[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 120 (Sunday, August 21, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
          AN EXAMINATION OF INCREASED COSTS IN THE CRIME BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I take this time because I think that there 
has been an awful lot of bloviating on both sides of the crime issue, 
and I want to confess, frankly, that I do not know how effective this 
crime bill will be. All I know is that there has been a 6-year effort 
on the part of people in both parties to try to find a way to attack 
what the American people see as one of the most pernicious problems 
facing this country, and they would kind of like to think that we could 
put politics aside and do some things that are real.
  Mr. Speaker, I, frankly, am mystified by a lot of rhetoric associated 
with the debate the last week. I hear, for instance, a good many of our 
friends on the Republican side of the aisle, and some on our own, who 
suddenly have demonstrated a new-found interest in the costs associated 
with this bill, and are saying that there is way too much money in this 
bill to fight crime.
  Mr. Speaker, I thought it would be a good idea to go back and look at 
the record. I went back and I, first of all, looked at the first 
amendment that was offered by the committee chairman, which raised 
spending above the amount recommended in the committee bill, the en 
bloc amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Brooks]. It 
offered additional funding for a good many items: $12 million for the 
establishment of boys' and girls' clubs, $100 million for the 
establishment of community based justice grant programs, et cetera, et 
cetera.
  I look at the vote on that amendment, Mr. Speaker, and I see 242 
Democrats voted for it, and only 2 voted against it. I see 147 
Republicans voted for it, only 23 Republicans voted against it. Mr. 
Speaker, I would ask the question: ``If you do not like the money that 
is in this bill, where were you and where were your votes when this 
amendment was adopted?'' It was whooped through here with an 
overwhelming majority of both parties.
  Mr. Speaker, then we had the $10 billion amendment providing for 
Federal assistance to States for prison construction. I see 170 
Republicans voted for it. I see only one Republican voted against it. I 
see 205 Democrats voted for it and only 49 voted against it. Again, for 
those who have suddenly found a concern about the dollars in this bill, 
I ask them: ``Where were they when they were whooping through 
amendments like that?''
  I did not vote to add that additional spending, because I thought 
that States have their own bonding capacity. My State is talking about 
cutting $1 billion in property taxes. It seems to me we have a huge 
deficit. I think it is a legitimate question about how much we can 
afford on that subject.
  Mr. Speaker, we had another amendment which provided for 6,000 
additional border guards. I see 224 Democrats voted for it, 12 voted 
against it. One hundred and seventy-two Republicans voted for it. There 
were no nos. That added a good amount of spending to the bill. If you 
are concerned about spending in this bill, where were you when 
amendments like that were added? It seems to me, it is pretty clear to 
me that the concern about spending is a late-found concern on the part 
of many people in this institution.

  Mr. Speaker, now we are told that we ought to take out all of the 
prevention money in the bill. They call that a clean bill. I call that 
a crazy bill. If we were, in the area of health care, to only fund 
treatment and not fund prevention, we would be literally laughed out of 
the political arena, because our constituents understand that 
prevention is crucial in all fields.
  Mr. Speaker, there are those who laugh at midnight basketball. I 
would suggest that any time that you can get kids off the street in the 
middle of the night, and have them engaged in anything else, including 
recreational activity, it is a net positive public good, and I make no 
apology for it.
  You can laugh at job counseling that is in this bill, if you want. 
Anybody who has ever dealt with youngsters with limited opportunities 
and limited understanding of how to get them, Mr. Speaker, ought to 
understand that there is no need to make an apology for those programs.
  You can laugh if you want at the money provided in this bill to try 
to break up gangs, but when you watch the gangs in my own hometown 
cruising the streets, I do not think you are going to laugh quite as 
loud about that. I really do not think so.
  You can, if you want, Mr. Speaker, laugh at the money in this bill to 
try to provide protection for women from domestic violence. I do not 
happen to find that a laughing matter. No woman who has ever been 
abused at home will find that a laughing matter, either.
  Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that this bill may not be perfect. It is 
far from perfect. There are items in this bill I flatly and strongly 
disagree with, but it is a consensus reached by 535 people from 
differing districts all over the country, and the administration--
numerous people working hard on both sides of the political aisle. 
Believe it or not, they are working according to the dictates of their 
conscience, despite the cynics--in this Chamber and out who would try 
to convince the public otherwise.
  Mr. Speaker, our choice today is to do something or to do nothing. It 
seems to me, after a 6-year fight to put together an attack against 
crime, we ought to pass this and move on.
  I do not know how effective this is going to be, because I suspect 
half the claims for this bill are overblown, but I would suggest that I 
know that 90 percent of the claims addressed against this bill are 
cynical and political, and we ought to dismiss them and do what we 
think is right for the country.

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