[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 117 (Thursday, August 18, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 18, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                           CRIME BILL DEBATE

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, the Republicans have crowed about some 
victories they have had this year. Correctly so, they did achieve 
mayoral victories in two major U.S. cities, Los Angeles and New York. I 
would like to inform my friends on the other aisle that the two 
Republican mayors of those two cities visited this town yesterday to 
deliver a strong message to this body--pass this crime bill now.
  Both Mayor Riordan and Mayor Guiliani, a former prosecutor, were on 
one accord with their Democratic colleagues in urging this body to act 
swiftly in passing the Omnibus Crime Control bill. They were not 
partisan in their approach because they realize that crime affects all 
of their citizens.
  The crime bill which we will soon have the opportunity to vote upon 
is a good prescription for the pervasive crime problems which are so 
common to our Nation's cities. It includes a ``three strikes and you're 
out'' provision which I proposed last year. The ``three strikes and 
you're out'' part of the bill removes repeat violent offenders from our 
society who have proven by their actions that they no longer deserve to 
be part of an ordered society. Additionally, the bill is tough on 
criminals and provides additional funding for prisons to house them. 
Moreover, it provides for an additional 100,000 police officers to 
protect our communities and it provides for programs to keep kids off 
the streets and out of gangs.
  We cannot let our cities down. This crime bill is essential to their 
ongoing struggle to combat crime. We need to quickly pass this crime 
bill so that Mayors Guiliani, Riordan, and other mayors throughout this 
country can do what their constituents elected them to do.

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