[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]


                              {time}  1050
 
 LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERTS WANT CRIME BILL WITH CRIME PREVENTION PROGRAMS

  (Mr. DURBIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to make an admission to all 
those listening to my statement. I am not an expert on crime. I would 
like to also concede that there has not been a single Member of the 
House of Representatives, Democrat or Republican, in the well this 
morning who is an expert on crime. We rely on other people and their 
judgment.
  I went back to my home district of Illinois and met with the judges, 
the prosecutors, the probation officers, the men and women who put on 
their uniforms every day to protect us in our homes and communities. I 
said to them ``What do we need in America to reduce the threat of crime 
against our families?''
  They said many of the things that are included in this crime bill: 
more policemen, tougher sentencing, more prisons, take the assault 
weapons off the street, and in each and every conversation after they 
had finished that litany, they said ``and, Congressman, incidentally, 
you cannot reduce crime just by building more and better prisons. You 
have to do something to reach these kids before they turn to drugs, 
before they turn to violence, before they turn to gang activity.''
  The previous speaker here was mocking the idea of midnight 
basketball. He thought $40 million was an outrageous sum. I am sorry to 
report to him that we are now building the latest Federal prison in my 
district at the cost of $58 million. Let us do something to get to 
these kids before they turn to crime.

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