[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 11 (Tuesday, February 8, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                            CRIME IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HINCHEY. Mr. Speaker, this past week in one short 2-hour period 
the message of violence among the young struck home in New York's 26th 
Congressional District. As we deliberate here today it will strike in 
countless other districts across the Nation.
  I represent the city of Newburgh--a city of only 27,000 people. Two 
hours of violence this past Sunday morning left two young people dead 
and three injured and countless others traumatized. One young woman 
shot and killed her lover--a young man suspected of beating her. A 15-
year-old boy was shot and killed in a dispute over a girl. And 2 West 
Point cadets were stabbed, another beaten and yet another 17-year-old 
recruit was beaten as well after being chased by a mob of 50 others. 
And yet another man was hit when a stray gunshot ripped through his 
hand as he walked down the street with his wife.
  How much more of this do we need to witness before we are prepared to 
ask what is wrong with our society? And what are we prepared to do 
about it?
  Violence by and against our children is pervading our Nation, 
particularly in places once considered safe--our schools--our homes. 
Almost one out of eight youths in America is assaulted, robbed, or 
raped each year--and this is nationwide. We all know this number is 
much higher in some neighborhoods. Neighborhoods where hope and 
opportunity have died. We have seen an increase of 47 percent among 
juveniles charged with violent crime in just the past 10 years. More 
than ever we need to work together as a community to address this 
violence against and among our children.
  It is time for us to take a hard look at the causes of crime. It's 
not just caused by the accessibility of weapons or the glamorization of 
violence in video games or the abuse children suffer at home or gangs 
or illegal drugs though each of these contributes to and exacerbates 
the picture. At the root--this violence is fed by hopelessness--by 
unemployment--by poverty--by babies having babies. It may be a good 
idea to have 100,000 cops on the beat, but let's not fool ourselves 
into believing that this will solve the problem of violence. We need to 
pull ourselves together as a nation and begin to attack the 
hopelessness and the sense of desperation felt by too many of our 
people.

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