[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 13 (Thursday, February 10, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
        INTRODUCTION OF THE PROTECTION FROM SEXUAL PREDATORS ACT

  (Ms. SLAUGHTER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, as the rate of rape continues to 
increase, it has become clear to me that our current approach to 
convicted sexual offenders is failing.
  Not long ago, my own community of Rochester, NY, was terrorized by 
Arthur Shawcross, a serial rapist and murderer. Shawcross had served 
less than 15 years for the sexually motivated murders of two children 
before he was paroled--and then his parole officer and the justice 
system lost track of him, setting him free to rape and kill again.
  Mr. Speaker, American children deserve to grow up free of the fear of 
rapists. Some national statistics indicate that rapists are 10 times 
more likely than other convicts to repeat their crimes. Since we cannot 
change the behavior of these sexual predators, we need to keep them 
behind bars.
  I am preparing a bill, the Protection from Sexual Predators Act, that 
will allow Federal authorities to keep the Nation's worst repeat 
rapists for life. The legislation also establishes a national data base 
to register and track sex offenders and their crimes.
  I urge my colleagues to endorse the bill as original cosponsors. We 
in Congress must act now. The current system does not work; it is time 
to break this cycle of repeated rape.

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