[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 124 (Thursday, August 25, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
       THE VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 1994

  Mr. RIEGLE. Mr. President, I rise this evening to say a few words 
about the crime bill just passed by the Senate. Much has been made in 
recent weeks about the bill's shortcomings, especially with respect to 
its crime prevention measures. In focusing on this aspect of the 
legislation, however, the bill's opponents have chosen to disregard the 
$23.2 billion it authorizes for law enforcement and new prison space.
  From the standpoint of crime prevention, the crime bill's centerpiece 
is its authorization of $8.8 billion for 100,000 new police officers. 
This measure will increase the number of police officers on the streets 
of America by 19 percent. If there's one fact that we know about crime, 
it's that it's less likely to happen when a police officer is around. I 
am proud that this proposal, originally made by President Clinton 
during the 1992 campaign, has finally been approved by the Congress. 
Through all of the debate and discussions and amendments and 
negotiations that have taken place regarding the crime bill, this basic 
idea of putting 100,000 new police officers on the street has survived 
intact.
  The crime bill also provides tougher sentencing for violent crimes. 
Criminals convicted of a third violent felony will receive life 
imprisonment, and the death penalty is extended to apply, for the first 
time, to more than 60 Federal offenses. The bill gives states an 
incentive to implement so-called ``truth in sentencing'' policies, by 
reserving funds for States whose prisoners serve an average of 85 
percent of their original sentences. And to ensure that the States will 
have enough prison space to put--and keep--violent offenders behind 
bars, the bill authorizes $7.9 billion to States for prisons and 
incarceration alternatives, such as boot camps, for nonviolent 
offenders.
  To make sure that all of the funds that are authorized are actually 
appropriated to pay for the bill's law enforcement and crime prevention 
programs, the crime bill includes a violent crime reduction trust fund. 
This trust fund is an innovative mechanism that offsets all crime bill 
spending by lowering the Government's general discretionary 
appropriations caps. More particularly, crime bill spending will be 
offset by savings from the reduction in the number of Federal employees 
mandated by the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act. Thus, the crime 
bill contains a built-in mechanism to ensure that the promises it makes 
will be kept, and that the spending it authorizes will not add to our 
fiscal deficits.
  This crime bill means a great deal for my State of Michigan. It will 
provide up to 3,400 more police officers on Michigan streets and 
approximately $300 million in new resources to help fight crime and 
make our communities safer.
  No legislative initiative of this magnitude can be entirely 
satisfactory to every person. Each one of us, both in this chamber and 
in the Nation as a whole, can find some provision or program in this 
crime bill with which to disagree. But on the whole, I believe this 
crime bill deserves the support of all Americans. We must help the 
police fight the criminals, this bill gives the police more of what 
they need to do this difficult job. As President Clinton has said, this 
is not a Democratic bill or a Republican bill; this is an American 
bill.
  The crime bill is the result of 6 years of work by Democrats and 
Republicans alike, and embodies innovative ideas from across the 
political spectrum. It is the most far-reaching anti-crime initiative 
ever passed by the Congress. Now that the partisan battles surrounding 
its passage have ended, let us all work together to make sure that the 
crime bill accomplishes its purpose of reducing crime. The battle over 
the crime bill has been a battle of words; for this legislation to 
improve the lives of Americans, those words must now be translated into 
action.

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