[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]

 
                         SUPPORT THE CRIME BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Hawaii [Mrs. Mink] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Madam Speaker, today I rise in strong support of 
the crime bill, and I want to take just a few minutes to elaborate on 
the reasons why I think it is so urgent that the Congress come to some 
agreement and allow this bill to become law.
  One of the very strong provisions in the bill has to do with violence 
against women. Sometimes this Nation comes to a point of wanting to do 
something about a terrible situation in our country when there are acts 
of violence that commend our attention. This is a time when people are 
focused on this issue and I think it is important to realize that the 
Congress for the first time is allocating substantial sums of money, 
$1.8 billion, for this particular problem in our society. I like most 
Members of Congress have received dozens of phone calls. Most of them 
argue that we should support the crime bill and put it into law. Some 
of them say what would also echo the phrases that we have heard on 
radio and television about the soft social programs and other measures 
that have been added that have been frequently referred to as pork. The 
pork that people are fingering in the crime bill has to do with 
prevention. I would like to say that this is a crime control and 
prevention proposal. It is not simply to act after the fact when 
criminals are caught and convicted and to find new prisons and more 
punitive measures to deal with them. Crime in this country has to be 
dealt with from two perspectives, and one is to be tough on the 
criminals that have been caught and convicted, but also to look to our 
society to find ways to prevent violence and crime in our society. That 
is the situation with violence against women.

  It is too late to look upon the men who have created the violence and 
have assaulted women and battered women and killed women and say, 
``What are we going to do with these individuals'' with respect to the 
trial and the conviction and the imprisonment. What we need to pay 
attention to is what we are going to do to prevent this violence. All 
too long in our society women have called the police, complained, 
noticed situations that were aggravating their lives, and people have 
simply ignored it, paid no attention. A woman could be on the kitchen 
floor bleeding to death with her husband standing over her and the 
police would do nothing if she refuses at that particular moment to 
file a complaint against her husband. In many cases, she has no choice.
  This provision in the crime bill for the first time recognizes that 
prevention of violence against women is really the way to go. They have 
put in a substantial amount of money, supported by both sides of the 
aisle. As a matter of fact, the provisions on violence against women 
was in the Republican proposal submitted in July 1994 at $1.8 billion. 
We are in agreement on this.
  But the point I am trying to make is not that this provision is in 
agreement but that the concept of prevention is the key to the 
substantiation of this entire program of $1.8 billion. It will provide 
for the establishment of centers for women and do counseling and 
establish ways in which we can sensitize police officers and 
prosecutors as to what they must do under these circumstances to afford 
greater protection to women who file complaints regarding violence. By 
all agreeing on the $1.8 billion in the crime bill, we have 
acknowledged that prevention is a very important part of any crime 
bill.
  Going back, then, to the public excitement with respect to prevention 
programs, given that the provisions for violence against women are 
substantiated and agreed to by everybody, let us look at some of the 
other provisions which have been included that deal with youth 
offenders, with youth at risk. We note with great interest that 
although almost with unanimity those who are opposed or have voted 
against the rule or voted against the crime bill argue that there is 
just too much pork in it, let us see where the pork came from. I have a 
very interesting analysis here which says that, for instance, this 
much-touted midnight basketball provision which is funded at $40 
million was acknowledged by President Bush as one of the outstanding 
points of light in his program. It is included in some of the 
Republican measures. The same thing is true for the community schools 
program. We have Senator Hatch and Senator Dole being sponsors for a 
$630-million program for youth programs in our schools, tutoring and so 
forth.
  I ask those who oppose the bill on these frivolous grounds to look to 
the sponsors of some of these prevention programs and agree that they 
belong in any crime bill that this House passes.

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