turn over your

guns to the government.

Fact No. 2: If the anti-gunners fail to

achieve their goals in Congress, they have a

fall-back position in Bill Clinton, the most

anti-gun President in American history.

In two short years, Bill Clinton launched

two successful attacks on the Constitution.

He signed two gun control bills into law. He

has sworn to veto any repeal of the semiauto ban and any restoration of our Constitutional rights.

His Interior and Agriculture Departments

have set their sights on closing hunting

lands.

And his Environmental Protection Agency

is attempting to take jurisdiction over existing uses of lead. This, of course, includes gun

ranges and spent shot.

What’s more, gun owners aren’t the only

ones Clinton’s EPA has set its sights on.
S5746 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE April 27, 1995

They’re after fishermen, too. They want to

BAN the use of small lead fishing sinkers

and, of gravest concern, they want to stop

the home casting of these sinkers.

If fishing sinkers are on the Clinton bureaucrat’s list, you know what’s next: lead

shot, lead bullets, bullet casting and reloading.

Clinton’s State Department is also adding

to the attacks on gun owners and our Constitutional freedoms. In December, he signed

the Summit of the Americas agreements

which pledges that the U.S. Government will

push for additional gun control.

Over in the Justice Department, Clinton’s

Attorney General Janet Reno has signaled

her intent to ‘‘squash’’ the states’ rights

movement and deny states their Constitutional power.

And worst of all,

Fact No. 3: President Clinton’s army of

anti-gun government agents continues to intimidate and harass law-abiding citizens.

In Clinton’s administration, if you have a

badge, you have the government’s go-ahead

to harass, intimidate, even murder law-abiding citizens.

Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge . . . Waco

and the Branch Davidians. . . . Not too long

ago, it was unthinkable for Federal agents

wearing nazi bucket helmets and black

storm trooper uniforms to attack law-abiding citizens.

Not today, not with Clinton.

Our calls to investigate these outrageous

assaults on our Constitutional freedoms are

routinely silenced by the anti-gun media.

But that’s no surprise.

Fact No. 4: They’ve launched a new wave of

brainwashing propaganda aimed at further

destroying our Constitutional freedoms.

CBS, ABC, NBC, USA Today, Time, Newsweek and The New York Times have

launched another round of phony polls and

slanted stories to help the anti-gunners

achieve their goals.

Their latest phony poll shows 70% of America support the ‘‘semi-auto’’ assault weapon

ban.

That’s simply not true. When it’s explained

that ‘‘semi-autos’’ are used in less than a

fraction of one percent of crimes; that the

ban only affects the law-abiding; and, that

the ban is only one more way to deny Constitutional rights to the law-abiding, support

for the ban drops to 30%.

But the media still uses this 70% statistic

to trumpet the call for gun control.

What scares me the most about this 70%

number is that the media has brainwashed

70% of Americans into believing that the

government—and not each individual—is responsible for their personal protection.

Even worse, this 70% number means that

there are enough people who can be brainwashed by the media to vote for a repeal of

the Second Amendment if it were put to a

vote.

The media, Clinton, the anti-gunners in

Congress . . . this combination is a powder

keg that could blow at any moment and it’s

set squarely underneath the Constitution.

And what this means is:

Fact No. 5: Congress must be forced to restore the Constitution, repeal the gun bans,

investigate abuse by government agents and

focus the public debate on criminal control,

not gun control. . .

. . . Or what we’re seeing now will only be

a momentary patch of sunshine on the road

to doom for the Second Amendment and our

Constitution.

There is hope, though. Despite the current

situation, I’m encouraged by you and your

fellow NRA members.

Everywhere I go, to every gun show, every

NRA–ILA grassroots operation, every

Friends of NRA Dinner, even in cabs and airports around the country, I run into NRA

members who understand the stakes and

stand ready to fight.

The question I hear from almost every one

of these NRA members is the same: ‘‘What

can I do next?’’

If you’re one of those members, I want to

thank you for your courage, your conviction

and your spirit. You keep me going. You

keep me on the road. You give me strength

to lead the battle.

And if you want to join me in taking the

next step, I need you to do these two things

today.

