[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 85 (Wednesday, June 29, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  Mr. MICHEL. Mr. Speaker, I take this time to give the membership an 
update on where we are, and I yield to the distinguished majority 
leader.
  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, as we 
informed the Members earlier, a negotiation has been going on about the 
DC bill. It is my understanding that negotiation has not succeeded. 
Therefore, it is intended to have a pro forma session tomorrow and to 
not bring up the DC bill.
  I would tell the Members on this side of the aisle that the whip 
meeting which is scheduled for tomorrow will be held tomorrow morning 
at 8:30.
  Mr. MICHEL. Might I also for the edification of the Members on our 
date to come back, Tuesday, July 12, would we expect votes on Tuesday? 
Do we know enough about that as of yet?
  Mr. GEPHARDT. We will try to notify the Cloakrooms as to what time 
they might begin, but we would expect votes on Tuesday.
  Mr. MICHEL. I thank the distinguished majority leader.
  Mr. MONTGOMERY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. MICHEL. I yield to the distinguished gentleman from Mississippi.
  Mr. MONTGOMERY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to announce to all sinners 
here tonight, we will have the prayer breakfast here at 8 o'clock 
tomorrow in the Capitol Building.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. MICHEL. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, let me announce to Members on our side that 
we will have the conference as scheduled tomorrow morning. Members will 
find it an interesting conference. There is going to be a surprise 
announcement there that Members will all be interested in. We are not 
telling the other side over there.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. MICHEL. I yield to the gentlewoman from Colorado.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, I know the minority leader would also 
like to have those on this side join with him in wishing the 
gentlewoman from New York and the gentleman from New York a wonderful 
wedding that they are going to be having over the break.
  Ms. MOLINARI. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, I thank the 
gentlewoman from Colorado for her thoughtfulness.
  (Mr. MICHEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
[Mr. Santorum].
  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. Speaker, let me just address two issues that have 
been brought up by the other side.
  First, with the gentleman from New York who talked about the fact 
that this amendment is going to require the evidence to be admitted. 
That is not what this amendment does. It allows the judge the 
discretion to admit it.
  Mr. Speaker, how come when it comes to judge's discretion in 
sentencing for criminals it is OK, for a judge's discretion for 
evidence with respect to criminals, that is OK, but for a judge's 
discretion with respect to victims, it is not OK.

                              {time}  2340

  I think we have to start looking at both sides of the equation and 
start looking at what kind of discretion we allow judges to use. If we 
trust their judgement in one respect, we should trust it just as much 
for the other party involved in the crime.
  Second, when it comes to the issue of process, I cannot believe what 
we are saying here tonight is that we are going to allow a serial 
rapist, a serial sexual assaulter, a serial child molester the 
opportunity to continue without having that relevant evidence brought 
before the judge because the process of the Supreme Court and the 
committee that judges rules of evidence has not gotten around to 
dealing with this issue. That is what we are elected to do, not wait 
for them to tell us what is in our best interests, but in fact move 
forward.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. SANTORUM. I am happy to yield to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. Speaker, I would ask the gentleman if we have a 
serial rapist who has a conviction for serial rape, is it not true that 
the rules of evidence allow and the judge cannot block that evidence 
from being admitted right now.
  Mr. SANTORUM. The gentleman is correct.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. SANTORUM. I urge an ``aye'' vote.
  Mr. HUGHES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, a lot of statements are being made.
  Members have to read the rule. The rule makes it admissible. It can 
be hearsay. The defendant could have been acquitted of a prior offense, 
similar offense, and it still is admissible. That is what it says. It 
is not within the discretion of the court.
  For that reason and that reason alone, Members should reject this. It 
is ridiculous to suggest we are going to introduce evidence on another 
matter that indicates on a previous matter there was some evidence of a 
criminal offense when that defendant was acquitted of that offense. 
That is crazy. I mean we are talking about changes that have not been 
thought through. They really go to the heart of the whole due process 
that we accord to defendants, and I would urge my colleagues to reject 
the motion to instruct.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. MOLINARI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes to respond.
  The law as proposed states, ``In a criminal cause in which the 
defendant is accused of an offense of sexual assault, evidence of the 
defendant's commission of another offense or offenses of sexual assault 
is admissible and may be considered for its bearing on any matter to 
which it is deemed relevant by the judge.'' It is not mandatory.
  Mr. Speaker, I will cite one more case study and then I will close.

