[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 117 (Thursday, August 18, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
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]

 
                             THE CRIME BILL

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, it is very clear that one issue is a source 
of even greater concern to most of our citizens than even health care, 
and that issue is crime.
  In many of our communities our children are being slaughtered before 
our very eyes. People in communities that used to be secure from even 
the prospect of any violence are no longer immune. We all know that, 
whether you live in rural America, suburban America, or urban areas, 
crime is a complex, disturbing, frightening issue that defies any 
immediate solution. And we are all striving to find some answers so 
that we can begin to turn the tide.

  But the answer to these problems is not simply more police officers, 
more jails, and more prosecutors.
  I do not know of anybody who believes that. Obviously, we need more 
police officers, jails, and prosecutors because of the wave of crime 
that is affecting our Nation. But anyone who believes that merely 
providing more resources, more manpower in those areas, is going to 
ultimately solve the problem, must be living on another planet. We are 
going to have to address the underlying causes that turn some of these 
young people to a life of crime, that causes them to engage in violent 
behavior.
  A lot has been said about the crime bill in a last few days, and a 
lot has been made of the so-called pork in the crime bill. I want to 
take a minute and talk about one of those areas that has been so 
designated as pork, or unnecessary, or unrelated to the issue of 
dealing with crime in our country.
  There was a proposal that was authored here in this body in a 
bipartisan way by the Senator from New Mexico [Mr. Domenici], the 
Senator from Missouri, [Mr. Danforth], the Senator from New Jersey, 
[Mr. Bradley], myself, and others--an ounce-of-prevention program to 
take resources and make them available to community-based organizations 
that are trying to find alternatives for the youth of this Nation.
  Many of these organizations, such as the Boys Clubs, Girls Clubs, Big 
Brothers, Big Sisters, Police Athletic Leagues, and church groups, are 
out there every single day in the trenches trying to make a difference 
in the lives of young people. They do not have all the answers. But 
they offer these young people activities to be involved in, and role 
models, and the hope that there is a better way of life than the life 
of crime. With additional support for these programs, we can make a 
significant difference in their lives.
  If you believe these young people are inherently evil, I suppose the 
idea of Senator Domenici, Senator Danforth, Senator Bradley, and 
Senator Dodd does not make any sense. But if you believe that these 
young people are not born evil, are not born cruel, are not born 
determined to engage in a life of crime and thievery and the like, then 
you ought to at least listen to the people out there every day who are 
trying to make a difference in these people's lives.
  I will cite one example if I can, Mr. President. I have visited and 
spoken in every single public high school in my State in the last 10 
years, sometimes on several occasions. I have tried to attend as many 
after-school programs in my State as possible. I spent a few hours 
recently in Stowe Village in Hartford, CT. It is arguably one of the 
toughest neighborhoods in my State. It is a classic example of what has 
gone bad in housing in urban areas, where there are older brick 
buildings with not a blade of grass, graffiti everywhere, and not much 
to offer anyone.
  There are thousands of people who live in that development, and many 
of them are children. In fact, it is estimated that some 2,000 to 4,000 
young people live in these housing complexes. Mr. President, there is 
an after school program at Stowe Village. It can serve only 125 kids. 
There are no athletic facilities, no playgrounds with organized sports 
activities. What they can look forward to after school and on summers 
nights are gangs, corridors that are crime-infested, and drug problems 
running rampant. The 125 people who work with those young people every 
day are struggling to try to offer them a better, different path.
  Senator Domenici, principally, along with Senator Danforth, Senator 
Bradley, myself, and others, came up with the idea of trying to take 
some of these crime dollars to support these community-based 
organizations. The dollars would go directly to them. Not through your 
State, not through your local mayor's office, but directly back to the 
community-based organization. They could apply to one place, not to 
seven Federal agencies. One-stop shopping. So the dollars would go 
directly back to these community-based organizations and give them a 
chance to expand the enrollment for these young people in after-school, 
night, and summer programs. That is now called pork in this bill.
  This idea did not come just from a bunch of Senators and staffers 
sitting around here. It came from our police officers, our streets, 
from the people out there who do not give speeches, who do not issue 
press releases, but who run these programs every day. They see the 
value of it. They have seen examples, day after day, of turning a young 
life around.
  I think it is deplorable and shameful that as we consider this crime 
bill today we have people in ads on television and people standing up 
and saying that is not what a crime bill ought to be about.
  I accept and strongly support, Mr. President, additional police 
officers, prosecutors, and jails. But do not tell me that trying to 
turn a kid away from having to face that police officer, or to stand 
before that judge, or having to get in a cell in a jail, is not a 
better piece of investment than the alternate path. But investment in 
our youth is now called pork. That is one of the reasons the rule was 
defeated in the House, because programs like the Domenici-Danforth-
Bradley-Dodd proposal have been indicted.
  I think we did a good job here on incorporating that provision in the 
crime bill. I would hope that as the President searches for votes to 
try to get the rule passed, he would not placate those elements who are 
ripping the heart out of some of these good programs that would make a 
difference in our cities and towns across America.
  Mr. President, I hope that those who felt so strongly here in the 
Senate when we fought for those provisions will stand up and defend 
these so-called pork programs in the crime bill. That will, I think, 
make a difference.
  I yield the floor.
  Several Senators addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.

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