First, I need you to sign the enclosed Petitions to the United states Congress.

These petitions are addressed to the leaders of the U.S. Congress, Senator Robert

Dole and Speaker Newt Gringrich, and your

U.S. Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan,

Alfonse M. D’Amato and Congresswoman Sue

Kelly.

Please be sure to sign all five petitions,

then fold them and place them in the enclosed, postage-paid envelope addressed to

me at NRA Headquarters.

These petitions spell out, in black and

white, our agenda of repeal, reform, investigate and limit government power.

In the first amendment of the Bill of

Rights, we are guaranteed the right to ‘‘petition our Government for a redress of grievances.’’

And that’s exactly what we’re going to do:

redress our grievances in the biggest and

most powerful display of political clout and

commitment to the Constitution.

I want to personally deliver your five petitions, and the petitions of all 3.5 million of

your fellow NRA members—17.5 million petitions in all—to Congress.

And I want to show the leadership in Congress, and your Senators and Congressmen

from New York, that the number one priority in their Contract With America must be

defending and restoring our Constitutional

freedoms.

17.5 million Petitions to Congress is the

largest ‘‘redress of grievances’’ since the

Constitution and the Bill of Rights were

written.

So I KNOW Congress will get the message.

And I know they’ll act on our agenda of Repeal, Reform and Investigate if only you and

I speak out.

Your Petitions to Congress also sends another message—a message not spelled out on

the Petitions themselves.

Each Congressman, on the average, will receive 8,000 Petitions from NRA members demanding action. 8,000 messages from angry

voters sounds an alarm in every Congressman’s head.

You see, most Congressional elections were

won or lost by 5,000 votes or less. So, they’ll

realize that failing to defend the Second

Amendment and failing to retake the Constitutional freedoms lost to the anti-gunners, could result in big losses at the next

election!

That’s why it’s critical you take a few

minutes to sign your Petitions to Congress

and return them to me as soon as possible.

These petitions are our D-Day.

Armed with these petitions and our First

Amendment rights, we are going to storm

Congress, knock our anti-gunner strongholds

and recapture every bit of ground we lost

since Bill Clinton took office.

And if we’re successful, these petitions will

be the turning point in the history of the

Constitution . . . . A day when our sacred

right to keep and bear arms will be secure

for the next generation of law-abiding Americans.

Second, when you return your signed Petitions to Congress, I need you to make a special contribution to the NRA of $15, $20, $25,

$35, $50 or the most generous amount you can

afford.

Most Americans don’t realize that our freedoms are slowly slipping away.

They don’t understand that politicians and

bureaucrats are chipping away at the American way of life.

They’re destroying business, destroying

our economy, destroying property rights, destroying our moral foundation, destroying

our schools, destroying our culture . . .

. . . Destroying our Constitution.

And the attack, either through legislation

or regulation, on the Second Amendment is

only the first in a long campaign to destroy

the freedoms at the core of American life.

You can see it in the gun bans, certainly.

But you can also see it in closed ranges,

closed hunting lands, confiscated collectors’

firearms, banned magazines and ammunition

taxes.

You can see it when jack-booted government thugs, wearing black, armed to the

teeth, break down a door, open fire with an

automatic weapon, and kill or maim lawabiding citizens.

America’s gun owners will only be the first

to lose their freedoms.

If we lose the right to keep and bear arms,

then the right to free speech, free practice of

religion, and every other freedom in the Bill

of Rights are sure to follow.

I am one American who is not going to sit

on the sidelines and watch this happen.

And if you want to help me stop this destruction of the Constitution, then I hope

you can make that special contribution of

$15, $20, $25, $35 or $50 to the NRA today.

With your special contribution, I’ll have

the financial ammo I need to keep Congress

focused on the mission we’ve assigned them.

First, with your help, I will expand our petition campaign to involve as many of America’s 80 million gun owners as possible.

If we can double the number of Petitions

flooding Congress, we’ll double the speed

Congress deals with our demands to Repeal,

Reform and Investigate. And with double the

show of clout, we’ll wipe out anti-gunner opposition.

