[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 43 (Tuesday, April 19, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     CRIME BILL ALREADY POLITICIZED

  (Mr. SCHIFF asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, in the last several minutes we have heard 
several lectures from members of the majority party to us on the 
minority side, particularly demanding that we on our side not 
politicize the coming crime bill. I find that remarkable, because the 
majority party has already highly politicized the crime bill through 
its control of the Committee on Rules.
  Under action by the Committee on Rules, a number of amendments which 
Republicans would have liked to have offered to the crime bill and 
which, in my opinion, would have vastly improved it will not even be 
considered because they are not allowed to be considered.
  Let me just give three examples: If allowed, there would have been an 
amendment offered that would have said that for two convictions for 
violent crimes, particularly two convictions for being a serial violent 
crime committer, violent crime criminal, then life in prison would 
apply. That amendment will not be heard on the House floor today.
  The bill, as written, says that it lowers, actually lowers, the 
penalty for certain drug traffickers. A Republican offered an amendment 
to take that provision out of the bill, but that amendment will not be 
considered here today.
  In the prevention section, quite a number of pork-barrel projects 
have been put in there, bills Members have been trying to pass for 
years without success. They have added the words to their bill for the 
purpose of preventing crime, and we are not allowed to amend to take 
those out.
  I suggest that the call for an end to politicization of this bill is 
a little late.

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