PRESS RELEASE
October 2, 1996

STATEMENT BY JOE LOCKHART
NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY

Today marks the four year anniversary of Bob Dole’s votes to stall action on the Crime Bill -- votes which successfully killed the Brady Bill provision. This was not his first vote against gun control legislation. In fact, Bob Dole has long opposed the Brady Bill -- voting against similar legislation as early as 1985. Bob Dole’s stalling techniques might be a mistake once, but time after time?

Bob Dole did not think it was a mistake. On November 27, 1993, on the CBS Evening News, Dole stated, "[W]ill [the Brady bill] make much difference? Probably not." Once again, Bob Dole was wrong. To date, the Brady Law has prevented more than 60,000 felons, fugitives, and other criminals from buying handguns.

The difference between President Clinton and Bob Dole on the Brady Bill could not be more clear. President Clinton is providing leadership that protects families and fights crime. Senator Dole has opposed him every step of the way.

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Bob Dole: Against the Brady Bill

1993: Dole Filibustered, Voted Against Brady Bill
• On November 20, 1993, Dole voted against passage of the Brady Bill. [1993 CQ Almanac, p. 302; p. 51-S, vote # 394]
• Upon voting against final passage, Dole stated: "We lost one." [Houston Chronicle, 11/25/93]
• Dole had also led a GOP filibuster of the Brady Bill, voting twice against cloture, despite the fact that the bill represented a compromise measure that he helped draft. [1993 CQ Almanac, p. 302; votes #387, #390, 11/19/93, p. 50-S]

Dole Successfully Blocked Brady Bill for Years Before Clinton Signed It
• Over several years, Bob Dole tried numerous times to kill the Brady Bill:
• In 1992, Dole voted twice against ending a Republican filibuster of an Omnibus Crime Bill that included Brady Bill provisions (HR 3371), thereby killing the Brady Bill for that year. [1992 CQ Almanac, vote #53, 3/19/92, p. 8-S; vote #262, 10/2/92, p. 34-S; p.311-313]
• In 1991, Dole voted to continue a filibuster of a crime bill that contained Brady Bill provisions. [1991 CQ Almanac, p.262-273; p. 36-S, vote #278, 11/27/91]