[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 13, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                             THE CRIME BILL

                                 ______


                           HON. KARAN ENGLISH

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 13, 1994

  Ms. ENGLISH of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, as the President holds a 
ceremony marking the signing of the crime bill, I rise today to once 
again underscore the reason why the middle-class families of Arizona's 
Sixth Congressional District need the bipartisan crime bill.
  In just the last week there have been three prominent incidents in my 
district which highlight the reasons why I worked so strongly for 
passage of the crime bill.
  On September 5, Flagstaff Police Sergeant Pat Tarr was shot during a 
routine traffic stop. Sergeant Tarr was shot in the abdomen, just under 
his bulletproof vest, by an Iowa resident who is out on parole. 
Sergeant Tarr is now in serious, but stable condition.
  On Friday, September 9, two Apache Junction High School students shot 
themselves in the head, in an apparent double-suicide. These two young 
girls, both 14 years old, used a single handgun which was brought to 
school, to take their lives.
  And just yesterday, two youths robbed a furniture store manager in 
Phoenix using a semi-automatic weapon.
  These three events highlight why the crime bill is so important to 
the working middle-class families in my district. The families in 
Arizona's Sixth Congressional District know what they need: they need 
more police and fewer criminals on the street; they need guns out of 
schools and out of the hands of thugs, and they need their streets and 
their homes safer.
  The crime bill will help the police on the street by providing more 
cops on the beat and by encouraging States to adopt truth in sentencing 
legislation that requires that convicts serve at least 85 percent of 
their sentence.
  The crime bill will provide help for our youth. It will provide block 
grants to our cities and communities so that they can decide how best 
to provide activities and education to keep kids away from guns and 
drugs.
  The crime bill will ban 19 assault weapons, just like the one used in 
the robbery to the furniture store in Phoenix.
  And the crime bill will help combat violence against women by 
strengthening antistalking provisions, providing training for rape 
prevention, and instituting a domestic violence hotline. The bill will 
help protect women and families in their homes and their communities.
  Finally, after 6 years of inaction on the issue of crime, a President 
of United States will sign into law a crime bill that will help middle-
class families. The crime bill will help rid our streets, schools, and 
homes from the fear of violent crime, and will provide our communities 
and families with the tools necessary to help beat this problem.
  I encourage the administration to quickly release funding in the 
crime bill to help communities like those in Arizona's Sixth 
Congressional District.

                          ____________________