[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 22 (Thursday, March 3, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                             THE CRIME BILL

  Mr. KERREY. Mr. President, if I might just respond to the good 
statement of the distinguished Senator from Utah that he just made on 
crime, I share, as I suspect everybody in the Midwest does, his concern 
for rising crime, particularly rising adolescent crime.
  I also point out that much of the dilemma that we are going to face 
in law enforcement, as the distinguished Senator just pointed out, is 
with reference to the FBI, which has not hired, it is my understanding, 
since March 1992, an additional agent. Much of that is caused by the 
budget caps that have been imposed.
  I am prepared to work with the Senator from Utah and others who are 
concerned about how we provide resources that are consistent with their 
own caps. We all talk about crime. We all talk about wanting to provide 
additional resources. We just had the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and 
Firearms before the Appropriations Committee yesterday. We are asking 
for more money for the Achilles Task Force and we are asking for 
continued support for our program called the Gang Resistance Education 
and Training Program, both of which are the very sorts of collaborative 
efforts that the distinguished Senator is trying to develop.
  The dilemma is we have caps that are going to force us really to 
engage in a debate about what our priorities are. It seems to me that 
particularly, for example, in Omaha, NE, since 1985, 1986, and 1987, in 
that range, our city was invaded by crack cocaine. We all know from our 
own hearings and discussions with law enforcement officers how crack 
cocaine has changed the nature of law enforcement. It just seems to me 
as well that we have not really been terribly realistic about the need 
to provide the resources commensurate with our own urgency, at least as 
expressed by our speeches.
  Unless we do, Mr. President, it seems to me that we are going to have 
to disclose to the American people that there is a lot of hypocrisy in 
our words, and that we do not really mean what we say. We will talk 
about crime, and then not follow through.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, will the Senator yield on that point?
  Mr. KERREY. Certainly. I am happy to yield.
  Mr. HATCH. We actually have the money in this bill because of the 
genius of the distinguished Senator from West Virginia in providing for 
that $22.3 billion.
  I agree with the distinguished Senator from Nebraska. We have to put 
our money where our mouths are in this matter because we can no longer 
allow rampant crime.
  I want to thank my dear colleague for his kind remarks.
  Mr. KERREY. I appreciate that.

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