[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 44 (Wednesday, April 20, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 20, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
          SUPPORT THE PRYCE-STUPAK AMENDMENT TO THE CRIME BILL

  (Ms. PRYCE of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks).
  Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support for the 
Pryce-Stupak amendment, a simple, commonsense step toward reducing 
violence in America and addressing the rights of crime victims. Very 
simply, it prohibits weight training and fighting instruction within 
our Federal prisons. With the dual benefit of making prisons safer for 
our corrections officers and helping protect potential crime victims.
  Not only is this equipment used inside prisons as weapons--but it 
also supplies a means for many prisoners, already prone to violence, to 
increase their strength and bulk. We have unwittingly been mass 
producing a super breed of criminals.
  As a former prosecutor and judge, I understand the value of exercise 
as an inmate management tool. But, there are so many other forms of 
exercise--including basketball, jogging, aerobics, handball, and 
calisthenics--that cost much less and make more sense.
  It defies logic that we are using taxpayers' money to provide state-
of-the-art health clubs for convicted criminals. This is not a bread 
and water measure. Some of these prisons have larger weight programs 
than many high school athletic departments.

  The Pryce-Stupak amendment is not a cure-all to crime. But, it is an 
important step for victims rights. Mr. Speaker, who is running our 
prisons anyway? If you want to stop building a better thug, support the 
Pryce-Stupak amendment. Let us replace barbells with books.

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