BELLEVUE, WA – Congress must “suck it up and act now” to rein in President Barack Obama and his administration, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today, because at the same time he turns loose five dangerous terrorists who want to hurt us, his administration has been trying to squeeze the economic life out of gun-related companies that have hurt nobody. “President Obama has broken the law by releasing five Taliban terrorist leaders in exchange for one soldier without notifying Congress, ” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “and his administration has been trying to financially strangle gun companies with ‘Operation Choke Point, ‘ and they’ve done nothing wrong. This president’s priorities are way off the grid, and only Congress can stop this nonsense. “ A furor has erupted over the trade of the five terrorists in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who went missing in late June 2009. A separate controversy erupted last week over Operation Choke Point, a Justice Department project that cuts off bank funds to allegedly questionable enterprises, but instead is also being used to restrict funds to companies it finds “objectionable. ” Those companies sell firearms and ammunition. “The Obama administration has happily been pressuring banks to cut off funds to firearms retailers, ” Gottlieb said, “who serve law-abiding citizens interested in protecting their homes and families, while turning loose terrorists who pose a clear and present danger to those same American families. “And there is something else, ” he added. “Right now Mexico is holding a U. S. Marine who accidentally crossed the border with legally-owned firearms in his car, and Obama has done nothing to set that man free. Perhaps the president should deport some Mexican criminals now in American prisons in exchange for our Marine. If Obama is going to trade criminals for one serviceman, he better be ready to do it again. “It is time for Congress to step in and do its job as an equal branch of government, ” Gottlieb concluded. “This administration has created one scandal after another, from Fast and Furious through Obamacare and Benghazi, the IRS the Veterans Administration and now the Taliban release. Congress needs to play the adult and put some brakes on the White House before we all lose our constitutional rights. ” With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States. The Citizens Committee can be reached by phone at (425) 454-4911, on the Internet at www.ccrkba.org or by email to InformationRequest@ccrkba.org.
