[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 51 (Tuesday, May 3, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


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

 
         VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 1994

                                 ______


                               speech of

                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 21, 1994

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Violent 
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 because we need 
desperately to turn back the clock on crime and violence in our 
society.
  When residents in the 12th Congressional District--suburban Oakland 
and Macomb County communities--are afraid to jog at night, to go to the 
mall alone, or to allow their kids to play in the nearby park, we must 
say, enough is enough. It is intolerable that we no longer feel safe.
  Why should we accept anything less for our own kids and grandkids 
than we ourselves enjoyed? I remember vividly, how as teenagers, my 
brother and I felt safe--day or night--on the streets of our 
neighborhoods, playing ball in the park, or taking the bus to see the 
Detroit Red Wings.
  We must turn back the clock on crime and violence.
  We must act swiftly and smartly. We must marshall our resources to 
provide for both punishment and prevention.
  We must do so in a way that is effective for communities both large 
and small. For example, when we add more community police, and we must 
do so, we must leave the decision of how to use them up to local law 
enforcement. One community may need to add law enforcement officers to 
their streets, while another would benefit by adding them to 
multijurisdictional task forces. In either case, the end result is the 
same--combating criminal activity in a manner that will prove most 
effective in our individual communities.
  We also need to focus on our future, our children. We must stop dead 
in its tracks the spread of youth violence and drug abuse. We need the 
programs in this bill which provide constructive alternatives so that 
our young people don't get started in criminal activity. But, if they 
do, we need the boot camps this bill provides to prevent youthful, 
first-time, nonviolent offenders from taking even further steps toward 
violent action.
  Most important, those who commit criminal acts should face swift and 
certain punishment. We need the provision in this bill which tells 
criminals that if you commit three violent offenses, your clock has run 
out. And we need the Federal funds this bill provides to build and run 
State prisons. Prison overcrowding is an outrageous excuse for granting 
parole.
  If we are truly going to turn back the clock on crime and violence in 
our communities--and I believe we should accept nothing less--we must 
start today by passing this bill. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
support.

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