[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 28 (Monday, February 13, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H1617-H1618]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       IN OPPOSITION TO H.R. 728

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Oregon [Ms. Furse] for 3 minutes.
  [[Page H1618]] Ms. FURSE. Mr. Speaker, I am rising today in strong 
opposition to H.R. 728. The reason I am doing this is not just because 
I have a personal dislike of this bill but because ever since I was 
elected I have met regularly with the law enforcement community in my 
district in Oregon, and they are opposed to this bill.
  Why are they opposed to this bill? Why am I opposed? Well, it is a 
strange bill; it promises a lot of things, it delivers absolutely 
nothing except tremendous hardship for our police communities who are 
trying to do community policing, trying to do prevention.
  H.R. 728 will mean less police on the streets and less money to 
prevent kids from committing crimes. It will cut a program that works 
well, the GREAT program. Why is it a good idea to put some money into 
prevention? Because it is a very, very much cheaper program; you put a 
few dollars into prevention and you keep a kid from crime. You put that 
person in jail, and it is going to cost us $24,000-plus per year.
  But you do not need to take my advice on this matter. You really need 
to take the advice of the law enforcement community. I say to my 
colleagues, you do not just have to just join me in voting ``no''; let 
us, all of us, join the National Association of Police Organizations, 
Fraternal Order of Police, the Brotherhood of Police, the major city 
chiefs, the National Troopers Coalition, the National Sheriffs 
Association, the Police Foundation, the National Black Police 
Foundation. And they join with other organizations, like the Child 
Welfare League of America, the Children's Defense Fund.
  I want to say to my colleagues, we are not all experts in every 
issue, but we can go to the experts. We can ask them what they think 
about each piece of legislation. I do that. I ask you to join with the 
law enforcement community of this country and vote ``no'' on H.R. 728. 
It will be bad for our communities, it will be bad for our kids, and it 
will be horrible for our budget.

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