Second, with your special contribution, I

can increase the NRA’s public exposure on

talk shows, at rallies and shows, in radio and

T.V. advertising and through broadcasts like

the NRA’s Town Meeting that first sounded

our alarm in 16 million households, last summer.

Part of our problem is that far too few

Americans understand what’s at stake in

these battles.

My ultimate goal is to educate the American people that this issue is not just about

guns, not just about hunting, not just about

personal protection; this issue is about freedom—Your Freedom.

I want to use the power of T.V. and radio

to show the American people that, if the

NRA fails to restore our Second Amendment

freedoms, the attacks will begin on freedom

of religion, freedom of speech, freedom from

unreasonable search and seizure. . . .

. . . And that unless we take action today,

the long slide down the slippery slope will

only continue until there’s no freedom left in

America at all.

I know you see it. The elbow room you

have to hunt, shoot and live life the way you

see fit is slowly disappearing.

And the truth is, NRA members have been

hardened by legislative battles. And only

NRA members have the courage, the conviction to draw the line in the sand.

That’s why I’m hoping you can take a few

moments to sign and date the enclosed Petitions and return them to me with your special contribution of $15, $20, $25, $35, $50 or

more in the enclosed postage-paid envelope
April 27, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5747

today. Or, you can charge by phone by calling 800–547–4NRA today.

You know, besides going shooting, I love to

go to football games. And every time I go, I

always hear my fellow fans talk about the

impact of ‘‘the 12th man.’’

The 11 players calling the plays and doing

the hitting get a lot of their motivation from

the 12th man in the stands. I’m talking

about the crowd who cheers wildly when our

team is on the offense, and drowns out the

signals of the opposing team when they’re on

the defense.

I need you to be that 12th man.

I need you to sign your Petitions to Congress and return them to me today. That

simple act will give our allies the political

courage to do what’s right, to push ahead

with our agenda of Repeal, Reform and Investigate.

Likewise, your signed Petitions to Congress will confuse and demoralize the antigun team and their agenda of bans, taxes, intimidation, harassment and destruction of

the Constitution.

I know I’ve said what I’m about to say before. But this is a message that resonates

with NRA members across the land. It’s

something I hope you, too, will say whenever

you have the occasion to defend our Constitutional freedoms.

This, the battle we’re fighting today, is a

battle to retake the most precious, most sacred ground on earth. This is a battle for

freedom.

Please tell me you’re ready to take the

next step by returning your signed Petitions

to Congress and special gift to me in the enclosed postage-paid envelope today.

Thank you, I look forward to hearing from

you soon.

Yours in Freedom,

WAYNE LAPIERRE,

Executive Vice President.

P.S.—As a special thank you for making a

special contribution of $25 or more, I’d like

to send you a copy of my national best-selling book, Guns, Crime, and Freedom. Guns,

Crime, and Freedom is 263 pages of truth

about guns, gun control, gun owners, the

anti-gun media and what’s happening to our

freedoms.

I hope you’ll read it and use it in your own

personal campaign in New York to defend

the Constitution. Use Guns, Crime, and Freedom to help you keep the pressure on Congress, write letters to the editor and teach

other Americans about the battle we’re

fighting today. Thanks again for your support and friendship.

Mr. DODD. I yield the floor.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator’s time has expired.

TRIBUTE TO SENATOR JOHN

fSTENNIS

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, Senator

John Stennis will long be remembered

as the ‘‘conscience of the Senate’’ for

his personal religious convictions and

his many years of work on the Senate

code of ethics. I will always think of

him as a friend, and as one of the most

effective chairmen of the Defense Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. We shared many of the same

beliefs in that the United States should

always strive for the most effective

Armed Forces in the world, and his

leadership was always deserving of respect and admiration.

Despite physical ailments and the

death of his beloved wife of 52 years,

Senator Stennis remained committed

to this body and to his countrymen. He

could always be found in his offices,

never leaving until the Senate had adjourned for the day. He never gave up

when he believed that he was right.

We need men and women who will

fight for what they believe, and we

should look to John Stennis as an excellent example of the forthrightness

and dedication necessary to be effective leaders today.

Since Senator Stennis retired from

this body in 1989, the Senate has been

denied his wisdom and his leadership.

Our entire country mourns his loss.

