On July 13, 2006, 55 Republicans, joined by 28 Democrats and 1 Independent voted to pass Sen. David Vitter’s (R-La.) amendment to prohibit the use of funds allocated under the Homeland Security appropriations bill (H.R. 5441) to be used to confiscate lawfully possessed firearms during an emergency or major disaster. Sixteen Senators opposed the prohibition.
In passing this legislation, the United States Senate acted on a bi-partisan basis to protect the self-defense rights of citizens when those rights are most vital, in the aftermath of a major disaster, when law-abiding citizens are left to defend themselves and their families.
Sixteen Democrats (including both Senators from the states of California, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey and New York) voted to defeat this commonsense legislation. These extreme opponents of the Second Amendment are:
Daniel Akaka, Hawaii
Barbara Boxer, California
Hillary Clinton, New York
Christopher Dodd, Connecticut
Dick Durbin, Illinois
Dianne Feinstein, California
Tom Harkin, Iowa
Daniel Inouye, Hawaii
Edward Kennedy, Massachusetts
Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey
Carl Levin, Michigan
Robert Menéndez, New Jersey
Barbara Mikulski, Maryland
Jack Reed, Rhode Island
Paul Sarbanes, Maryland
Chuck Schumer, New York
Déjà vu Note: Under the unblinking eye of the C-SPAN cameras, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) voted against the Vitter amendment. Minutes later he reversed course and voted for it.
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