[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 111 (Thursday, August 11, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
             THE RULE FOR THE CRIME BILL CONFERENCE REPORT

  (Mr. HUFFINGTON asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HUFFINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to 
vote against the rule for the crime bill conference report. Once again, 
the majority leadership is trying to use parliamentary tricks and 
restrictive rules to ram a flawed bill through this chamber.
  Mr. Speaker, I have stood here incredulous as the majority has 
accused the minority of forcing congressional gridlock--an amazing 
assertion given that the Democrat party controls both chambers and the 
White House. In fact, the real reason Congress is struggling to pass a 
crime bill is that the liberal leadership insists on stuffing 
legislation the country needs with social experiments the American 
people just do not want.
  Allow me to remind my colleagues of a disturbing trend. In just 15 
years we have gone from having 15 percent of the legislation on the 
floor considered under restrictive rules to almost three quarters of 
the bills considered under restrictive rules.
  And the crime bill is no different. Republican attempts to improve 
the bill have been blocked throughout the entire process.
  I may be just a freshman, but I know that clean conference reports do 
not need rules to come to the floor. Rules are sought when protection 
is needed for dubious programs. And boy does this bill need protection.
  Let me make this perfectly clear for the American public: This bill 
needs protection because arts programs, midnight basketball programs, 
self-esteem programs, and most of the rest of the social welfare 
programs slipped into this bill have very little to do with fighting 
crime. And unless protected by a special rule, these pet projects would 
be gone.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, a simple observation. Our fellow citizens 
increasingly live under the specter of violent crime. And they have 
asked us to do something about it. They asked for a tough crime bill. 
And they know this is not it. I urge my colleagues to vote down the 
rule, send this legislation back to conference, and return a tough 
anticrime bill that will make our streets safer.

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