Jason Altmire

U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-4th, testified Wednesday before the House Budget Committee about his priorities for the fiscal year 2012 budget.

He urged the committee to write a budget that cuts wasteful spending, protects veterans’ benefits, combats illegal immigration, and fosters innovation.

In particular, he asked the committee to adopt the president’s recommendation for funding for 21,370 border patrol agents and to hire an additional 300 customs and border protection officers to improve passenger and cargo screening.

Additionally, Altmire urged the committee to provide funding to complete the U.S.–Mexico border fence.

Altmire asked the committee to provide adequate funding for the National Institutes of Health. That, he said, would help create high-quality and high-paying jobs and strengthen America’s advantage in cutting-edge fields.

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Altmire, D-4th, has joined with U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, to introduce legislation that would in part remove unnecessary restrictions on federally licensed firearms dealers and importers in the United States.The proposed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Reform Act would improve the ATF by amending and clarifying its policies, Altmire said.“I want to make sure that federally licensed firearms dealers are not subject to poorly formulated and unnecessary regulations,” he said.“The legislation that I have introduced will bring common-sense reform to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives so that it can do a better job of punishing lawbreakers and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals without placing undue restrictions on local businesses.”The measure, he said, would help to ensure that the regulations governing individuals and companies that hold a federal firearms license are clear and fair.It would create a new system of penalties for federal firearms license holders who commit minor violations.Altmire said it would prevent the ATF from revoking federal firearms licenses for minor technical violations, such as improperly using abbreviations or filing records in the wrong order.However, revocation of a license would still be an option to punish a willful violation of the law.The congressman noted that the legislation would also help small businesses that sell firearms by:n Providing federal firearms license holders with time to liquidate their inventories if they are going out of business.n Allowing a grace period for people taking over a firearms business in which they can correct record-keeping problems.n Reforming the license application procedures.Additionally, the measure would permanently ban the creation of a centralized electronic index of dealers’ records to protect gun owners’ privacy.———

Marc Scaringi, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in the primary, will make a campaign visit at 7 p.m. Monday at the Kaufman House, 105 S. Main St., Zelienople.