[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 115 (Tuesday, August 16, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 16, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     GOOD ASPECTS OF THE CRIME BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
February 11, 1994, and June 10, 1994, the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. 
Hoyer] is recognized during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, there has been much said on this floor today 
about the crime bill and on days before. There will be much said 
hereafter, because we know that the American public is very concerned 
about the issue of safety in their communities, in their homes, on 
their streets, and in their schools. That is a concern that every 
Member of this House wants to respond to. It is a concern that the 
President of the United States wants to respond to. It is a concern, I 
suggest to my colleagues, that we have responded to in very handily 
passing a crime bill through this House of Representatives.
  It had in it prevention; it had in it punishment; it had in it more 
cops on the beat, more police in our communities, to respond, to be a 
presence.
  Last week, however, we fell short. Not in voting on the crime bill, 
but in allowing this House to vote on the crime bill. The rule became 
an issue of great magnitude, because those who oppose now the bill were 
not sure that they could garner the votes to vote against the crime 
bill and defeat it. In point of fact, they felt the opposite, that a 
large number, a great majority of this House, would in fact have 
supported the crime bill, had it been allowed to come to a vote on the 
floor of this House.
  My colleague who spoke before me talked of social programs that have 
not worked. There is prevention in this bill. Law enforcement officials 
that I talk to know, citizens know, that it is not enough to 
incarcerate, it is not enough to arrest. That is important and 
critical. And to keep people who continue to threaten our communities 
and persons in jail, in some cases, for life. I was the sponsor, Mr. 
Speaker, of the three-time-loser bill in this House which is a part of 
the crime bill.
  In opposition to the crime bill, some have said this is a pork bill. 
And in fact on the Republican side of the aisle, the minority whip 
leading the charge, the accusation has been that there is money in 
there for midnight basketball, and some are saying we do not need kids 
playing basketball at midnight. They need to be at home in their beds 
with their families at midnight.

                              {time}  1110

  I think most of us would agree with that. But most of us would also 
readily admit that that is not always the case.
  Mr. Speaker, today I rise to share with my colleagues a quote by our 
President on midnight basketball, a major topic of discussion these 
past few days.
  I quote: ``The last thing midnight basketball is about is 
basketball.'' I am quoting our President now.
  ``It's about providing opportunity for young adults to escape drugs 
and the streets and get on with their lives. It's not coincidental that 
the crime rate is down 60 percent since this program began.''
  That was our President talking in Prince Georges County at our 
midnight basketball function. That was our President. He is not our 
President now. His name is George Bush. That is what he had to say 
about midnight basketball.
  He said that in 1991, as he participated in recognizing the first 
midnight basketball program in the Nation in Glenarden, MD.
  This crime bill, my colleagues, is not about midnight basketball. It 
is about 100,000 new cops on the beat to prevent crime. It is about 
three strikes, you're out, to punish repeat violent offenders and get 
them out of our communities so they can no longer threaten us. It is 
about programs to stem the violence against women.
  As President Bush said, it is about providing opportunity for young 
adults to escape drugs and the streets by not only allowing them to 
play basketball but, between these games, providing academic seminars 
and vocational workshops and family counseling to keep them out of 
trouble.
  Tonight, Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me and the chief 
of police in Prince Georges County, David Mitchell, to the finals of 
our midnight basketball program, to see a successful crime reduction 
program in action; 8 p.m. tonight, my colleagues who would stand on 
this floor or have press conferences criticizing this program.

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