       State v. Pace, 275 S.E.2d 254 (N.C. App. 1981). In this 
     case, the victim, Cynthia Hairston, was an acquaintance of 
     the defendant Pace. Pace encountered the victim while she was 
     waiting for a bus, and invited her to wait in his car because 
     it was cold in the bus station. When she got into the car, he 
     drove to a dead end street, and there twice raped her and 
     forced her to perform oral sex. The victim attempted to 
     resist but was limited in her ability to do so by the fact 
     that she was eight months pregnant at the time.
       At the trial of Pace for assaulting Cynthia Hairston, the 
     government also presented another witness, Vickie Rorie, who 
     testified that Pace had raped her about two months earlier, 
     At that time, she met Pace through a friend. Later on the day 
     that they met, Pace had come to her apartment, threatened her 
     with a weapon, and raped her. As with Cynthia Hairston, Pace 
     addressed her as ``Baby Girl'' during the assault.
       In relation to both incidents, Pace admitted engaging in 
     sex with the victims at the times in question, but stated 
     that it had been consensual. This defense was disbelieved, 
     and Pace was convicted.

  Because of the law as it stands today, the conviction was reversed on 
appeal. The appellate court said that the testimony of Vickie Rorie 
only ``tended to show the bad character of the defendant and his 
disposition to commit sex crimes,'' and hence was deemed inadmissible, 
and the case was overturned.
  Mr. Speaker, to close the debate, I yield such time as he may consume 
to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum].
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me 
the time.
  Mr. Speaker, I would just like to point out in closing this debate 
here tonight that it has been 10 weeks since we passed a crime bill on 
the floor of the House, 10 weeks. It was back in April when we did 
this. We have had one pro forma meeting of the conference committee 
between the House and the Senate.
  According to the crime statistics clock that runs all of the time, 
there is a rape committee every 5 minutes. By the calculations that I 
have made, over that 10-week period there have been almost 21,000 
forcible rapes committee in this country. Tonight we have an 
opportunity by this motion to instruct to do something we did not do in 
that crime bill but we have the opportunity to do and to correct a 
little bit when the conference committee meets. That is to give an 
instruction, and that is all Members are voting on tonight, and 
instruction to our conferees to agree to a provision in the Senate bill 
that we never got the opportunity to vote on out here or to debate on 
the floor. But it is something the gentlewoman from New York has been 
trying to do for a long time, and it is the right thing to do.
  All of the technicalities notwithstanding, there is a problem with 
the rules of evidence with regard to the ability to produce the kind of 
background necessary to get rape convictions in this country. It is an 
important vote, and I certainly urge a yes vote and I thank the 
gentlewoman for offering it and for giving us this opportunity.
  Ms. MOLINARI. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HUGHES. Mr. Speaker, I move the previous question on the motion 
to instruct.


                       announcement by the speaker

  The SPEAKER. The Chair wishes to announce before putting the question 
that in addition to the program announced by the majority and minority 
leaders, the Chair will recognize the gentleman from North Carolina 
[Mr. Rose] following the conclusion of the pending business, for the 
purpose of offering a Senate Concurrent Resolution 68 concerning the 
printing of a document on which I understand there will be no objection 
from either side.
  Without objection, the previous question is ordered.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER. The question is on the motion to instruct offered by the 
gentleman from New Yok [Ms. Molinari].
  The question was taken; and the Speaker announced that the ayes 
appeared to have it.


                              recorded vote

  Ms. MOLINARI. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 348, 
noes 62, not voting 24, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 314]

