[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 112 (Friday, August 12, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 12, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                                 CRIME

  Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, I thank the majority whip. I want to 
talk a little bit about the setback that occurred in the House of 
Representatives on the crime bill, a bill that you and I care deeply 
about for our State, Madam President, a bill that we each worked very 
hard on. You worked hard on the assault weapons ban. I worked on the 
Violence Against Women's Act and the Driver's Privacy Protection Act. 
Clearly, we both feel very strongly about this bill.
  For 2 years now, since I got elected to the Senate, I have had the 
chance to meet with people from all over the great State of California. 
Every chance they get they send me a message. They tell me to do 
something to stop the wave of violence that is crashing over our 
communities, our schools and our streets. They tell me this because 
they understand that no child should have to choose between their 
safety and their education, and yet a lot of our children are afraid to 
go to school. A lot of our young parents are afraid to send them there.
  When I was a kid growing up a long time ago, my parents worried about 
my crossing the street. They said make sure you look both ways, be very 
careful, pay attention. Today our parents worry about whether their 
children will make it home in one piece. They worry that their children 
are going to get shot by a stray gang bullet or someone driving by in a 
car.
  No woman should have to look fear in the face every time she walks 
into a parking lot at night, and let me tell you, we feel that fear. We 
feel that fear. Sometimes I say to my male colleagues and my friends 
and to my son and to my husband, ``Do you feel that same fear women 
feel?'' And they say, ``Well, not really, not quite as much.''
  Tragically, the women in this country have to be ever mindful, 
wherever we are, that someone could attack us, could hurt us, could 
brutalize us. Every 6 minutes in America a woman gets raped, and every 
15 seconds a woman gets beaten. This is wrong.
  No police officer should be outgunned by a thug wielding a military-
style assault weapon. And no American, no matter how they live or where 
they live, should be prisoners in their homes. The people want tough 
laws to lock up violent offenders. We put that in the crime bill. It 
survived in the crime bill.
  The half-truths you hear around here are unbelievable. Let me read 
you about what emerged from conference on the three strikes and you are 
out:
  Requires life imprisonment for those convicted for the third time of 
crimes of violence or drug trafficking.
  Yes, it is true that they added a proviso that someone who is 70 
years old or older who is determined to be no longer dangerous could 
get out after serving 30 years, but they have to have been deemed safe; 
they have to have served for 30 years, and they have to be over 70 
years of age.
  Madam President, I held a series of violence summits all over the 
State of California. Do you know who were the strongest voices for 
programs like midnight basketball? Do you know who were the strongest 
voices for programs like Boys Clubs and Girls Clubs to help our 
children turn away from crime? Do you know who the strongest voices 
were? It stunned me. They were not the teachers. They were not the 
social workers. They were not the elected officials. The were the 
police officers. The police officers said, ``Senator, by the time those 
kids come to us, it is too late. Yes, we should lock them up when they 
do things that are bad, and we know you are for that, but you have to 
help us in the early stages to give these kids something to say yes 
to.''
  I was so surprised. When I had my first meeting in the northern part 
of the State, I thought, well, maybe this is the thinking in the 
northern part of the State. Then I went into the central valley, the 
farmland area, and it was the same thing. And I went down south, the 
same thing. The police officers are asking us to invest in the broad 
spectrum of crime fighting tools--in prevention, enforcement, in drug 
interdiction, and in new prisons. And that is what we did in this bill.

