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STATEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET RENO

"Last month, the Senate came together in a spirit of bipartisanship and passed serious gun legislation that will help keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of fugitives, felons and our children. At that time, I expressed my hope that the House would follow suit. There are a number of other important gun safety measures that I would support, and that the Justice Department stands ready to encourage this country to adopt, but for now the sensible measures in the Senate passed legislation deserve to be enacted into law.

"This week we had the first glimpse of the House juvenile justice bill that will be taken up on Wednesday. While I am pleased to report that it contains many promising proposals to address violence in our nation, I was very disappointed to see that it has undermined the common-sense measures passed by the Senate to close the gun show loophole.

"There are a number of problems with the House version of the gun-show bill. Let me give you two examples.

• The Senate bill defined "gun show" to cover all events where a large number of guns are for sale. But the current House bill will not require background checks at lots of events where large numbers of guns are sold, such as flea markets. It doesn't matter to criminals if the event is called a gun show or a flea market - if they can buy guns without a Brady check, they will come.
• The Senate bill also extended the current Brady Law to gun shows. This law has worked so well to stop more than 250,000 criminals and other prohibited people from getting guns without hurting legitimate gun purchasers. Unfortunately, the House bill changes the Brady Law by cutting down the time by which law enforcement has to complete background checks at gun shows. Cutting the amount of time won't really benefit law abiding buyers.

The vast majority are already able to buy their guns almost immediately. But the House bill is sure going to make it easier for criminals to buy guns on weekends when their State court records are inaccessible.

"Last month the American people spoke and the Senate listened. They heard the American people say that they wanted to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and kids, and the Senate acted to do just that. I am hopeful that the House will also listen to the people of this country and pass a bill that makes all Americans - and particularly children -- safer. "Before I take your questions, I would like to address another issue of great concern to me - one which is currently before the Senate.

"Yesterday, the Senate Budget Committee completely de-funded President Clinton's 21^st Century Community Policing Initiative. I don't understand it. Less than a month ago we learned that crime has gone down for the seventh year in a row. A factor in that extraordinary success in fighting crime has been due to dedicated local police departments working diligently to protect their communities and build trust. We have watched police departments across the nation transform as they have adopted community-oriented policing principles, supported by the additional officers provided by the COPS program.

"Just two days ago, in our conference on improving police-community relationships, I heard from law enforcement, civil rights and community leaders, who all told me that community-oriented policing, done in a way that builds trust and involves the community, has made a real difference, and has improved the quality of policing across America. We must continue to do everything in our power to bring the crime rate even lower - to help every person in this country to feel safe in his or her neighborhood. It is essential to continue the COPS program. I hope that the Senate takes the opportunity to correct this mistake before the 2000 budget is finalized."

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