Overview

I regret that a doctor’s appointment kept me from last Thursday’s meeting.

Last Tuesday a strong, bipartisan majority of the Senate, indeed a 57-vote majority that included a bipartisan majority from the members of this Committee, adopted the Kennedy-Smith-Specter amendment incorporating the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2000 into legislation before the Senate. Senate adoption of this hate crimes legislation is a significant step forward.

I commend Senator Kennedy for his leadership on this issue. As he has so many times over the better part of four decades, he has worked for a better America and one that is fair to all Americans. I should also note that the Senate adopted on a 50 to 49 vote the amendment for funding and a study of hate crime incidents that was offered by Senator Hatch.

I hope that hate crimes will now not be forced to suffer the same fate as the Hatch-Leahy juvenile crime bill that passed the Senate last year. That bill passed the Senate with a strong bipartisan majority of 73 votes over 13 months ago. The conference has not met in over 9 months and it looks more and more like the majority has decided to kill that legislation. That is most unfortunate.

Last Wednesday we had a good hearing on the National Instant Criminal Check System for firearms purchases. Many of us have joined together on legislation, S. 2769, to do more to support States that conduct background checks and serve as points of contact under the Brady Law. More comprehensive criminal history records and other records are available at the State level and their background checks review more records of people in prohibited categories, such as people who have been involuntarily committed to mental institutions or are under domestic violence restraining orders.

Currently, the 15 states serving as full points of contact for NICS include Arizona, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Utah and Vermont and another 11 states serve as partial points of contact for NICS by performing checks for handgun purchases, including Iowa, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. With that lineup and good public policy, the NICS Partnership Act of 2000 that Senator Hatch, Senator Kohl, Senator Schumer and I introduced last week ought to have a good chance of being reported by the Committee.

Senator Schumer pointed out at our hearing last week that another way to improve the NICS is to close the gun show loophole. Under current law, gun show dealers do not have to abide by the same background checks as federally licensed firearms dealers. The Senate adopted an amendment to close the gun show loophole as part of our juvenile crime bill. That was the legislative vehicle designated by the Majority Leader for that debate following the Columbine tragedy. Unfortunately, the Republican leadership has refused to convene and conclude the conference on that bill. We should be moving on it now, not waiting for the next tragic shooting to occur.

I am glad that a few nominees were added to the agenda this morning, and I hope that they can be reported today. Unfortunately, other outstanding judicial nominations from our last hearing are not included on our agenda today. I remain hopeful that we will move forward with all the nominees to fill vacancies in Illinois, Florida, Maine and the Ninth Circuit. I thank Senator Grassley for changing his schedule in order to chair our most recent hearing and for his continuing efforts on behalf of his Eighth Circuit nominee.

Violence Against Women Act

I am pleased to see the agenda this week includes a place for the bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act on which Senator Biden and Senator Hatch have been consulting for so long and that so many of us cosponsored when it was introduced yesterday. I hope that we can move forward on this important measure in a bipartisan manner without unnecessary delay. Bulletproof Vest Grant Partnership Act

I had asked last month, in connection with National Police Week, that the Committee take up S.2413, the bill that I introduced with Senators Campbell, Hatch, Thurmond, Kohl, Schumer and others to improve our Bulletproof Vest Grant Partnership Act by reauthorizing the program for another 3 years and raising the annual appropriation to $50 million.

I look forward to the Committee acting on this bill along with other bipartisan and consensus measures before July 4. My staff has begun suggesting a number of such consensus measures and we look forward to working on that agenda with the Chairman and his staff.

Internet Security Legislation

In addition to introducing the Internet Security Act, S.2430, I have spent some time considering amendments to S.2448 and my staff is continuing to meet with the Chairman’s on his bill. I would hope that we could develop a consensus bill from our various bills and proposals and report it to the Senate for consideration. That has been my suggestion to the Chairman and I look forward to working with him on this important area of mutual concern. I think that when we roll up our sleeves and work together, as we have on intellectual property matters and as we did on civil asset forfeiture reform, we can be successful.

Federalizing Class Actions

I expect that the bulk of our time today will be spent on the bill to federalize class actions. I will have an opening statement and amendments to offer when appropriate with respect to that matter.