  What really amazes me is that people stand up on the Senate floor and 
say this bill is loaded with pork. They did not think it was pork on 
that side of the aisle when they fought for more prison money. And I 
voted with them for prison money because I believe we need to get the 
hardened criminals locked up. They never said it was pork to put 
100,000 police officers on the street. They didn't say that because 
they know and I know that is what the people want. And that is what 
this bill is about.
  When they talk about pork, they always mention midnight basketball 
and girls clubs and boys clubs. They call it pork. I call it smart.
  And then they say the bill is terrible because it lets drug offenders 
out on the streets. Well, we need to get to the truth of that. We are 
faced with a problem because we need prison space for hardened, violent 
criminals. We are desperate to lock these people up, absolutely; three 
strikes and you are out. You stay in jail. We all supported that.
  We need prison space. We are building prisons. But we also need the 
space now. So what we say in this bill is if there is a first-time 
nonviolent drug offender, the judge has the option to waive the minimum 
mandatory sentence but the person has to serve a minimum of 2 years.
  The American people, in my opinion, want us to pass this crime bill 
because this crime bill is tough and it is smart.
  How do we fund it? We cut down the bureaucracy. We cut jobs in the 
Federal Government. And we have set up a trust fund. And when Senator 
Byrd brought that plan to the floor, everyone--Republicans and 
Democrats--praised Senator Byrd for it.
  Well, unfortunately, yesterday marked a victory for the special 
interests and the guardians of gridlock. It was a sad day for the House 
of Representatives, in which I served for 10 years, and even a sadder 
day for the American people.
  Yesterday, those who want to see our President fail joined up with 
the gun extremists to halt the wheels of progress and break our promise 
to the American people. But I say the issues are on our side, and those 
who stand in the way of this bill I think will begin to feel the 
pressure, because the people want what is in this bill. They want 
100,000 new police on the streets. They want $1 billion in funding to 
help States fight drugs. They want tough new penalties like three 
strikes and you are out to get violent offenders off our streets. They 
want to extend the death penalty to cover approximately 60 offenses. 
They want money for prisons and boot camps so we can lock up our most 
violent felons and steer our young people along the right track. They 
want drug court programs to get offenders off drugs and out of the 
criminal justice system.
  And, Madam President, they want the Violence Against Women Act, of 
which I am so proud to be an author. Violence against women has reached 
epidemic proportions. We address it in a big way in this bill. Do you 
know we have more animal shelters than we have shelters for battered 
women and their children?
  This bill changes that. This bill is a necessity. The ban on assault 
weapons, Madam President, is crucial, and I am sure that you will have 
more to say on that subject.
  I think that those who are trying to bring gridlock back are 
distorting what has happened over in the House. Some have said that it 
was the Democrats who brought down this bill, but I want to give you 
the numbers because they are very clear. An overwhelming number of 
Democrats voted for that rule, and an overwhelming number of 
Republicans voted against that rule--198 Democrats voted for the rule, 
and 11 Republicans; 167 Republicans voted against a crime bill, and 58 
Democrats joined them.
  When you have 198 Democrats who support getting this crime bill to 
the floor and only 11 Republicans, I think it is pretty clear.
  So, Madam President, as I wind up my remarks, I have an appeal to 
make to the American people.
  When we ask the American people what they worry about, they are very 
clear in their response. Crime is about the number one issue. Health 
care is very close behind. And I say to the American people, you watch 
these proceedings. You listen. You make your own judgment. Who is 
willing to step up to the plate to face these long-neglected issues, to 
try to solve them, and who plays the part of Dr. No? No, we cannot have 
this crime bill because I do not like one of the thousands of things in 
it. No, we cannot have the health bill because I do not like 3 of the 
2,000 things in it.
  The bottom line is we are a legislative body. There is give and take 
in this legislative body, Madam President. We fashioned a crime bill 
that is very wise. Prevention, punishment, and enforcement all go hand 
in hand. We need to go back and make sure that the House of 
Representatives brings out that rule and we have an opportunity to make 
good on the promises we made to the American people.
  I thank the Chair, and I thank the majority whip for his generosity. 
I yield the floor.
  Mr. FORD addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Campbell). The Senator from Kentucky is 
recognized.
  Mr. FORD. Will the Senator from Nebraska yield me just 1 minute so I 
might ask unanimous consent?
  Mr. EXON. I yield.

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