[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 119 (Saturday, August 20, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 20, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
              PORK BARREL SPENDING IN PROPOSED CRIME BILL

  (Mr. DICKEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DICKEY. Mr. Speaker, we have in the crime bill $9 billion 
earmarked for various State and local interests. I want to list those 
so that the people can be reminded of what we have.
  A total $9 billion is earmarked for various State and local interests 
through a labyrinth of new Federal programs.
  House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jack Brooks inserted $10 million 
for his alma mater, Lamar University, to establish a criminal justice 
research center at Beaumont, TX, Brooks' home town. This is pork in its 
purest form.
  For the Local Partnership Act [LPA], $1.8 billion to provide more 
money to States with high tax rates. That is, the higher the State and 
local taxes, the more money they will get under the LPA. If the authors 
of the LPA were concerned about States and cities that are doing their 
best to fight crime, why not tie funds to the percentage of revenues 
used for law enforcement instead of overall tax rates? Money earmarked 
for the LPA alone could hire 40,000 more police officers or build 80 
new prisons to house 40,000 violent criminals. The LPA was originally 
introduced as an economic stimulus bill (H.R. 581) by Representative 
Conyers and contained 19 findings, none of which mentioned the need to 
fight crime. To simply change one part of this bill, and to say that 
the programs to be funded are for the purpose of preventing crime, does 
not change the basic idea that the whole purpose of this bill was and 
is to spend money as fast as possible.
  For the National Community Economic Partnership [NCEP] Program, $300 
million to increase private investment in distressed local communities 
and to provide business and employment opportunities for low-income, 
unemployed, or underemployed individuals. The lack of connection 
between the NCEP and crime speaks for itself.
  For the Youth Employment and Skills Crime Prevention Program [YES], 
$900 million to improve occupational skills of youth in high-crime 
neighborhoods. This is, of course, in addition to the current $25 
billion that the General Accounting Office reports the Federal 
Government already spends on 154 job training programs. If job training 
programs prevented crime, there would be no crime. The United States is 
saturated with job training programs.
  For the Ounce of Prevention Council, made up of the Secretaries of 
Health and Human Services, Justice, Agriculture, Interior, Labor, and 
the Drug Czar, $100 million to spend to promote arts, crafts, and dance 
programs, including grants from the U.S. Attorney General to increase 
the self-esteem of at-risk youth.
  To locate missing Alzheimer's patients, $3 million.
  For urban parks and recreation facilities, $5 million.
  To establish midnight basketball leagues, $40 million, with each 
league having at least 80 players, more than half of whom must live in 
public housing; the players must live in neighborhoods with high 
incidences of AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, crime, and 
illegitimacy. Typical Washington overregulation, and besides, should we 
be encouraging children to be away from home after midnight?
  To promote family unity by housing children under 6 years old with 
their parent while the parent is serving a jail sentence, $22 million. 
Does this really belong in a crime bill?
  To recruit and train police officers from underrepresented 
neighborhoods, $24 million. Some of that $24 million will go to 
counseling applicants who may encounter problems throughout the 
application process.
  Grants of $895 million that can be used for any program that can 
somehow be linked to crime prevention. How about midnight tennis?
  For supervised visitation centers where noncustodial parents with a 
history of domestic abuse can visit their children, $30 million.
  We need to be aware of what we are spending in this pork-barrel 
legislation.

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