Today, President Obama announced additional actions he's taking to keep guns out of the wrong hands and reduce gun violence.
Watch the full remarks now:
Here are some highlights:
"In Dr. King’s words, we need to feel the 'fierce urgency of now.' Because people are dying. And the constant excuses for inaction no longer do, no longer suffice. That’s why we’re here today. Not to debate the last mass shooting, but to do something to try to prevent the next one."
"How did we get here? How did we get to the place where people think requiring a comprehensive background check means taking away people’s guns? Each time this comes up, we are fed the excuse that commonsense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last massacre, or the one before that, or the one before that, so why bother trying. I reject that thinking."
"So let me outline what we're going to be doing. Number one, anybody in the business of selling firearms must get a license and conduct background checks, or be subject to criminal prosecutions … We’re also expanding background checks to cover violent criminals who try to buy some of the most dangerous firearms by hiding behind trusts and corporations and various cutouts … And these steps will actually lead to a smoother process for law-abiding gun owners, a smoother process for responsible gun dealers, a stronger process for protecting the public from dangerous people."
"All of us should be able to work together to find a balance that declares the rest of our rights are also important -- Second Amendment rights are important, but there are other rights that we care about as well. And we have to be able to balance them. Because our right to worship freely and safely -- that right was denied to Christians in Charleston, South Carolina. And that was denied Jews in Kansas City. And that was denied Muslims in Chapel Hill, and Sikhs in Oak Creek. They had rights, too.
Our right to peaceful assembly -- that right was robbed from moviegoers in Aurora and Lafayette. Our unalienable right to life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- those rights were stripped from college students in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara, and from high schoolers at Columbine, and from first-graders in Newtown. First-graders. And from every family who never imagined that their loved one would be taken from our lives by a bullet from a gun."
Read the full remarks.
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President Obama this morning outlined unilateral executive action to further restrict gun ownership. We've got a roundup of tweets reflecting initial reaction tothe move. Why don't government agencies pay attention to watchdogs' suggestions for cutting waste? A Senate subcommittee is looking into entrenched resistance to cost-cutting. This afternoon's Capitol Bell also focuses on why thehousing market in 2015 wasn't what it should have been. Government interference is part of the story.
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Here's how conservatives reacted to Obama's speech on guns. Throughout President Barack Obama’s speech today on his new executive orders on guns, conservatives tweeted their responses. Here are some of their top tweets.
As this was going on, the Office of the House Speaker announced yet again that another attempt is to be made to repeal Obamacare as we saw reports that the Speaker had plans to turn the House into a "Conservative Policy House". We found that report especially interesting in light of the power that organizations such as the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute and others already enjoy:
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Obamacare repeal to hit president's desk for the first time
As promised, Congress will soon put a bill on the president's desk that repeals Obamacare and defunds Planned Parenthood. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) makes the case for our plan in this week's Republican address. The House's vote takes place on Wednesday: 
“ GOP promises House vote to repeal Obamacare, defund Planned Parenthood. House Republicans are starting off 2016 with a renewed legislative push to roll back the president's landmark health care legislation, with proposals to defund Planned Parenthood tacked onto the bill. … Hartzler promised that the bill, which would eliminate the individual mandate as well as the employer mandate to offer insurance, would be sent directly to the president's desk via the reconciliation process.” (CBS News)
“Congressional Republicans are vowing that the first action upon returning to Capitol Hill will be to send a bill to President Obama that repeals his health care law and defunds Planned Parenthood. ' We were sent to Congress to fight for the American people,' Missouri GOP Rep. Vicky Hartzler said Saturday. ' They do not want their healthcare dictated to them by Washington. And they don't want their tax dollars going to abortion providers. … If the president didn't hear the people's voices earlier, hopefully, he will through this bill.'” ( Fox News)
“ Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) on Saturday touted legislation in the House that would repeal key aspects of Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood. … By way of the reconciliation process, Hartzler said, the bill will go straight to President Obama’s desk, circumventing attempts in the Senate to block it. ‘As a result, President Obama will soon have a choice: Does he support the people and women’s health, or does he support Washington mandates and tax dollars going to Planned Parenthood?’ she said.” ( The Hill)
“The bill undoing the president's prized overhaul will be the first order of business when the House reconvenes this coming week… Republicans never before have succeeded in sending a full repeal bill to the White House.” ( Associated Press)
“The top 2016 goal of both Ryan and McConnell is to return Congress to ‘regular order’ — the step-by-step process of passing bills through the congressional committees and then each chamber. First up, the House is set to vote Wednesday to repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood, sending the measure to Obama's desk…” ( Los Angeles Times)
“Republicans in Congress are touting a bid to make President Obama veto a bill that guts the Affordable Care Act and stops federal funding from going to Planned Parenthood. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., highlighted the bill in the GOP's weekly address Saturday. Hartzler argued the bill, which defunds parts of the healthcare law and ends requirements that individuals and businesses buy health insurance ‘would be a significant improvement to our health care system.’” ( Washington Examiner)
“The House of Representatives will vote in a matter of days to confirm the changes the Senate made to the reconciliation bill that would de-fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business, which was caught selling the body parts of aborted babies.” ( LifeNews.com)
“ Congress will send a bill to the White House in hopes of repealing Obamacare and defunding Planned Parenthood next week, and Rep Vicky Hartzler said in Saturday's GOP address that the president will need to make some important decisions. ‘We owe it to the American people to take our best shot at repealing Obamacare, and that’s what we’ll do next week,’ the Missouri Republican said. ‘As a result, President [Barack] Obama will soon have a choice: Does he support the people and women’s health, or does he support Washington mandates and tax dollars going to Planned Parenthood?’” ( Newsmax)
“At the start of the new year, House Republicans will renew efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and stop taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, according to the GOP’s weekly address. Rep. Vicky Hartlzer (R-Mo.) vowed in Saturday’s address to ‘set things right’ as the House prepares to vote on a bill which would eliminate parts of the so-called Obamacare, including repealing the individual mandate as well as the employer mandate.” ( TheBlaze) |
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THE WHITE HOUSE 