                               AYES--348

     Ackerman
     Allard
     Andrews (NJ)
     Archer
     Armey
     Bacchus (FL)
     Bachus (AL)
     Baesler
     Baker (CA)
     Baker (LA)
     Ballenger
     Barca
     Barcia
     Barlow
     Barrett (NE)
     Barrett (WI)
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bentley
     Bereuter
     Bevill
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop
     Blackwell
     Bliley
     Blute
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonior
     Borski
     Brewster
     Browder
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Bryant
     Bunning
     Burton
     Buyer
     Byrne
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Canady
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carr
     Castle
     Chapman
     Clement
     Clinger
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Coleman
     Collins (GA)
     Combest
     Condit
     Cooper
     Coppersmith
     Costello
     Cox
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crapo
     Cunningham
     Danner
     Darden
     de la Garza
     Deal
     DeLauro
     DeLay
     Deutsch
     Diaz-Balart
     Dickey
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Dooley
     Doolittle
     Dornan
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Durbin
     Edwards (TX)
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     Engel
     English
     Eshoo
     Everett
     Ewing
     Farr
     Fawell
     Fazio
     Fields (LA)
     Fields (TX)
     Filner
     Fingerhut
     Ford (TN)
     Fowler
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (CT)
     Franks (NJ)
     Frost
     Gallegly
     Gallo
     Gejdenson
     Gekas
     Gephardt
     Geren
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Gingrich
     Glickman
     Goodlatte
     Goodling
     Gordon
     Goss
     Grams
     Green
     Greenwood
     Gunderson
     Gutierrez
     Hall (TX)
     Hamilton
     Hancock
     Hansen
     Harman
     Hastert
     Hayes
     Hefley
     Hefner
     Herger
     Hilliard
     Hinchey
     Hoagland
     Hobson
     Hochbrueckner
     Hoekstra
     Hoke
     Holden
     Horn
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Huffington
     Hunter
     Hutchinson
     Hutto
     Hyde
     Inglis
     Inhofe
     Inslee
     Istook
     Jacobs
     Jefferson
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Johnston
     Kaptur
     Kasich
     Kennelly
     Kildee
     Kim
     King
     Kingston
     Kleczka
     Klein
     Klink
     Klug
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kreidler
     Kyl
     LaFalce
     Lambert
     Lancaster
     Lantos
     LaRocco
     Laughlin
     Lazio
     Leach
     Lehman
     Levin
     Levy
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Lightfoot
     Linder
     Lipinski
     Livingston
     Lloyd
     Long
     Lucas
     Maloney
     Manton
     Manzullo
     Margolies-Mezvinsky
     Markey
     Martinez
     Matsui
     Mazzoli
     McCandless
     McCloskey
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McCurdy
     McDade
     McHale
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McKeon
     McMillan
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Menendez
     Meyers
     Mfume
     Mica
     Michel
     Miller (FL)
     Mineta
     Minge
     Mink
     Moakley
     Molinari
     Montgomery
     Moorhead
     Moran
     Morella
     Myers
     Neal (MA)
     Neal (NC)
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Ortiz
     Orton
     Oxley
     Packard
     Pallone
     Parker
     Pastor
     Paxon
     Payne (VA)
     Penny
     Peterson (FL)
     Peterson (MN)
     Petri
     Pickle
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Portman
     Poshard
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Quillen
     Quinn
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Ravenel
     Reed
     Regula
     Reynolds
     Richardson
     Ridge
     Roberts
     Roemer
     Rogers
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Rose
     Roth
     Rowland
     Royce
     Sabo
     Santorum
     Sarpalius
     Sawyer
     Saxton
     Schaefer
     Schenk
     Schiff
     Schroeder
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sharp
     Shaw
     Shays
     Shepherd
     Shuster
     Sisisky
     Skeen
     Skelton
     Slattery
     Slaughter
     Smith (IA)
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Snowe
     Solomon
     Spence
     Spratt
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stump
     Stupak
     Sundquist
     Swett
     Talent
     Tanner
     Tauzin
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Tejeda
     Thomas (CA)
     Thomas (WY)
     Thompson
     Thornton
     Thurman
     Torkildsen
     Torres
     Torricelli
     Traficant
     Upton
     Volkmer
     Vucanovich
     Walker
     Walsh
     Weldon
     Wheat
     Williams
     Wilson
     Wise
     Wolf
     Wyden
     Wynn
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)
     Zeliff
     Zimmer

                                NOES--62

     Abercrombie
     Andrews (ME)
     Becerra
     Beilenson
     Berman
     Brooks
     Brown (CA)
     Clayton
     Collins (IL)
     Collins (MI)
     Conyers
     Coyne
     Derrick
     Dixon
     Edwards (CA)
     Evans
     Flake
     Foglietta
     Furse
     Gonzalez
     Hamburg
     Hastings
     Hughes
     Kanjorski
     Kennedy
     Kopetski
     Lewis (GA)
     Lowey
     Mann
     McDermott
     McKinney
     Meek
     Miller (CA)
     Mollohan
     Nadler
     Olver
     Owens
     Payne (NJ)
     Pelosi
     Rangel
     Rostenkowski
     Roukema
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Sanders
     Sangmeister
     Schumer
     Scott
     Skaggs
     Stokes
     Swift
     Synar
     Towns
     Tucker
     Unsoeld
     Velazquez
     Vento
     Visclosky
     Waters
     Watt
     Waxman
     Woolsey

                             NOT VOTING--24

     Andrews (TX)
     Applegate
     Bateman
     Boucher
     Clay
     DeFazio
     Dellums
     Fish
     Ford (MI)
     Gibbons
     Grandy
     Hall (OH)
     Lewis (FL)
     Machtley
     Murphy
     Murtha
     Pickett
     Smith (OR)
     Stark
     Studds
     Valentine
     Washington
     Whitten
     Yates

                              {time}  0004

  Ms. PELOSI changed her vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  Messrs. MOAKLEY, HOKE, ACKERMAN, and JEFFERSON changed their vote 
from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the motion to instruct was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________