[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 99 (Tuesday, July 26, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
        INTRODUCTION OF THE LAW ENFORCEMENT SUPPORT ACT OF 1994

  (Mr. COOPER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, many Americans have been glued to their 
television sets the past several weeks, watching every development in 
the O.J. Simpson case. The case has reminded us of the extremely 
influential role lawyers play in the criminal process.
  Under current law, slick defense lawyers are able to free their 
clients based on a number of legal technicalities. The so-called 
exclusionary rule allows courts to keep evidence seized from crime 
scenes away from juries, if the police or prosecutors have not jumped 
through all the legal hoops required by current law.
  We are, all of us, outraged about crime. We have to plug the legal 
loopholes that let criminals go free. We have to allow the police to do 
their jobs. That's why I have introduced the Law Enforcement Support 
Act of 1994. This bill would require courts to admit evidence obtained 
in a search or seizure which was undertaken in good faith. If a police 
officer reasonably believes he is acting properly under the fourth 
amendment, such evidence would not be excluded.
  This bill is not revolutionary--it passed the 102d Congress handily, 
by a bipartisan vote of 247 to 165, only to be deleted in conference. 
Now is the right time for the Congress to pass this measure again. We 
should not handcuff the police as they fight crime. I urge my 
colleagues to cosponsor and support the Law Enforcement Support Act of 
1994.

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