[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 35 (Thursday, March 24, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1140
 
                          TRUTH IN SENTENCING

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, in 1970, I had one of my first jobs. I was 
in the 9th grade. I sold programs at the University of Georgia football 
games. They were a dollar each. I made big money. We got a 10-percent 
commission. And I was coming back from one game, having successfully 
sold programs for 2 days, and I had my pockets full of one dollar 
bills, 121 of them.
  At that moment I was pulled by two men, dragged behind a car, beat up 
and robbed of all the money. That was when I was 14 years old.
  Mr. Speaker, that made the headlines of the local paper. It was big 
news at the time. Today that is just another day in the life of 
America.
  The average burglar right now serves a 13-month sentence. The average 
murder, who is sentenced for 15 years, serves only 8. The average 
rapist, who is sentenced for 8 years, serves only 3.
  We have our police officers arresting people for the 8th, 9th, 10th, 
11th time. We need to have a truth in sentencing bill.
  The bill that we will not be voting on today did not contain any real 
truth in sentencing.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to have that as an important element of the 
crime package. We also need to have a death penalty provision that puts 
an end to the endless appeals. Right now death row inmates and their 
lawyers can make a career out of appealing their cases. The American 
people, the victims of crime, have had enough of it.
  I have been a victim. I know what it feels like. I am sick and tired 
of it. The rest of America is.
  Mr. Speaker, it is not time to run off to cocktail parties. It is 
time to stay in session and pass a meaningful crime bill that will 
change the tide.

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