KOREAN AGREED NUCLEAR

FRAMEWORK

fMr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I find

myself in the unfortunate position of

once more coming to the floor to briefly discuss the lack of progress being

made in the implementation of the

United States-North Korea Agreed Nuclear Framework.

During the recent recess, talks in

Berlin between us and the North Koreans broke down. The point of contention continues to be the DPRK’s obstinate refusal to accept two light-water

reactors of South Korea manufacture

as called for in the agreement. Mr.

President I—and, I am sure, our negotiators headed by Ambassador

Galucci—have grown weary of the

North’s negotiating tactics. Lastminute brinkmanship has failed to

work for them in the past; I am unsure

why they think if they continue to pursue that course we will eventually relent.

Korean’s have a saying about the futility of trying to influence someone

too stubborn to listen: ‘‘reading into an

ox’s ear.’’ At the risk of reading into

the ‘‘Pyongyang ox’s’’ ear, let me say

it one more time. As I have said before

as the chairman of the Subcommittee

on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, we

should not accept any deviation from

the agreed framework on the part of

the DPRK. As called for in the agreement, North Korea must accept the

two light-water reactors from South

Korea. It must not refire its Yongbyon

reactor. It must cease its attempts to

produce fissile material. It must take

steps toward initiating and maintaining a bilateral relationship with the

South. The consequence for their failure to live up to the agreement is very

straight-forward: a return to the Security Council and the imposition of

tough sanctions.

Mr. President, this is their choice—in

black and white. There is no subtlety,

no innuendo, no hidden message. Our

negotiators have done an admirable job

in continuing to press the North Koreans; I urge them to stick to their guns.

WAS CONGRESS IRRESPONSIBLE?

THE VOTERS HAVE SAID YES

fMr. HELMS. Mr. President, anyone

even remotely familiar with the U.S.

Constitution knows that no President

can spend a dime of Federal tax money

that has not first been authorized and

appropriated by Congress—both the

House of Representatives and the U.S.

Senate.

So when you hear a politician or an

editor or a commentator declare that

‘‘Reagan ran up the Federal debt’’ or

that ‘‘Bush ran it up,’’ bear in mind

that the Founding Fathers, two centuries before the Reagan and Bush

Presidencies, made it very clear that it

is the constitutional duty of Congress

to control Federal spending, which

they have not for the past 50 years.

The fiscal irresponsibility of Congress has created a Federal debt which

stood at $4,876,206,792,345.50 as of the

close of business Wednesday, April 26.

This outrageous debt—which will be

saddled on the backs of our children

and grandchildren—averages out to

$18,403.01 on a per capita basis.

THE GUN-FREE SCHOOLS ACT OF

1994 REMAINS IN PLACE

fMrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, yesterday, the Supreme Court overturned

the Gun Free Schools Zones Act, a 1990

law sponsored by Senator KOHL and

others that made it a felony to bring a

gun within 1,000 feet of a school. The

case revolves around a San Antonio

youth who was tried for bringing a .38

caliber to school, and the decision has

ignited widespread debate because it

reverses decades of Supreme Court

precedent.

However, as a result of this controversy, it is extremely important to

clarify the status of a separate, recently passed law, which has a similar

name—the Gun-Free Schools Act of

1994—but remains firmly in place.

Parents, teachers, and school officials must know that gun possession on

campus cannot be tolerated, that the

Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 remains

in place, and that in order to receive

Federal education funds every school

district in the Nation must soon have

in place and functioning a policy that

assures that any youngster who brings

a gun to school will be expelled for not

less than 1 year.

The following points must be clearly

understood:

First, the Gun-Free Schools Act of

1994 was not struck down by the Supreme Court yesterday.

Instead, the Court struck down a 1990

criminal law with a similar-sounding

name—but a different legal status.

Second, the Gun-Free Schools Act of

1994 will not be swept away by the

Court’s decision.

By simply requiring schools to have a

zero tolerance policy as a condition of

receiving Federal education funds, the

Gun-Free Schools Act does not rely on

the commerce clause for its authority.

Third, the Gun-Free Schools Act remains in place, and zero tolerance policies are already showing positive results.