'You're Ignoring The Reality, Frankly': Jack Reed Has Tense Exchange With AG Pam Bondi

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At todays' Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) questioned AG Pam Bondi.

Transcript

00:00Senator Reid.

00:03Senator Moran, thank you.

00:06You're welcome.

00:07You're going to light today.

00:09Yes.

00:10Madam Attorney General, on May 16th, the Department of Justice announced that it dropped litigation

00:17to enforce the law against forced reset triggers.

00:22These are devices that can be installed in a few minutes on guns like an AR-15 in order

00:28to match the rate of fire of a machine gun.

00:32In fact, according to demonstrations on YouTube and elsewhere, you can dispose of an entire

00:3830-round magazine in about four seconds.

00:41So it is a fully automatic weapon.

00:43In the press release announcing the settlement, you are quoted as saying the settlement, quote,

00:48will enhance public safety.

00:51How does putting more automatic weapons, which have been against the law since the 1930s,

00:57enhance public safety?

00:59Thank you for that question, Senator Reid.

01:01What that will do, it will enhance public safety by settling the litigation because it is a

01:07guarantee that the manufacturer will not put that in handguns.

01:12We settled those cases because it was the right decision under the law.

01:16But nothing's comical about this.

01:18These devices are materially the same as bump stocks.

01:21The Supreme Court said last year that they are not machine guns under federal law.

01:28We followed the law.

01:29We will continue to follow the law.

01:32I'm a career prosecutor.

01:33I'm going to do everything in my power to keep Americans safe.

01:36What we should be concerned about up here are all the illegal guns flowing into our country

01:41by illegal aliens who have been free to walk into our country over the past four years.

01:47And we have taken thousands of those guns off of the street, including drugs and violent criminals.

01:54How can you go ahead and say we are more safe today because they will not put these automatic

02:02firing devices and pistols, which have magazines of about maybe 20 rounds at most or maybe 10,

02:09and have a range much less than an automatic weapon.

02:13Have you ever fired an automatic weapon?

02:15I have.

02:16Well, you understand then that that's a device that was designed to kill people.

02:22It's not a hunting rifle.

02:24It's not a target rifle.

02:25It's mass fire.

02:27And you made a compromise saying, well, don't put them in pistols.

02:31But you can go ahead and put them out in automatic weapons.

02:35We follow the law.

02:36We will continue to follow the law.

02:38You and I clearly disagree on the Second Amendment.

02:41Well, I agree that machine guns are not appropriate in the United States.

02:48And since 1930 or so, we've outlawed machine guns.

02:54And these semi-automatic weapons that are produced in volume so easily convert to automatic weapons

03:04that you're ignoring the reality, frankly.

03:09I'm following the law, Senator.

03:11Well, yes.

03:12That's right.

03:13By the way, how many American weapons are going to Mexico in a year?

03:19What are we doing to stop American weapons going to Mexico to arm their gangs?

03:25Well, we need to support that on both sides.

03:29Well, what are you doing to support it on our side?

03:33We are arresting people who have illegal firearms in our country.

03:39We're not sending people back to Mexico with guns.

03:41We're throwing them in our jails and prosecuting them.

03:43No.

03:44We're allowing them to be purchased in the United States and driven across the border.

03:48Most of these gangs have completely turned themselves into military organizations because

03:58they're using American weapons, American technology.

04:01And your argument is that, well, we're not doing anything about then.

04:05No, not my argument.

04:06That was the policy of the last four years of the Biden administration with open borders.

04:10You could come back and forth across our borders.

04:12You could buy guns.

04:13You could take guns off the street.

04:15You could shoot people in our country.

04:16What are you doing to stop the flow?

04:17You could bring fentanyl into our country.

04:18You could bring meth and felmin into our country.

04:19Excuse me.

04:20You could bring cocaine into our country.

04:21That was the previous administration.

04:24No, no.

04:25Not this one.

04:26What are you doing to stop the flow of weapons into Mexico?

04:29We are arresting flow of weapons into – we are – our borders are closed.

04:35We are arresting illegal cartels.

04:38Oh, really?

04:39Sinaloa from Mexico, MS-13 from El Salvador, TDA.

04:43We are arresting from Venezuela.

04:46ATF has seized over 14,600 guns since Donald Trump has been president.

04:54That's a 33% increase from the last administration.

04:58And think about that.

04:59That's where our borders are secure.

05:00Excuse me.

05:01Were they coming into the United States?

05:02They weren't doing anything.

05:03Were they coming into the United States?

05:04These –

05:05Our borders are closed.

05:06They're not coming in or out of the United States now across Mexico.

05:09We've done a 33% increase in firearm seizures.

05:15Think about that.

05:16Think about that, Senator, from the last administration.

05:1833% increase.

05:20And our borders are closed.

05:21So we're getting all these guns off the streets that came into our country.

05:25And I'm so proud of the work of the men and women in law enforcement.

05:28Well, I don't think you've done anything to severely interrupt the arming of Mexican gangs.

05:32Because that's really not what your focus – and I think your focus should be on that.

05:38But thank you, Mr. Chairman.

05:40And can I just add one thing?

05:41No, excuse me.

05:42Because the borders are closed.

05:43Because the borders are closed, we are stopping the guns from going to Mexico.

05:48Well, let me tell you – let me ask you another question.

05:50If the borders are closed, why do we have a division headquarters of the United States Army in Fort Huachuca

05:58and military elements across the board when the borders closed and Border Patrol can handle it?

06:06As former military, I would think you would know the answer to that, to keep Americans safe.

06:11No, I think it's to promote the President's policies on the border

06:16and the readiness of our forces of suffering as a result. Thank you.

06:20Senator Britt.

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